GSA moves forward with new professional services vehicle
February 29, 2012 by cs
The General Services Administration is moving ahead with a new contract vehicle for buying professional services.
Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Commissioner Steve Kempf approved the internal business case for the Integrations program earlier this month, according to GSA’s Integrations Blogger’s Blog on the agency’s “Interact” website.
While no dollar value has been attached to the contract’s ceiling, the government spent $79.5 billion on professional services during fiscal 2010, according to GSA data.
Integrations will be a multiple-agency indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. The Integrations contract is expected to include commercial and non-commercial services, that may include program management and consulting services. GSA is also considering having logistics services, professional engineering services and financial services on the menu. GSA is designing the contract vehicle to address needs for professional services that span several types of services that are often difficult to specify or quantify before making an award. However, the contract will elevate risk as a result, wrote Lisa McGuire, program manager for Integrations.
Mary Davie, assistant FAS commissioner for the Integrated Technology Service, said GSA’s Schedules program offers technology and other professional services on an a la carte basis. But agencies want more.
“Agencies have asked us to provide a total professional services solution, which often requires acquisition of multiple services across separate functional areas,” she wrote Feb. 21 on her Great Government Through Technology blog.
Davie said agencies want flexibility. About half of all government spending on complex integrated professional services in fiscal 2010 took place under cost-type contracts.
“That is why we are planning to include all task-order types in Integrations, including cost reimbursement,” she wrote.
Officials intend to make the acquisition process more flexible for all sorts of contract-type task orders and other direct costs at the task-order level, McGuire wrote.
At this point, the Integrations program team is working on a project schedule.
So far though, officials have said they are developing a customer working group, and, for industry, they plan to post draft documents for feedback as the working group meets. GSA wants to make the acquisition planning process to include input from industry and customers. GSA also has to register the contract vehicle with OMB’s MAX Federal website.
Davie is planning a “Tweet Chat” Feb. 29 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. She wants to interact with customer agencies and industry on a range of topics about Integrations. She will be answering tweets to @GSA_ITS with the hashtag #ITSChat.
About the Author: Matthew Weigelt is a senior writer covering acquisition and procurement for Federal Computer Week. This article appeared Feb. 21, 2012 at http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2012/02/21/gsa-integrations-program.aspx?s=wtdaily_220212.
Who won the biggest contracts of January 2012?
February 28, 2012 by cs
From a couple billion-dollar plus awards to intelligence support to cloud computing, we covered a variety of contract awards in January.
We count down the 10 biggest contract awards that hit the market in January. To qualify for our countdown contracts need to be publicly announced during the month and covered by Washington Technology. Some of the contracts may have been awarded before January, but were not publicly disclosed until that month.
We covered 40 contracts worth $9.1 billion during January and the top 10 contracts accounted for nearly $8 billion of the total. Half of the contracts in the top 10 are single awards, including the largest, while the rest have multiple winners. One contract is under protest.
Without further ado, our contract countdown starts with No. 10.
10. ManTech wins $91M Navy task
ManTech International will provide communications technology and engineering services to support the Naval Air Center’s research and development and other needs for the National Capital Region’s fixed, deployable and mobile systems.
9. Planned Systems International takes on health codes worth $96M
The company will do systems analysis, code maintenance and administration for the Defense Health Services System. The work includes processes and methodologies for developing requirements, change controls and documentation.
8. Raytheon wins $179.5M Air Force award
Raytheon will provide contractor field services support for U-2 sensors, data links and the Air Force’s distributed common ground system, an intelligence system.
7. Verizon captures $186M postal service network contract
Under this contract, Verizon is the prime on the Postal Service’s Telecommunications Integrated Postal Service contract. The company will design, build and manage an Internet Protocol communications network for the Postal Service.
6. 7 win $250M Army cloud contract
This multiple-award contract will be used to provide cloud services to support the Army Program Executive Office – Enterprise Information Systems. The winners are:
Criterion Systems Inc.
General Dynamics Corp.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services
IBM Corp.
Lockheed Martin Corp.
MicroTech LLC
Northrop Grumman Corp.
