Senior Army leaders said Monday they’re pushing toward what’s likely to wind up as the service’s largest organizational shake-up in 40 years: standing up a brand-new command to centralize many of the bureaucratic tasks required to buy new equipment.
The White House is busily reviewing more than 90 comments on its draft IT modernization strategy.
The comments came from industry associations, specific companies and individuals, including federal employees, and most were pretty vanilla, offering basic support for the initiatives in the draft strategy and insights, both generally and specific to the organizations’ or vendors’ area of expertise.
But none was more fascinating then the flames Oracle decided to throw about the entire IT modernization effort over the last nine years.
SOURCE: How one contractor belittled the White House’s IT modernization strategy
DFARS (DoD FAR Supplement) 252.215-7009 is the Proposal Adequacy Checklist that companies should complete whenever a proposal to DoD requires the submission of cost or pricing data. The requirement is not mandatory, its only suggested as a means of facilitating submission of a thorough, accurate, and complete proposal (see DFARS 215.408(5). Although DFARS only suggests that it be prepared, often times procurement offices will make it a requirement for proposal submission thus making it effectively a mandatory document. Its a nice tool and we usually recommend contractors complete the checklist for any proposal. Whether prospective contractors choose to submit one or not, someone in the Government probably will prepare one so its best that contractors be prepared to respond to any queries that might result from a “no” answer.
In today’s Federal Newscast, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will use both sides of the General Services Administration’s OASIS governmentwide professional services vehicles.
Source: CMS to use OASIS contract vehicle for professional services – FederalNewsRadio.com
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said it’s time to “get on with it” when it comes to fixing the department’s acquisition system during the opening remarks at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting and exposition in Washington, D.C., Monday.
Source: Mattis: ‘Open communication’ with private sector is the key to acquisition reform — FCW
Cloud computing, mobile devices, the internet of things (IoT) and the increasing digitization of information and processes in a hybrid computing environment presents new challenges for government leaders hoping to modernize the way they securely meet and exceed mission goals and provide services to citizens.
On Oct. 17, in Washington, D.C., we will host the sixth annual Microsoft Government Cloud Forum where we will share our innovative perspectives on how to navigate the ongoing digital transformation process under way today throughout government. We will discuss best practices that will allow you to embrace the cloud on your own terms in a hybrid world, allowing seamless integration with your current infrastructure and the ability to decide what applications and data will be on-premises and which ones will be in the cloud.
Source: Microsoft Government Cloud Forum 2017 – Microsoft Enterprise
The growing backlog of cost audits at the Defense Contract Audit Agency is delaying contract closeouts. And not just for the Defense Department but for several other agencies that use DCAA. The result is that contractors wait for two years or longer to get their final 5- or 10-percent. Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council, tells Federal Drive with Tom Temin why this is not just an academic curiosity.
Source: Alan Chvotkin: Contractors face delays due to cost audits – FederalNewsRadio.com
Bob Lohfeld published an article in Washington Technology several years ago called 100 words that kill your proposal. He explained, “Inexperienced proposal writers seem to use words that should be avoided when writing proposals. These inappropriate words and phrases can weaken a proposal, annoy evaluators, and even undermine the bidder’s credibility.”
Source: The root causes and solutions to “100 words that kill your proposal” | Lohfeld
L3 Technologies’ Communication Systems-West Division (CSW) filed a suit against the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) last month for $21 million alleging that DCMA’s Divisional Administrative Contracting Officer (DACO) inappropriately directed the contractor to discontinue proposing its Material Adjustment Factor (MAF) on all proposals to the Government.
This column was originally published on Roger Waldron’s blog at The Coalition for Government Procurement and was republished here with permission from the author.
Last week, the Coalition for Government Procurement was privileged to participate in the Section 809 Panel’s September stakeholder meeting, an opportunity, for which, the Coalition is grateful, as it provided for a wide-ranging conversation on current challenges and opportunities facing the federal procurement system. The Coalition also appreciates the opportunity to provide our 29 “common sense” recommendations to improve and streamline federal procurement.
Source: The federal market: Is competition in the eye of the beholder? – FederalNewsRadio.com