Acquisition News 
Top News
- OMB reworking financial systems to focus on outcomes, not inputs
- Lew taps government retiree pension fund to avoid default
- OMB taps VanRoekel to lead management team
- PHOTOS: Meet the 2013 Service to America Medal Finalists
- Hagel: Accountability breakdown was leading factor in sexual assaults
- Former IRS commissioner faces questions about Tea Party
- SBA starting new lending program for veterans
- New Apple devices cleared to join DoD IT networks
- Army prioritizes access to data in fight over intelligence IT system
- DoD upends slow approval process for mobile devices
- Senior execs' bonuses under fire at agencies
- Gould moves the needle on many of VA's toughest challenges
- Tuesday federal headlines - May 21, 2013
What's ahead for small business?
Tom Johnson, publisher of Set-Aside Alert talks about the challenges facing contractors.
July 2, 2012(Encore presentation August 20, 2012)
Army deploys first fruits of agile acquisition process
Hundreds of pieces of equipment the Army has assembled as part of its new network modernization strategy will deploy with soldiers to Afghanistan on Oct. 1, the first results of the Army's transition to capability set management.
FedBizOpps.gov contractor under FBI investigation
The government is investigating allegations against Symplicity Corp. for allegedly accessing without permission the internal networks of two competitors in the education sector. Symplicity, which runs three governmentwide websites, denies any wrongdoing and calls the government's search warrant a one-sided justification for the investigation. Experts say the company could face suspension from new federal procurements.
Lockheed machinists OK new labor deal, end strike
Lockheed Martin machinists ended their 10-week strike Thursday, approving a new labor deal that includes a $2,000 bonus and annual pay increases starting at 3 percent the first year.
VA wants to change vet-owned business re-verification from 1 to 2 years
The Veterans Affairs Department wants to change the frequency of reverifying veteran-owned businesses from once a year to once every two years, according to an interim final rule published in the Federal Register.
Women vendors get less than price of drone from US set-asides
A new federal program to help small contractors owned by women is drawing criticism from lawmakers and business advocates who say it has provided too little assistance to too few firms.
DHS hones dynamic approach to securing agency computer networks
Homeland Security releases policy and guidance on how departments and vendors will implement continuous monitoring and get away from static reports on the cyber health of their systems. DHS is hoping Congress approves a $200 million funding request to buy five different commercial cyber tools, a dashboard and a security data warehouse in 2013.
GSA's OASIS contract to streamline professional services offerings
The General Services Administration is months
away from releasing details of its
newest contract vehicle that will allow
agencies
to find professional services
solutions across disciplines. OASIS program
manager Jim Ghiloni gave a status update on the
contract.
June 26, 2012(Encore presentation July 10, 2012)
GSA, DISA face protests of billion dollar awards
CWTSatoTravel objected to the $1.4 billion E- Travel award going to Concur Technologies. SAIC protested DISA's $4.6 billion award for the Global Information Grid management services to Lockheed Martin. Both protestors are the incumbent contractors.
DRC awarded $10 million in contracts with IRS
Dynamics Research Corporation has been awarded $10.2 million in contracts with the Internal Revenue Service. DRC will provide independent verification and validation services for the Credit Card Processor's systems and will be responsible for the system readiness and accuracy of the credit card program.
Election preview
Host Roger Waldron talks about the upcoming fall elections with former Virginia congressman, and Deloitte Federal Government Affairs Director Tom Davis.
June 19, 2012
GSA considers alternatives to track contractors
For decades, the General Services Administration has contracted with the company Dun & Bradstreet to provide unique identifying numbers for businesses. These numbers — called Data Universal Numbering System or DUNS numbers — allow GSA to track contractors and other recipients of federal funds. But the cost of using this service has grown from $1 million in 2002 to about $19 million per year under the current contract.
Agencies have much to learn from bid protest process
Joseph Petrillo, a federal contract attorney with Petrillo and Powell, agreed with a recent report that bid protests help to keep the federal government honest. Unfortunately, the 2,000 or so annual bid protests are just a drop in the bucket of the millions of possible protestable contract actions out there.
Analysis: Sequestration would drive contractors over 'fiscal cliff'
Defense contractors are growing increasingly worried about the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts, known as sequestration, which are set to take effect in January. Marion Blakey, the president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, said the cuts would hit the defense industry particularly hard.
All things SEWP
Joanne Woytek, program manager of NASA SEWP talks about the government wide contract vehicle and its goals and missions for the future.
June 18, 2012(Encore presentation July 16, 2012)
Wartime contracting reform bill reintroduced
Senators Claire McCaskill and Jim Webb gain bipartisan support on legislation designed to decrease wasteful spending. Some provisions in the bill regarding accountability have been strengthened.
Lockheed lands big Defense IT contract
Lockheed Martin, the federal government's largest contractor landed up to $1.9 billion worth of work Friday in a deal to operate Defense Department networks across the globe.
Contractors experience limited communication between industry, agencies
IBM Federal General Manager Todd Ramsey busts myths about government procurement. Although well-conceived, he said current acquisition procedures do more harm than good.
DHS improving aim to stop counterfeits at the borders
The Homeland Security Department is taking a two-pronged approach to protecting the federal supply chain. The first addresses the DHS mission cargo crossing into the U.S. The second is an interagency effort to ensure the government is working together on investigations. DHS said seizures of counterfeit goods at the border increased by 20 percent in 2011.
Is it always a good time time to sell to Uncle Sam?
The landscape of the government contracting world is changing faster than ever. Understanding what's happening now will help you understand what may be coming in the months and years ahead. Phil Kiviat, with Guerra Kiviat, a federal sales consulting firm, discusses if there's a good or bad time to sell to the government.
