Jaime Gracia

Although I think that procurement does need to be reviewed, we seem to be missing the real issues of the healthcare.gov failures.

What happened with healthcare.gov is symptomatic of federal IT, in which feds continue the “big bang” approaches to buying. Until leadership understands this is a fool’s errand, we can expect more healthcare.gov, and…[Read more]

My fear is that younger workers with leave, especially at a time when they are desperately needed (especially IT). Those areas that would be hardest hit are cyber, and data engineers. The federal environment is hard enough as it is, but this seems like adding insult to injury.
Why would anyone want to enter public service is this unprecedented era…[Read more]

Chris – Let’s look at this from another angle. Firstly, are you talking in hypotheticals or an actual response to an RFI, in which you are looking for advice on how to answer.

If the latter, please link to the RFI, presumably on FedBizOpps.com. If this is the case, this problem needs to be addressed, because it is an improper use of RFI, and…[Read more]

If I understood Clay’s comments, Phase I was just a pilot. They seem to be slowing implementing the project, to capture lessons learned and find other ways to use the tool and broaden its reach. I applaud the goals of the initiative, but question its utility. Further, I am wondering if anyone with an expertise in the federal IT acquisition process…[Read more]

I did a Google search on “Agile Project Management Charter,” and got a few interesting results of note:
http://michaellant.com/2010/05/18/how-to-make-your-project-not-suck/
http://www.infoq.com/news/2010/05/agile-project-charter

Thanks for the feedback David. You are right, in that feedback can be difficult here on GovLoop, which is certainly one reason I wanted to contribute!

David – Since no one has jumped, let me respond. First, let me say I am not anti-anything, other than nonsensical policy and rhetoric for political purposes that leads to bad policy. I believe that to be the case in this instance.
I believe this argument is from a lens of “reducing waste,” as government proponents of this policy are under the…[Read more]

That is indeed the acquisition lead-time. As both Steven and I noted, perhaps specificity with your current requirements/situation might help provide more concrete answers, as we both are indicating it depends on many factors.

What Kari is asking for is the acquisition lifecycle time, or lead time. However, there is no way any specificity can be provided. The only real “answer” available, like many things, is that it depends.
Some dependencies of note, but are also not any where exhaustive, include:

1. Size and scope of the need. The more complex, the more…

[Read more]

Steve – I believe you are working from a false assumption that the continued poor requirements development process is a direct function of “greener” 1102s. Granted that you will see continued poor performance as a direct result of this issue (see this article in the Washington Post), it would be difficult to make the one-for-one assumption that…[Read more]

Some OSDBU offices are staffed by feds who are being put out to pasture, who know very little about their own agencies or the small business community at large. Their standard answer or advice to small businesses is to go look at FedBizOpps. Mr. Boshears is certainly not that way, in my personal dealings with him, as I believe him to be the best…[Read more]

Good working model of the potential of strategic sourcing that can be used at the federal level.

The missing component here is the lack of leadership and accountability for successful outcomes. The government should not settle for mediocracy, and certainly industry providers do not set out to provide average services. However, the LPTA environment normally drives prices below the levels of what the innovative solutions demand. Because price…[Read more]

Implementing this initiative not only makes sense, but would also go a long way to help improve small business goals, and expanding opportunities for small businesses and the use of simplified acquisition procedures.
With the recent Government Charge Card Abuse Prevention Act going into law, it will not be realistic. We can expect procurement…[Read more]

I agree, it is the height of political mendacity to create phony accountability. When the Commission on Wartime Contracting released their final report earlier this year, they stated that over $60 BILLION was unaccounted for, and presumed the victim of fraud, waste, and abuse. Washington and the media effectively shrugged their shoulders and…[Read more]