The Future of COTS Procurement: The Proposed Section 846 Business Models | Government Contracts & Investigations Blog
On March 16, 2018, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) and the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) released their Phase 1 Implementation Plan (the “Plan”) for “Procurement Through E-Commerce Portals” as directed by Section 846 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2018. As we have written on this blog many times before, Section 846 (or Section 801 as it was known previously) will change the way the Federal Government buys commercially-available-off-the-shelf (“COTS”) products under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (“SAT”). Section 846 directs GSA to establish one (or several) “e-commerce portals,” owned and operated commercially, through which the Government will procure COTS products under the SAT. The Plan is the general public’s first glimpse of how GSA envisions this program working, and the first of several critical steps to bring the “e-commerce portals” program online.
You might be interested in
What are Direct Commercial Contracts (DCCs)?
Get ready for a truckload of acronyms.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) is the organization responsible for directing, administering, and supervising the Security Assistance Program. Its responsibilities are defined and authorized by the:
- Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of 1961 (as amended)
- Arms Export Control Act (AECA) (as amended)
- Other applicable statutes.
- Executive Orders
- Directives
Included within the Security Assistance Program is (i) the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) Program which provides loan and grant financing for Foreign Military Sales and (ii) purchases from U.S. firms. The latter are considered Direct Commercial Contracts (DCCs). Under the FMS program, the Department of Defense acts as the agent for the purchasing country. These procurements are fully subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), including audit oversight.
Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: What are Direct Commercial Contracts (DCCs)?
You might be interested in
Joseph Petrillo: Vendors, pay attention to GSA’s new contracting clause – FederalNewsRadio.com
A new contracting clause from the General Service Administration has potentially big implications for anyone buying from the schedule vendors. It has to do with so-called unenforceable terms companies haven’t removed from their contracts. Procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo of Petrillo and Powell joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more about the rule and why you need to pay attention.
Source: Joseph Petrillo: Vendors, pay attention to GSA’s new contracting clause – FederalNewsRadio.com
You might be interested in
Navy Relaxed Requirements to Detriment of Other Bidders
The Navy issued a solicitation under GSA’s (General Services Administration) FSS (Federal Supply Schedule) for pressure washers. The RFQ (Request for Quotation) called for a Landa brand pressure washer with a specific manufacturer part number, or equivalent.
Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Navy Relaxed Requirements to Detriment of Other Bidders
You might be interested in
DoD Implements New Enhanced Debriefing Procedures from the 2018 NDAA – Government Contracts Legal Forum
On March 22, 2018, the Department of Defense (DoD), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense issued a Class Deviation letter to the heads of all Department of Defense agencies requiring, effective immediately, that every DoD agency ensure that its contracting officers implement the recommendations for enhanced post-award debriefings set forth in Section 818 of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
You might be interested in
2017 Freedom of Information Report
The Department of Defense recently published its Fiscal Year 2017 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Annual Report, a report that DoD prominently displays on the cover page as costing $583 thousand to prepare. That’s only the beginning of the cost to administer FOIA requests in the Department. Department-wide, Defense spent nearly $81 million to respond to 54 thousand requests, an average of $1,500 per request. Is that a wise expenditure of Government funds? Depends on who you ask, we suppose.
Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: 2017 Freedom of Information Report
You might be interested in
3 ways Emily Murphy’s GSA is looking to innovate acquisition – Fedscoop
GSA’s role in helping to modernize the government’s digital infrastructure has presented Emily Murphy with a lot of opportunities.
Source: 3 ways Emily Murphy’s GSA is looking to innovate acquisition – Fedscoop
You might be interested in
A fundamental shift is underway in today’s market. Are you prepared? — Washington Technology
As we move into the second half of the fiscal year, what can we take away from the last six months?
As most analysts have pointed out, we can say with some confidence that despite the budget chaos and uncertainty, the market continues to be strong. Both professional and IT services showed meaningful growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 and it is reasonable to expect that trend continued in the second quarter.
Source: A fundamental shift is underway in today’s market. Are you prepared? — Washington Technology
You might be interested in
Understand the Higher Education Information Technology Market | GovWin+Onvia
Billions of dollars in higher education government contracts are available each year to firms involved in selling to the public sector. And few industry segments within that market are more fruitful for vendors than higher education information technology – a market that GovWin’s State, Local and Education (SLED) Market Analysis team explored in their latest report.
Source: Understand the Higher Education Information Technology Market | GovWin+Onvia
You might be interested in
Agile proposal management—team values
Maryann Lesnick explores how principles of agile and scrum provide opportunities to improve proposal processes and outcome —improving our win rates.
You might be interested in
