Without precise planning, metrics can be a minefield
In 1991, when Allan Burman was administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, he issued a bulletin starting the push for performance-based contracting. Since then, this contracting technique has had some success but proponents are still dissatisfied. In their view, agencies are missing many opportunities to use it.
Federal Contract Law: Creativity is key to this military program
On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I visited a place that is putting into practice what many in Washington have merely preached.
Federal Contract Law: How not to place contract orders
The 1997 OFPP guide says that 'the 'preference' for multiple award contracts is just that, a preference.' When they put a word in quotes like that, it's irony. You know, like winking.
Federal Contract Law: Beware of traps in GSA's schedule program changes
The General Services Administration has gone ahead with one of the changes to the schedule program I discussed in my June 16 column.
Federal Contract Law: Contractors even sue themselves over contracts
Recently, two contracting Goliaths squared off in the courtroom. Lockheed Martin Corp. sued Boeing Co. over an Air Force contract for rockets to launch satellites.
Federal Contract Law: Much ado about GSA's federal supply schedules
The world of GSA Schedule contracting is rocking along, with a major new regulation and several proposals in the wings. The new regulation adopts rules for 'co-operative' purchasing use of IT schedules by state and local governments.
Federal Contract Law: Three trends to watch for in federal procurement
Although it is tough to predict the direction of procurement policy, there are some trends with interesting possibilities. Three areas in particular hold promise.
Federal Contract Law: A lesson in default terminations
You may remember the Navy's ill-fated A-12 program. After the Air Force had successfully developed stealth aircraft, the Navy tried to develop its own carrier-based stealthy strike planes.
Federal Contract Law: How an old contract came back to bite du Pont
Resolving disputes through litigation is a notoriously slow process. Even so, I was taken aback recently by a federal court ruling. The Court of Federal Claims had resolved questions arising under a contract dating back more than a half century, to World War II.
Federal Contract Law: Contracting without competition is out of control
The most troublesome public contracts aren't those for R&D programs. Folks expect them to run over cost and over budget. After all, estimation is an art, prognostication is a fiction and exaggeration is a successful political strategy. Motive, method and opportunity all come together in this predictably serial crime.
Federal Contract Law: Remember when CICA, GSBCA held sway?
GCN last month celebrated its 20th anniversary, so I looked back over my first columns. When I started in 1984, the hot topic was the recently enacted Competition in Contracting Act. The IT community was also interested in the new bid protest jurisdiction of the General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals.
Federal Contract Law: Judge Daniels takes a 20-year view of reform
Judge Stephen Daniels, chairman of the General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals, recently offered his views of the state of the procurement system. His talk was sponsored by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, which has provided a forum for the deep thinkers of our field to speak out.
Federal Contract Law: Competition is required even for task orders
It's no secret in federal contracting that task and delivery order contracts are hot. Contracting and program officials like the convenience of placing orders instead of competing entire contracts.
Federal Contract Law: On financial statements, who should feds trust?
Federal contracting officials are notoriously risk-averse. Often they will prefer large contractors to small-business competitors because they think size equals dependability.
Federal Contract Law: Is procurement too reformed? Debates get sharp
Procurement policy is a matter of balance. Governments seek to achieve many goals when they enter into contracts: competition, efficiency, transparency, user satisfaction, accountability and wealth redistribution, to name some. The list goes on and on.
Federal Contract Law: Try these 7 steps to grief-free outsourcing
With competitive sourcing now a major goal of the administration, it's more important than ever that agencies get it right.
Federal Contract Law: Expert panel tackles the A-76 problem
Federal policy wonks are not without irony. Office of Management Budget Circular A-76 starts out by declaring that 'the government should not compete with its citizens.' It then proceeds to explain how to do just that.
FEDERAL CONTRACT LAW
'But in all contracts, if one party fails to perform his share of the compact, is not the other virtually absolved from his liability? Who is there who will not answer in the affirmative?' 'Herman Melville in Typee, 1846
Federal Contract Law: GAO plans protest rule revisions'it's about time
The General Accounting Office has announced its intention to revise the rules on bid protests. GAO, which has been deciding protests for about 70 years, received statutory sanction back in 1984, with the Competition in Contracting Act.
FEDERAL CONTRACT LAW
To find out what was new in the world of government procurement theory, I called that noted scholar of acquisition systems, Prof. Donnerkopf.
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link
If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.
Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.
Cookie List
A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Functional Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Performance Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Social Media Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Targeting Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Help us tailor content specifically for you: