Are you ready for a tougher 2013 market?
For IT contractors, 2012 will lay the groundwork for an even more intense 2013.
Are you ready for the new realities of contracting?
From low cost to more risk, government contractors must prepare for the new realities of government contracting. The first of a four-part series.
5 things you need to know to close deals as fiscal year ends
With just weeks left in fiscal 2011, sales and marketing expert Steve Charles offers advice on how to close deals before Sept. 30.
Prepare to bid adieu to 'substantial transformation'
Manufacturers of technology must now evaluate a newly proposed system for determining the country of origin of manufactured items because the old "substantial-transformation" test will likely give way to a "tariff-shift" test.
A better way to measure competition
Acquisition policy-makers all seem to agree that acquisition planning is the key activity required to make wise procurement decisions, yet the system doesn't measure this activity. Rather, it appears that the more thoroughly it is done - at least for the purchase of technology - the less likely the procurement will be categorized as competitive.
If you haven't already, it's time to climb aboard the Web 2.0 trend
I went ahead and did it. Everyone has been talking about Web 2.0, and I finally figured I'd better get on board before the Generation Y crowd eats my lunch and leaves me in the dust with the rest of the baby boomers.
GSA panel on track with schedule policy
To the credit of former GSAAdministrator Lurita Doan and Acting AdministratorDavid Bibb, GSA's Multiple Award Schedule AdvisoryPanel is moving forward. The next meeting of the 15-memberpanel was scheduled to be held May 22 at the GSA auditorium.Such meetings are open to industry.
IBM dust-up ripples through government
The federal procurement system is the largest and amongthe cleanest public-sector procurement systems in theworld. It counts transparency and competition as its highestvalues.
GSA pumps up cooperative purchasing
A recent Input Inc. report shows that state and local purchases under GSA's IT schedules grew to $361.2 million in 2007, a marked increase compared to 2006. Inputprojects sales under cooperative purchasing to continue to grow at a compound annual rate of 24.6 percent, surpassing $1 billion by 2012.
Helping small businesses reach for the stars
A common business strategy in the federal market is tostart as a small business, taking advantage of the socioeconomicpolicy that requires large businesses to subcontractto small, disadvantaged businesses andagencies to award 23 percent of their prime contracts to them.
Enterprise software deals chart new course
SmartBuy will make it more difficult for buyers to circumvent enterprise software agreements, but where there's a will, there's a way.
Restoring integrity to GSA schedules
The three whistle-blower cases DOJ joined against Accenture Ltd., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. represent the biggest challenge to manufacturers of commercial products in this decade.
New fiscal year off to a slow start
October marks the start of the federal fiscal year, and as in every year since 1994,Congress and the president have failed to give agencies their annual spending authority on time.
Steve Charles | Competition advocates take center stage
One of the all-encompassing, farthest-reaching questions in the world of public contracting is how to create meaningful competition within the procurement system and measure the results in a transparent way.
Steve Charles | A wish for fiscal '08: Timely appropriations
When Congress returns Sept. 5, the government's new fiscal year will be less than a month away and none of the fiscal 2008 appropriations bills will have been passed into law.
Tales of kickbacks highlight need for full disclosure
Mention the word kickback and visions spring to mind of dealmakers offering Rolexes. But government procurement policy-makers will soon be grappling with much more nuanced market behaviors, courtesy of three whistle-blower cases filed by DOJ.
Tax law unfairly targets federal contractors
If the government is preventing money from being spent 10 to 20 times during a 15- to-20-month reconciliation process, isn't it possible that the cost to the economywill outweigh the tax benefit?
Continuing resolutions put agencies on edge
It's time for the Government Accountability Office to report on the true costs of Congress' continuing-resolution habit.
Industry, wake up and smell the legislation
The Accountability in Contracting Act appears to be on the fast track. But the measure's not yet law, so it's a good time to provide members of Congress with an industry perspective.
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