5. 9 companies share $476M defense contract
The nine companies will compete for work under the Defense Department’s Omnibus Network Enterprise contract. Services include systems engineering, information assurance and program management.
The nine winners are:
AT&T Technical Services Company
Booz Allen Hamilton
CACI Technologies Inc.
General Dynamics One Source LLC
Link Solutions Inc.
ManTech Information Systems and Technology Corp.
MorganFranklin Corp.
TASC Inc.
TWD & Associates Inc.
4. 5 win $900M anti-IED contract
Under this contract, the companies will provide support to combat improvised explosive devices. The winners are:
BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc.
Lockheed Martin Corp.
SRA International
Science Applications International Corp.
Wexford Group International
3. Trio wins FAA contracts topping nearly $400M
Human Solutions, Inc., SRA International Inc. and TASC Inc. have won contracts from the Federal Aviation Administration to support the systems that share information between air traffic controllers while planes are in flight.
2. 26 primes named to $1.9B Air Force support contract
Twenty-six companies and research entities have won prime spots on the Air Force’s Design and Engineering Support Program (DESP III), a seven-year, task order contract that covers the acquisition of engineering and technical services.
The winners are:
Aerospace Engineering Spectrum
Arinc Engineering Services LLC
Battelle Memorial Institute
Booz Allen Hamilton
Dynamics Research Corp.
DRS C3 & Aviation Co.
Global Consulting International Inc.
General Dynamics Information Technology
Gauss Management Research & Engineering
Hebco Inc.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.
Ki Ho Military Acquisition Consulting Inc.
Lockheed Martin Corp.
MI Support Services LP
Maden Tech Consulting
NCI Information Systems Inc.
Northrop Grumman Corp.
Science Applications International Corp.
Scientific Research Corp.
System Sustainment Alliance JV
Support Systems Associates Inc.
Standard Aero Redesign Services Inc.
Sumaria Systems Inc.
University of Dayton Research Institute
VSE Corp.
Wyle Laboratories Inc.
And the largest contract award announced in January is…
1. Lockheed wins $2B contract for South Pole project
The company will modernize technologies to transport scientists, staff and supplies to and from the Antarctic region to support the U.S. Antarctica research program.
It should be noted that this contract is currently under protest.
Lockheed will work with the National Science Foundation in the multi-year contract to install a cost-effective streamlined infrastructure for managing the three work stations and medical facilities, research vessels, construction projects and remote sites in and around Antarctica.
About the Author: Nick Wakeman is the editor-in-chief of Washington Technology. This article appeared on Feb. 17, 2012 at http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2012/02/17/january-contract-countdown.aspx?s=wtdaily_210212.
Why digital marketing matters for contractors
February 27, 2012 by cs
You’re tired of competitors’ websites having edgier content, more sophisticated designs, and innovative videos. But when you try to convince your company’s leadership to invest in updating your outdated website, you might as well be talking to a wall.
Instead of getting a green light to bring your website out of the dark ages, you’re asked to jump through hoops and “show them the money” or demonstrate return on investment before they’ll spend one more dime on marketing.
It’s time to step back and rethink your strategy. Here are three ways you can bring a compelling case forward to your management to invest in digital marketing.
First, start talking in their language. A digitally enabled website is actually a better sales tool and can result in greater top-line revenue. Through smarter content and more compelling presentation, your company’s website can result in new customers and new business – even if you’re not Apple, Best Buy or Barnes & Noble.
While the ROI connection is not as black and white for companies in the government services industries because they don’t actually transact business over the Web, it can be measured in terms of increased qualified leads, downloadable premium content, web traffic and job applications.
Second, focus on the reasons your company has a website in the first place and explain how an improved website with compelling content will better validate, verify and make your company more virtually accessible to your target customers:
Validate — As a government services company without a real storefront where you can walk in and check out the goods or products, a website helps new and current customers reinforce their decision to do business with your company and get to know the people behind your brand. It also helps the employees you’re targeting to hire confirm their decision to work for you by helping them meet people digitally before the in-person interview.
