Can Communications Prevent Protests?

I was interested in hearing from both the vendor and 1102 community on the "triggers" of a protest, and if any best practices could be conducted to avoid a protest or avoid a protest from being upheld.

The post on GovLoop and LinkedIn elicited some great feedback, although it was interesting to see the source of the comments (e.g. industry or government). Although the comments from industry focused on debriefs, government commentors focused on process. Nonetheless, a few best practices that government should exercise were understood by all:

1. Keep the evaluation as simple as possible;
2. Tell the offerors exactly what you are going to evaluate;
3. Evaluate exactly what you told the offerors you were going to evaluate; and when the source selection is over,
4. Tell the offerors exactly what you did evaluate (and ensure it's what you said you were going to do---no more, no less). 

If the playing field is kept level for all players and the government has a reasonable rationale for source selection decisions, a protest may not be avoided, but the government will "win" by having the protest denied.

Nonetheless, in today's budget constrained environment, more companies are vying for fewer available government dollars, resulting in more protests. In the past, companies may have been hesitant to file a protest because there was another opportunity coming up or concerned about the relationship with the agency, but now the mentality is "throw something against the wall and see if it sticks." 

Here is the where the divergence exists, in regards to debriefs. Industry continues to complain about the seemingly lack of transparent and quality debriefs, or being told no debriefs because they are not required.

Questions:

• Would you say your agency conducts transparent debriefs that encourage relationships and communications?
• Are your agency's debriefs described as hostile and difficult by industry?
• Are protests at your agency going up, and if so, why do you think that is?
• If protests are going down or have been steady at your agency, what can you attribute to this decline or rate?

Contract Management not Sexy, but Necessary

A recent Defense Department inspector general report found that contracting officers and their representatives (COR) at the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity need to step up their game when it comes to improving contract performance and acquisition outcomes.

The report shins a light on a reality hitting many procurement offices, where the intense workload, combined with a lack of enough skilled and trained 1102s, is creating an environment where quality is being sacrificed at the expense of performance.

Just taking a look at the topic headers is an eye-opening example of a procurement organization that is in need of serious improvements:

• Sole-Source Awards Not Adequately Justified
• Price Reasonableness Not Adequately Determined
• Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans Not Prepared
• Inadequate Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans
• Contracting Officer’s Representative Acceptance of Deliverables Not Documented
• Language in Contracting Officer’s Representative Letters Too General
• Invoice Review Needs Improvement

The recommendations are also somewhat disturbing, in that they basically outline what needs to happen to realize improvements and work to improve this organization. Mainly, the recommendations state that contracting officers and CORs need to do their jobs, since some of the responses the IGs received where common in this environment: lack of time, resources, and a focus on production.

Simple tools, such as checklists, can be created to ensure that ALL the requirements of a contract action are achieved. This may seem simplistic, but following the checklists, and having them executed through automated contract systems and solutions, will ensure that the proper steps have been conducted. Basically, contract actions can not bee executed until these issues have been eliminated by ensuring the proper steps an actions by procurement personnel have been followed and verified. This is ultimately creating an environment of accountability, and hopefully improved quality.

I don't have time is not a legitimate excuse, not under any circumstance. However, leadership needs to understand the needs of the organization, provide the proper level of oversight, resources, and training to the procurement staff, and ensure that things are being done properly. 

Best practices are plentiful, and they need to be acted on.

How Does a Small Business Get on an IDIQ?

Some of the trends that have been written about in 2012, and beyond, is the government relying more and more on issuing task orders via IDIQ vehicles, as opposed to full and open competition and the normal acquisition process.

Although many courses and consultants discuss winning these task orders, little information is available on actually winning the IDIQ, and as a result, winning the ability to even compete for a task order.  

• What is the best way to research these IDIQ opportunities?

• How does a small business get on these IDIQs?

• What is the best strategy to position yourself to win the IDIQ?

Contractors Are Mission Critical, Not a Necessary Evil

Former head of the Coalition for Government Procurement Larry Allen, now President of Allen Federal Business Partners, wrote a spot on article recently calling out the absurdity of the current environment of anti-contractor sentiment running rampant throughout the federal government.

Recent examples of these activities, among many, includes the Office of Management and Budget’s recent directive to ramp suspension and debarment operations, and the Air Force’s actual debarment of Iron Bow Technologies. Although this debarment was later overturned, it seems that this action was a direct result of the “get tough” policies.

Of note was the actual reversal, as a direct result of the Air Force and Iron Bow working together to address the issues leading up the debarment, and mitigation strategies to prevent any future occurrences. In other words, actions that should have occurred without the need of the seemingly knee-jerk debarment by the Air Force.

Further exacerbating the “greedy contractor” paradigm, and as noted by Allen, is Shay Assad, the director of pricing for the Department of Defense, announcing a more stringent pricing policy with contractors, in addition to the directions to cut service contracts by another 20 percent. Now with the Senate passing a Defense Authorization Bill that caps executive pay for contractors at $400,000, it seems that senior federal officials feel the need to squeeze the vice even further.

With the government continuing to freeze pay and hiring in critical areas, in addition to offering early buyouts, the expected outcome can only be further erosion of performance. With fewer government personnel, in addition fewer qualified and trained personnel since training is also getting cut, waste, fraud, and abuse will keep the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Inspector Generals gainfully employed. On second thought, GAO is also cutting staff. Perhaps the Commission of Wartime Contracting will reopen its doors in the near future to report on billions in waste, and just drop the Wartime from its title.

