Continuity after Kundra

The departure of federal CIO Vivek Kundra puts continuity in the spotlight, writes Steve Kelman.

GAO will finish its bid protest work

The Defense Information Systems Agency contended that GAO's authority to review certain bid protests ended on May 27, leaving Technatomy’s protest without merit.

Offensensitivity: Are you joking?

FCW cartoonist John Klossner recounts his adventure trying to make a joke about a very grim topic.

Has Obama administration dropped the ball on performance-based acquisition?

Steve Kelman traces continuity of management approaches through three presidential administrations.

Shay Assad becomes director of defense pricing

Shay Assad, a senior procurement policy official at the Defense Department, is now the director of defense pricing.

The 1,500 Commandments for contracting officers

How can contracting officers think about ways to make more creative and cost-effective acquisitions when just following the rules is a full-time job?

Public/private competitions come under fire again

Sen. Mikulski is pushing for changes that would give federal employees a better fighting chance against outsourcing.

Good advice on past-performance from Wartime Contracting Commission

A recent report from the Wartime Contracting Commission reminds Steve Kelman of his regret over a decision he made in the 1990s.

Improving the purchase card program

The government purchase card has made procuring low-cost items much easier, but there are ways the program could be improved, writes Steve Kelman.

How to make reverse auctions even better

Steve Kelman advises FedBid on how to enhance the value of its reverse auction service.

Spread this around: Fresh ideas from the front lines of contracting

Steve Kelman and a group of contracting official present a number of ideas that could be used elsewhere in the government.

DOD's contractor database could lead to the wrong results

The Defense Department's past-performance database sometimes is not a reliable guide to which contractors are best prepared to handle a job, a wartime commission has found.

Share-in-savings contracting coming back?

Blogger Steve Kelman says the current budget environment gives agencies all the more reason to consider share-in-savings procurements.

Officials change tone on insourcing

Officials say they never intended for massive insourcing, and the administration has not let it happen.

Procurement oversight: A case of friendly fire?

A well-meaning lawmaker might be reading too much into government-industry interactions, writes blogger John Klossner.

Government should adopt instant feedback features

Columnist Steve Kelman suggests that the government should implement technology to allow quick and easy feedback.

Gordon pushed to release past performance records

Experts want more information from the meetings assessing agencies' oversight to protect the government from abusive contractors.

FAA puts IT projects on fast track

The FAA is saying good-bye to projects that take years to payoff, if ever. How quickly do they now want contractors to show results?

Portman gets Senate contract oversight spot

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman replaces Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown as ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's Contracting Oversight Subcommittee.

Tight budget revives contracting professional debate

Do contracting officials serve the public or their agency programs? Steve Kelman considers the arguments.