Verify – Like consumers today do when shopping for the best bargain, a digitally enabled website gives new customers, new employees and new investors a real-time, self-service tool to check out for themselves what they heard from a colleague, read about in the news or what they think of your company from walking by your booth at a recent industry conference or trade show.
Virtual – A state-of-the-art website gives your target audiences 24/7 access to your company’s value proposition and all the reasons you want them to do business with you and not the other guy. Instead of waiting for an e-mail or phone call to be returned, they can understand what your company does, get a feel for your corporate culture and a pulse on your company’s financial stability and learn how you’ve used innovation to solve your customers’ problems.
Third, digital content is one of the best ways to demonstrate your company’s innovative spirit. Static, stale and uninteractive content is an instant turn-off to a prospective customer looking for a contractor to deliver their program or bring their new idea to life. Today, people want to see examples, hear smart people talking to them in videos and learn about how you’ve helped solve problems they can relate to.
There’s no better way than a short video with creative use of graphics, facts and statistics or a downloadable, easy-to-read eBook that can more imaginatively tell a story than three or four paragraphs of tired web copy.
Besides, one of the best arguments of all for investing in digital marketing – your customers and employees expect it.
About the Author: Eileen Cassidy Rivera is former vice president of communications and investor relations at Vangent, a General Dynamics company. In December, she joined KeeganSilver as senior health marketing strategist supporting Booz Allen Hamilton. This article was published by Washington Technology on Feb. 16, 2012 at http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2012/02/16/digital-marketing-advice.aspx?s=wtdaily_210212.
SBA redefinition of small business draws mixed reactions
February 23, 2012 by cs
As the Small Business Administration redefines exactly how big a small business can be, it faces mixed reactions from lawmakers and small business groups.
SBA published its new guidelines in the Federal Register on Feb. 10, with the rules scheduled to go into effect March 12. The comprehensive review in size standards, the first SBA has undertaken since the early 1980s, determined that larger businesses in 34 industries and three sub-industries in the professional, scientific and technical services sector could be considered small businesses.
Under the new rules, more weight is placed on business structural characteristics, including average firm size, the degree of competition and federal government contracting trends, in order to cast a broader net over businesses eligible for government programs. SBA estimates that as many as 8,350 additional firms will become eligible for its programs as a result.
The National Federation of Independent Business, a lobbying organization that represents about 350,000 small businesses across the country, defines anything that is not publicly held as a “small business” for purposes of membership. NFIB spokeswoman Jean Card, however, emphasized that more than 70 percent of the group’s members have 10 employees or fewer, and 97 percent have 50 or fewer.
Card noted that defining small business is no easy task. “I don’t envy them,” she told Government Executive, but added she was “not real clear on why the definition changed.”
Small businesses, Card said, are looking for more government help with issues like tax regulation and health care policy.
The National Small Business Association, a nonprofit membership organization, will be talking with its members next week regarding the advantages and disadvantages of SBA’s move. NSBA limits its membership to businesses with fewer than 500 employees and does not distinguish by industry or revenue.
“We have a few general concerns with it lumping together businesses that have different interests and concerns — for example, the lumping together of architecture and engineering firms,” NSBA spokeswoman Molly Brogan said of the new classification system.
Some congressional lawmakers unhappy with SBA are seeking to implement new legislation that would require the government to see small businesses in a different light.
“If the size standards are adjusted then we don’t need to change the definition, but we do need complementary incentives for advanced [and] growing small businesses,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., co-author of the Small Business Protection Act, which was introduced in the House on Feb. 8.
The bill, also co-authored by Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill., seeks to redefine the size standard for each small business category so that it remains within each group’s North American Industry Classification System code, according to a Feb. 8 press release from Walsh’s office.
As part of President Obama’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal, SBA received a 30-percent boost in federal funding from fiscal 2011 actual discretionary expenditures.
– by Andrew Lapin - Government Executive – February 15, 2012 – http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2012/02/sba-redefinition-small-business-draws-mixed-reactions/41215/.
