By now, we’ve all heard of the negative fallout of the sequestration, but what positive effects do you think it might have? There are obviously better solutions than this “meat clever” approach, but I’m interested to hear from you what we might gain in either the short- or long-term as a result of the suddenRead… Read more »
***Want more project management tips from author Chris Cairns? Join us at the Leading Great Projects session next Tuesday, 9/10 at our GovLoop Virtual Innovators Summit – free rsvp**** Nearly every government project needs to employ risk management processes and practices to ensure successful delivery. A Risk Register (or Risk Log) is one of theRead… Read more »
A couple of weeks ago, a Fed approached me on how she should approach the challenge of streamlining an integrated program management support function across multiple divisions of one overarching government organization, which has over 100 projects ranging from $250k to $1B in life-cycle costs. My answer, based on my own experience: To effectively deliverRead… Read more »
Dear Contracting Officer, When you release an RFP solicitation notice that includes a timeline, competition type (e.g., 8(a), Full and Open, Woman-Owned Small Business, etc.), contract vehicle (e.g., GSA Schedule, MOBIS, etc.), requirements and other critical information, industry initiates a process called capture management. This process involves understanding your requirements; identifying capability gaps; developing aRead… Read more »
When you receive a proposal from a contractor, it typically includes a number of teaming partners all singing in unison that they are the only ones in world who understand your mission, can fulfill your requirements, etc. So what brings two or more companies together to pursue a federal contract opportunity? Well, there are aRead… Read more »
Despite popular belief, English is not the universal language of the Internet. The U.S. Government knows this better than anyone, which is why they look to NAICS code 54193 to acquire the services necessary to translate .gov sites into multiple languages. What form do these services typically take? Direct contract labor of course, which isn’tRead… Read more »
Human beings are a visual species. We mostly interact with the world through our eyes and that’s why they say a picture is worth a thousand words. But what if you want to use words to make a picture? What if you want to put these words in a visual space that is more easilyRead… Read more »
More and more agencies are adopting agile methodologies to designing, building and deploying apps and systems. Agile fundamentally differs from traditional development methodologies such as waterfall. It’s such a radical departure, in fact, that it also requires fundamental changes in how you manage agile projects. This is why PMI recently adopted an Agile Project ManagementRead… Read more »
In both my private- and public-sector careers, I’ve been heavy SharePoint user. I really took it to the next level when I ran about a 20-person contract team at DHS. Basic things like Action Items And Issues Tracking were handled via SharePoint. On the more advanced end, we created a Project Dashboard with different healthRead… Read more »
Thorough beta testing of applications allows developers to address as many bugs and problems as possible before the official deployment. This is true of web apps, desktop apps, and mobile apps alike. uTest offers a range of testing types for a number of different platforms, including iPhone, BlackBerry, and Mac OS X. Real World BetaRead… Read more »