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Time is ripe for federal procurement reform
After reading the Acquisition Advisory Panel's 448-page draft report, it's obvious that this is the playbook for the next era of federal procurement policy and legislation.
Buy Lines: To the administrator: SEWP isn't spoiled
Many of us are puzzled as to why the SEWP debate has become an either/or decision.
Buy Lines: There is a fine for not walking GSA's line
Here's a business model for you: Uncle Sam signs a contract with you, you deliver, Uncle pays, then you return almost half the revenue.
Buy Lines: When it's time to change, you'll be glad for IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 will be worth the pain. Change without warrant is for naught. But in technology, change is not only better, it's inevitable.
Buy Lines | GSA schedule makeover long overdue
The General Services Administration has a chance to get multiple-award contracting schedules right.
Buy Lines | Flowcharts as a procurement management tool
No growing business would try to operate without documented business processes, illustrated by flowcharts, but when it comes to the many business processes where taxpayer money is spent, such process documents are hard to come by.
Buy Lines | Untying a knot in the acquisition lexicon
People in government and industry continue to confuse "assisted acquisition" with "direct acquisition" when talking about how purchase requests for items available under pre-negotiated contracts become purchase orders.
Buy lines | A wish for GSA: Back to the future
When people talk about the wide-ranging troubles at the General Services Administration today, I'm reminded of a similarly challenging situation in the mid-1990s that turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to the agency.
Buy Lines: Desperately seeking a standard vocabulary
We in the federal technology market, in working out our next move, occasionally make time to lift our heads from the task at hand, look around and evaluate just what's hot, what's not, who's up, who's down, where to invest, what to avoid and who's likely to do what next.
Buy Lines: 'Big A' acquisition is here to stay
Policymakers in the acquisition community are using the term "big A" acquisition when discussing the need to improve everything from capability analysis to outcome measures, as opposed to contracting ? the "little a" of acquisition.
Buy Lines: Plan today for 2010. It's worth the effort
If your company's technology can make a difference in the effectiveness of a program or a major system, your government customer needs to know about it long before you hope to make a sale.
Buy Lines: Resolve this year to craft an effective channel strategy
So many partners, so little time. Manufacturers are constantly developing new technologies to improve the operations of large corporations. After proving private sector success in markets such as finance or logistics, they cast their eyes toward the public sector.
Buy Lines: Contractor drops the dime on competitors
An opportunity for yet another cottage industry has emerged in the federal ecosystem. It's called blowing the whistle on competitors with noncompliant contracts, and it pays well.
Buy Lines: What's your basis of award?
The most recent example was this summer. GSA insisted, under threat of termination, on major price reductions for Sun Microsystems Inc. products across multiple schedule contracts. But other audits are quietly working through the discovery and settlement process, which involves an analysis of every order and price a company charged for goods and services to federal and nonfederal customers.
Buy Lines: A place for small business in strategic outsourcing
Lately, I've been thinking about what role small businesses can play in the growing initiative to implement strategic sourcing across federal agencies. Are there specific activities they can facilitate between the federal agencies and technology manufacturers?
Buy Lines: Feds walk small-business tightrope with eTravel
Budgeting is always painful.The trade-offs and compromises required often leave us feeling less than satisfied with the result.
Buy Lines: What a difference a word makes
I was briefing a management team on the Office of Management and Budget's strategic sourcing memo that asks agencies to define three commodity areas ripe for this methodology. I explained how enterprise license agreements with software publishers can be structured to lower administration costs, but still allow many resellers, integrators and small businesses to participate in the business.
Buy Lines: Why vendors need channel sales
It doesn't matter how cool the technology may sound if government executives can't see how it relates to what's on their plate.
Buy Lines: You can't manage a contract if its objectives aren't clear
No contract can save a bad business relationship.
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