National OSDBU conference scheduled in DC on Apr. 19th
February 23, 2012 by cs
The OSDBU (Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization) Procurement Conference is a national conference fostering business partnerships between the Federal Government, its prime contractors, and small, minority, service-disabled veteran-owned, veteran-owned, HUBZone, and women-owned businesses. Now in its 22nd year, the OSDBU Directors Conference has become the premier event for small business throughout the United States.
This year the event is scheduled on Apr. 19, 2012, and the location is the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.
This unique one-day event annually attracts more than 3,000 people including:
- Over 500 government attendees representing 50 Federal, State and local agencies
- Prime Contractors with teaming and mentor-protégé opportunities
- Hundreds of small businesses, minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses, 8a businesses and HUB-Zone businesses
Participating firms will have the benefit of marketing their products and services to procurement representatives and small business specialists from federal agencies. Companies may choose to set up an exhibit table to showcase their capabilities or simply come as an attendee. The conference also includes educational conference sessions, procurement matchmaking, and a dynamic exhibitor showcase.
For more information or to register see; http://www.fbcinc.com/e/osdbu/default.aspx.
Design, construction and engineering opportunities are topics for Mar. 20-21 Army Corps small business conference
February 22, 2012 by cs
The South Atlantic Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to conduct their 2012 Annual Regional Small Business & Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Conference, in Atlanta on March 20-21, 2012.
The primary purpose of the Conference is to discuss contracting opportunities with the Corps of Engineers, specifically within the South Atlantic Division (SAD). The region encompasses all or part of the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South and North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
This outreach event will provide a venue for SAD to discuss its mission, goals, and contracting opportunities with the small and large business communities. As part of this event, SAD will host a roundtable discussion with the SDVOSB community on the 21st. The roundtable is designed to further discuss the importance of doing business with SDVOSBs community, and to providing a better understand of the acquisition process in today’s environment. Discussions will also clarify procedures needed to increase contracting opportunities within SAD.
As this is a free event, space is limited and all applicants must register in order to gain access to the conference center. For complete details on the conference, please click here.
To register for the conference, please click on the link below and follow the instructions to successfully complete the online registration form:
http://sadsbsdvosbconference.eventbrite.com
Advance registration is required.
Budget encourages contractors’ political contribution disclosures
February 22, 2012 by cs
The Obama administration has not backed off its plan to require contractors to disclose political campaign contributions when they submit contract bids.
The idea first surfaced in April 2011, when the administration began circulating a draft executive order that would have directed agencies to gather information from companies about their political contributions. The administration had hoped such transparency would prevent contributions from influencing contract decisions.
The plan had sparked strong objections on Capitol Hill, leading to the introduction of several bills as well as congressional hearings.
During one hearing in May, senators warned Dan Gordon, then administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, of the consequences of such a rule. Gordon would not comment on the proposal at the hearing because it was only in draft form. However, he said evaluations of companies’ bids should be objective and should not be influenced by who or what a bidder supports. And if a company believes its bid was unfairly evaluated, he said the firm have recourse by filing a bid protest.
Congress has already blocked the controversial proposal though. With support among both Republicans and Democrats, the fiscal 2012 National Defense Authorization Act included a provision that blocks the disclosures with bids. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law in January.
About the Author: Matthew Weigelt is a senior writer covering acquisition and procurement for Federal Computer Week. This article appeared Feb. 13, 2012 at http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2012/02/14/political-contributions-2013-budget.aspx?s=wtdaily_170212.
SBA opens doors to more firms by increasing size limits
February 20, 2012 by cs
Federal agencies soon will have a larger pool to draw from for their small-business procurement programs.
The Small Business Administration increased the size standard for technology companies as well as for 33 other industries under a final rule published Feb. 10 in the Federal Register.
The move means about 8,350 additional companies are now eligible to compete for federal contracts as a small business.
The final rule will increase 37 of the revenue-based size standards in 34 industries and three sub-industries in the “Professional, Scientific and Technical Services” sector. It will also increase one size standard in the “Other Services” sector.
Size standards are used to determine eligibility for federal small-business assistance programs. SBA measures “size” for most industries by receipts and number of employees. It defines receipts as the total income plus cost of goods sold.
