CSC scores $29.9M task order for technical and engineering services

Computer Sciences Corp. has won a $29.9 million task order contract to provide technical and engineering support to a Marine Corps support center and to forces worldwide with continuous support of tactical C4 programs.

Under the firm-fixed-price contract, CSC will provide these services to the Marine Corps Tactical systems Support Activity Operating Forces Tactical Systems Support Center. Read More

Who won March's biggest contracts?

March marked the onset of sequestration, but looking at the dollar values of this month's top 10 contract awards, you'd hardly know it.

To make this month's list, you had to have won a contract with a value greater than $200 million, with the top contract coming out with a ceiling of $22 billion.

Lockheed wins $65M modernization option for Japan's Aegis system

Lockheed Martin Corp.'s mission systems and training business has won $65 million option from the U.S. Navy to modernize Japan's Aegis weapon system.

The Aegis system is produced by Lockheed Martin, and uses computers and radars to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets. It is used by the U.S. military as well as allies.

CDW-G pays $5.7M to settle False Claims Act allegations

CDW-Government LLC is paying $5.7 million to resolve false claims allegations involving a General Services Administration contract.

Between 1999 and 2011, CDW-G allegedly improperly charged for shipping, sold products to the government that were manufactured in China and other prohibited countries, and under-reported sales to avoid paying GSA industrial funding fee, the Justice Department said in March 29 statement.

SRA taps new VP of cybersecurity and privacy

SRA International has named Bryan Martin vice president of cybersecurity and privacy, where he will lead the company’s cyber practice and the development of cyber-related solutions.

In his new role, Martin will guide program execution, introduce and reinforce best practices, and will work with Richard Clarke, the company’s executive advisor for cybersecurity and counterterrorism.

Is your CEO afraid of LinkedIn?

Without a doubt business social networking has come of age, even in the business-to-government market. For business networking, LinkedIn is by far the preferred venue.

While the majority of government contractors seem to have some presence on LinkedIn, only a small percentage seem to be leveraging it as well as they should, especially given the interesting times we find ourselves in:

CACI wins $13M contract mod to provide professional services to Navy

CACI Technologies has won a $13 million contract modification to provide professional services in support of the Expeditionary Warfare Program Office.

Under the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, CACI will provide services such as program analysis; development, control and monitoring support; administration, communication and human resources; business, finance and cost estimating; technical and engineering support; information technology; and life-cycle support.

Data guru Ray Bjorklund leaves Deltek

I had heard from a colleague at FCW that Bjorklund was leaving Deltek, so I shot him a note. It was typical Ray Bjorklund.

While he confirmed he is leaving, he also said, “I don’t think it’s appropriate to draw attention to my departure.”

That’s Bjorklund in a nutshell – low key. While he usually is one of the smarter people in the room, he’s never struck me as one who needed or wanted to be the center of attention.

Soloway's 5 questions shaping the federal market

Stan Soloway might talk about the government market like it’s the snapshot of chaos, but he sees enough order in it to outline the five questions that will shape the market going forward.

At Grant Thornton’s annual contractor survey event Thursday morning, Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, talked about the five questions that will shape the market in the coming 18 to 36 months:

Contractors see revenues, profits drop in tough market

Grant Thornton's annual contractor survey offers some findings that reinforce what many in the market think, such as the unpopularity of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, but also includes some surprises.

The accounting firm has been conducting the survey for 18 years and uses the survey to ask contractors about everything from accounting practices to profit margins to compensation.

Julian Rosenberg, government contractor advisory practice leader at Grant Thornton, offered his 10 takeaways from the survey during a presentation on the results on Thursday.

No increases in firm-fixed-price contracts.

This was a surprise because “I think most of us have heard that cost contracts are going down, and fixed-price is going up, but we’re not necessarily seeing that,” Rosenberg said. Twenty percent of companies reported revenue from firm-fixed-price contracts both last year and this year.

Cost-type contracts are down.

Last year, cost-type contracts accounted for 45 percent of revenue for companies, whereas this year, cost-type contract account for only 40 percent.

Time and materials contracts are up.

This is a real surprise to Rosenberg because “we have heard was that fixed-price would be going up, and everything else would be going down,” he said. According to the survey, time and materials accounted for 40 percent of revenue this year, as opposed to 35 percent last year.

What might be happening here is that some of the time and materials contracts may start off being time and materials, but then eventually be converted to fixed-price, Rosenberg said.

Revenues are decreasing.

According to the survey, 36 percent of companies reported an increase, 38 percent a decrease, and 26 percent reported no change; this is an overall decrease from last year's results, when 50 percent reported an increase, 29 percent reported a decrease, and 21 percent reported no change.

Profits are decreasing.

This is a significant change, according to the study. The majority this year are in the 1 percent to 5 percent range, when in prior years, it was higher, Rosenberg said. Last year, for example, the majority was in the 6 percent to 10 percent range, according the study.

Bid protests are up.

In fact, the amount of protests over the past year has more than doubled, Rosenberg said. In terms of general competition factors, win rates are steady at 30 percent, and the win rates for incumbents is at 50 percent, according to the study.

Indirect costs are going up.

As for what this means, rising indirect costs may point to an increase in idle employees, Rosenberg said.

“I know the government is talking to some of you, and asking you to bring your cost down, bring your overhead down, bring your labor down,” he said. So that’s the question —does this mean that there are more idle employees over the past year than in the past, he asked.

Forty-two percent reported an increasing trend in indirect costs, 17 percent reported a decreasing trend, and 41 percent reported no significant change.

Fringe benefits are increasing.

According to the survey, fringe benefits have increased by 7 percent. The study also reported health insurance costs are less than 9 percent of labor.

“I’m not sure if that means that health insurance is going down. I think everyone is expecting health insurance costs to go up; seems to me that they’ve been going up over the past fifteen years,” Rosenberg said.

DCAA’s fan base decreasing.

Fifty-three percent of the companies surveyed do not believe the DCAA’s findings are substantiated with appropriate references, according to the survey.