Federal Outsourcing Efforts Draw a Crowd
Federal Outsourcing Efforts Draw a Crowd By Nick Wakeman Staff Writer The General Services Administration and NASA will conduct two coveted multibillion-dollar procurements to outsource desktop services on a separate basis but officials from each agency pledged to coordinate the efforts, which could save millions of dollars in administrative costs. In the latest procurement drama to set industry officials buzzing, officials from both agencies held discussions
Federal Outsourcing Efforts Draw a Crowd
By Nick Wakeman
Staff Writer
The General Services Administration and NASA will conduct two coveted multibillion-dollar procurements to outsource desktop services on a separate basis but officials from each agency pledged to coordinate the efforts, which could save millions of dollars in administrative costs.
In the latest procurement drama to set industry officials buzzing, officials from both agencies held discussions this fall about combining the two big-ticket contracts before ditching the idea.
Unisys photo James McGuirk, president of Unisys Federal Systems |
There also is the matter of the pride of government workers, said Bob Woods, who left GSA Nov. 30 as head of Federal Technology Services, which is overseeing GSA's Seat Management project for outsourcing desktop services. "Industry's sales job has been suspect," said Woods, who is now a consultant with Federal Sources.
The best way to approach government customers is the way commercial customers are won - build a business case and demonstrate why outsourcing saves money or improves services, he said.
"I don't think you tell your commercial customers, 'We are smarter than you and you don't know what you are doing.' That approach turns off potential customers," he said.
In the public sector, people get defensive when this approach is taken, Woods said. "[Contractors] are not packaging this as an opportunity."
In addition to developing the business case for outsourcing, contractors need to know their customers and take a long-term view of projects, said Bruce McConnell, chief of information policy for the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
The customer in an outsourcing project often is different from other IT projects, he said. "When you are talking about transferring functions to a third party, this decision moves up the food chain," he said.
These decisions are made at the top levels of an agency and can involve congressional scrutiny if jobs leave a congressional district for another area, McConnell said.
"The decision maker is usually not one person," he said.
Policy makers at agencies are promoting outsourcing of information technology as the best way to address shrinking budgets, said GSA's Self.
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