The higher revenue limits cover the professional, technical and scientific sectors and will take effect on March 12.
Technology firms offering computer programming, maintenance and design services, for example, can now earn $25.5 million, up from $25 million.
The Management, Scientific and Technical Consulting Services sector received an increase from $7 million to $14 million. Public commenters in this sector, who supported the increase, highlighted that the higher size standard will help small businesses to develop to be able to compete against large businesses for federal contracting opportunities.
“Over the years, SBA has received comments that its size standards have not kept up with the changes in the economy, in particular, that they do not reflect changes in the federal contracting marketplace and industry structure,” the final rule noted.
“SBA recognizes that changes in industry structure and the federal marketplace since the last overall review have rendered existing size standards for some industries no longer supportable by current data,” it adds. Size standards were last comprehensively reviewed in the early 1980s.
With more than 8,000 newly defined small firms under the revised size standards, there may be some additional administrative costs to the federal government associated with additional bidders for federal small-business procurement opportunities and more companies seeking SBA guaranteed lending programs or eligibility for enrollment in the Central Contractor Registration’s Dynamic Small Business Search database, the Federal Register said.
Click here to find a summary of size standard changes.
About the Author: Alysha Sideman is the online content producer for Washington Technology. This article was published on Feb. 10, 2012 at http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2012/02/10/sba-increases-size-limits.aspx?s=wtdaily_140212.
3 steps to getting your small business discovered
February 17, 2012 by cs
I recently saw a discussion post in a group on LinkedIn that complained about people not lining up to download an application this person had on his web site. Why don’t people come to get this totally unique, valuable application? the person whined.
Why indeed!
We don’t operate in a vacuum and business does not occur by burning incense, chanting and praying for the phone to ring – or by posting something on a web site that very few people know about or visit.
What’s a company got to do to get on the radar?
Here are three relatively simple things that any company, especially small companies, should be doing so they can “get found.”
First, define your expertise in terms that resonate with your niche in the market. Bob Davis, vice president at HeiTech Services in Silver Spring, Md., calls this defining your “sustainable competitive advantage,” which should be something that your company does better than 90 percent of your competitors. This is a skill that you have demonstrated through work with a variety of clients, not simply one you claim without demonstrable experience.
In other words, you need to differentiate your company.
Second, get conversant with the new social media tools. Social media here encompasses web 2.0 tools like webinars, podcasts, blogs, web video, web radio and social networks like LinkedIn and GovLoop. To stand out and be found, you have to participate in multiple venues and offer some good content in each.
This does not mean that you have to use all of the above web tools, but you need to understand the value that each tool offers. Then use the tools that will help you get your message out to targeted audiences.
As I indicated in last month’s column, each of these tools brings something different to the table.
If you are offering a technical solution, webinars are a great tool to educate. Both blogging and webinars are great for developing a thought leadership position in your niche. Podcasts allow you to offer white papers, another thought leadership tool, in an audio format.
The goal is to use one or two of these tools on a regular basis to highlight and support your claim to your market position and your sustainable competitive advantage.
The third task is to spread the word. You now have the message (your sustainable competitive advantage) and the platform(s) – whichever tools you have opted to use.
Next, you have to tell people where to find this great content. In February 2011 I wrote “Content may be King, but Delivery is the Ace” in which I explained that, although content is key to proving you own a particular piece of intellectual real estate, unless you can show people where to find that content, you will never get on the radar and get the right people to read, listen to, or watch any of the content you have developed.
Traditional methods still work. A solid PR campaign can help, but using social media to share the content as well as deliver it is effective.
Many people read my Washington Technology columns because they find the link to the article posted on LinkedIn, Tweeted, and occasionally even on Facebook.
Go back to the beginning of this article where the guy was whining about people not downloading an application that this person had on his web site. People have to know it’s there in order to download it.
Get on board and get on the radar of your audience.
About the Author: Mark Amtower is co-founder and co-director of the Government Market Masters program. This article was published on Feb. 14, 2012 by Washington Technology at http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2012/02/14/amtower-small-business-social-media.aspx?s=wtdaily_150212.