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GSA releases tool for monitoring agency spending

The General Services Administration (GSA) has made its Governmentwide Category Management (GWCM) Awards Exploration Tool publicly available.

Now, federal agencies, vendors, and the general public have a new data source to see where agencies are spending contract dollars.

The database lets users find information at the award level such as by contract name and spend under various major contract management tiers.

Previously, GSA made the tool only available to federal employees.

The GWCM awards search tool is one of several offered by GSA for vendors and other stakeholders at https://d2d.gsa.gov/report/public-category-management-dashboards-analytics.

Screenshot of GSA’s publicly-available contract awards search tool.

Interestingly, the new tool displays data in 10 major categories of federal contract spending: facilities and construction; human capital; industrial products and services; IT; medical; office management; professional services; security and protection; transportation and logistics; and travel.

Screenshot of Facilities & Construction data.

While small business utilization data is viewable on individual category management pages such as the one shown above, as of May 26 the overall Small Business Dashboard was not functioning.

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DoD, DHS setting the bar high for vendor communication

Chris Howard is used to working from home.  The vice president of U.S. public sector at Nutanix has been working remotely for 15 years.  But even for Howard, the changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has required some adjustment.

“This is our new life behind the computer screen. There is no opportunity to meet in person right now so it’s an adjustment period,” Howard said in a recent interview. “I’ve working from home for 15 years, but I always had the flexibility to travel and see clients.  But this, our new reality for 10 or 12 hours a day and it can be tough to deal with.”

Howard, like many government contractors, are using video teleconferencing systems to keep in touch with his co-workers and industry and agency partners.

“We are doing a lot of virtual lunches and some virtual happy hours just as a way to get people engaged and have a semblance of a team,” he said.

It’s that engagement and ensuring the relationship continues that is something agencies tend to struggle with.  But in this age of social distancing, certain agencies are standing out in how they are communicating with vendors and customers alike.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2020/04/dod-dhs-setting-the-bar-high-for-vendor-communication/

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized.  Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

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Opportunity knocks: Getting vendors in the door

One of the persistent problems anyone within earshot of public procurement hears about is a lack of communication between public buyer and supplier.

Smart CvilleThat disconnect can take many forms and happens at many different stages, including a failure to communicate with potential vendors when shaping requirements, a failure to clarify those requirements, and a failure post-award to work closely with the vendor to manage their performance. But all of those assume one very basic thing: That a potential vendor even hears about an opportunity. Never a safe assumption at any level of government.

Which is why it’s heartening to see a new trend in the public market, taking aim at just this problem. The latest example is a story out of Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a nonprofit called Smart Cville has built a “procurement alert system” for the city. Every time a new opportunity is posted to Charlottesville’s website, subscribers to the alert system will be notified.

Keep reading this article at: http://publicspendforum.net/opportunity-knocks-vendors-door/

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NASA’s Johnson Space Center takes customer-first approach to IT

NASA’s Johnson Space Center is taking a different approach to working with vendors and one that the Obama administration has been promoting over the last few years.

Annette Moore, the acting chief information officer, said vendors approach her organization through a vendor management office.

Annette Moore, acting chief information officer, Johnson Space Center
Annette Moore, acting chief information officer, Johnson Space Center

“When Larry Sweet was the CIO at NASA Johnson Space Center, Larry made an intentional decision to get us more in the direction of a business technology office,” she said. “We actually created a position for vendor management support and IT procurement support. So we actually have a staff dedicated here on our directorate level that works that vendor management piece to ensure that the vendor gets connected to the right office in our directorate, gets connected with the right individual in our directorate and gets the right level of attention to get them connected into what we are doing with our initiatives and our priorities. We also have a chief technology officer on the directorate staff. That CTO does the same thing and those two positions work hand-in-hand to ensure that the vendor gets the appropriate level of contact at the right level within our directorate.”

Sweet moved on to become NASA CIO in June.

Moore said the goal is to simplify the path for vendors to find the most appropriate person and to help her office ensure they are using their time most wisely.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=494&sid=3565374&pid=0&page=1 

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