Letter to the editor: Enough is enough
I can't tolerate another cheerleading article ("New dawn for GWACs," Jan. 30) about the goodness of governmentwide acquisition and multiple-award contracts.
These acquisitions are not smart buys for the taxpayers. These vehicles are an idiot-proof means of shoving big chunks of technology funds under one big nutshell, and then challenging the public to follow the money.
Just look at how these procurements are designed and executed and the criteria for awards. Bottom line: Everyone gets a piece of the action, so no one protests and the games begin.
These contracts are not designed by technology astute buyers with business acumen. They are driven by political objectives and lack insight into the actual work that needs to be delivered. Mostly, these vehicles create lost insight into an agencies IT infrastructure.
Although the business objectives behind the flexible vehicles model was well intended, the model has served to further erode our already "frankensteined" IT infrastructures.
We have hundreds of these contracts burning down our federal funds, yet we still believe we need a few more billion-dollar "deals." This buying practice has to stop for complex systems and services work. It's a grand model for low-risk commodities ? as long as the government buyer has some basic business acumen, so product vendors don't rip off the government.
I wish one adult in government would peel back a few layers of these GWAC monsters and take a hard look at the actual technical work contractors would deliver. Then tell me how it ties back into an integrated enterprise.
Karol Burt, presidentKLB & Associates