Contractors perform vital functions, and more pressure will be put on industry to perform more with less. However, it is being done in an environment where profit margins are being cut to the bone, lowest cost is now the only variable, and many small businesses are in danger of extinction with cuts to contracts, and subcontracts.

The fact is this: Contractors perform messy services that no one else wants to do. They fix things that break in the middle of the night. They are absolutely essential to the efficient running of the enterprise. They should be treated with the respect commensurate with the role they play. Mistakes happen, and bad actors exist. But it’s past time to give credit where it is due.

We would be better served working together, and stopping this animosity.

GAO and Success: Acquisition Workforce the Common Factor

With the collapse of the Congressional “supercommittee’s” budget deal on deficit reduction, federal managers, and their industry counterparts, are being told to prepare for the worst , as possible mandatory cuts are on the horizon for 2013.

In the mean time, federal managers will need to continue to find ways to save money and do more with less. To help programs succeed, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently came out with a report that highlights best practices for IT acquisition and execution. Combined with the Office of Management and Budget's 25 point IT reform plan, these two products create a powerful blueprint for what programs should be doing to improve outcomes, and be considered successful by meeting cost, schedule, and performance goals.

The one common denominator for program success is a steady, skilled acquisition workforce to execute these other principals. This should not come as a surprise. However, what was surprising is that the Defense Information Systems Agency's Global Combat Support System-Joint program did not list this fact as a critical success factor (similar to 6 out of 7 dentists recommend flossing for healthy teeth? Who actually goes to that one dentist?)

Putting aside the other factors, having a skilled, trained and stable acquisition workforce is critical to success in any program, and more than now than ever. The acquisition workforce, especially in contracting, must be able to act as business advisors and really lead the way in helping shape sound business practices. This includes pre-acquisition through contract execution. The program manager, in addition to the use of Integrated Program Teams, also are critical to ensuring that everyone is building requirements properly, proper contracts and metrics are in place, and then of course executing using the sound business practices categorized in the GAO report.

Regretfully, these budgets cuts and contract reductions can only be a detriment to implementing these best practices. With hiring freezes, reducing training budgets, and mandates to cut services contracts (such as acquisition support contracts), fewer opportunities will exist to improve performance. Coupled with the "low price at all cost" contract selection methodology, a thousand cuts are on the way to an environment of even further reduced performance, in addition to more fraud, waste, and abuse.

GAO and Inspector Generals will be quite busy in the next 24 months, but reports of program success will more than likely be a distant memory in this future timeframe.

Are One-on-Ones Necessary for Market Research?

As the government looks for way to save money and improve performance, the topic of adopting best practices for IT acquisitions continues to be at the forefront of the conversation. However, implementing those best practices continue to be challenging, especially in the thought process when comes to one-on-one sessions.

When it comes to market research, the government continues to struggle to open the door to industry, thus robbing itself of improvements on the overall acquisition process. Specifically, requirements continue to be developed in a vacuum, exacerbated by poorly defined stakeholders analysis and moving forward without understanding needs.

In the commercial sector, the closer firms get to signing a contract, the more collaboration occurs. However, the opposite is true in the federal sector. Incoming contractors should be given all the information that is not proprietary to the incumbent to be successful, including budgets and prices currently paid for incumbent services.

However, some government procurement officials disagree. According to these officials, it is up to industry to respond fully and openly with responses to an RFI and during an Industry Day. Further, it is simply a matter of time versus value, as industry will simply use the opportunity in a one-on-one to strengthen their position during capture management by trying to slant government requirements in their direction.

The more government communicates with industry, the more likely the government will get quality services at realistic prices. Although it has almost become standard practice for government buyers to hold an Industry Day, it is assumed that no further communications with industry are necessary. Further, many buying offices simply will not conduct one-on-one meetings with vendors because of incorrectly assuming that favoritism and ethical issues are land mines that should be avoided at all costs.

Questions for industry and government:

1. How do we work together to change these perceptions? 
2. Are one-on-ones worth the time and effort, from both perspectives? 
3. What other tools are available to increase collaboration?

Your Taxpayer Dollar$ at Work: Volume III – Muffin Edition (Update)

So the $16 muffin is back in the news as the Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General made updates to its previous report by correcting the record, and bowing to the sensationalist media coverage that yes, the muffin itself did not cost $16. 

Correcting the record is a good thing. However, what the sensationalist media forgets, and what seems to be ignored, is the fact that the DOJ, in addition to the federal government itself, is not doing enough due diligence to ensure that the these expenditures are in the best interest of the organization or that they are being good stewards of taxpayer funds. The report correction goes on further to say that all-inclusive lunches cost $76. Will this be the subject of the next series of reports?

Putting aside the full court press of public relations activity by the hospitality industry, how does government know they are getting the best value? Having done this myself over the years, I have always tried to negotiate better pricing for conference space, refreshments, meals, etc. by playing venues off one another to get the best deal for my needs. I do not doubt that the venues are being flexible to get my business, but how can the government buyers say with a straight face they too are getting the best prices? Further, what options are being explored to find more cost effective means of holding these conferences and training (i.e. videoconferencing, other federal spaces, etc.)?

It is this willful ignorance that explains why we can continue to expect the inability to create budgets, more focus on nonsense, and putting aside effective governance and accountability for the foreseeable future.