Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

DCAA says hiring freeze may stall its effort to clear backlog

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President Donald Trump’s federal hiring freeze may have derailed the Defense Contract Audit Agency’s goal to clear its audit backlog by 2018, the DCAA said in an otherwise glowing annual report to Congress made available recently.

The DCAA boasted $3.6 billion in savings from its audit activity during the 2016 fiscal year in its report, but the Pentagon’s primary bean counter for the acquisition community also said that Trump’s 90-day hiring freeze signed in late January may affect its ability to clear a 17.6-month audit backlog by next year.

“Until the recent 2017 hiring freeze, I was confident that we would meet our target of eliminating the backlog by the close of 2018,” DCAA Director Anita Bales, an Obama-era appointee, told congressional defense committees in the March 31 report made available last week. “However, we are currently reassessing our projections to determine how the new hiring freeze will impact our ability to meet our target date.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.law360.com/publicpolicy/articles/916477/dcaa-says-hiring-freeze-may-stall-its-effort-to-clear-backlog

Defense contractors see end of budget decline

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“The tide has definitely turned in the direction of contract spending,” wrote a team directed by Andrew Hunter of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Defense Department fiscal 2016 contract obligations increased by 7 percent over the previous year, “far higher than predicted,” said the analysis of the outlook for spending on research and development, defense acquisition reform and procurement performance-based data from the Federal Procurement Data System.

Significant boosts in spending commitments were recorded by the Missile Defense Agency, the Air Force and the Navy, “driven primarily by increased obligations for large procurement programs like the C-130J transport aircraft, the KC-45A tanker aircraft, and the Trident II missile program,” CSIS said. “Even the Army, which had declined far more steeply than DoD overall throughout the budget drawdown, was virtually stable between 2015 and 2016.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/04/defense-contractors-see-end-budget-decline/136788

Federal IT spending to remain flat over next 5 years

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Federal BudgetWhen the Obama administration’s 2017 budget was released in February, it showed that IT spending was set to grow 1.8 percent, up to $89.9 billion over last year’s total, with about $51.3 billion designated for civilian agencies.

This was positive news for the defense and tech contractors that serve the federal government, but the uptick may not be a sign of things to come. According to the analysts at Deltek, federal IT spending will actually decline over the next five years as agencies attempt to modernize aging IT infrastructure and reduce duplicative technologies and investments.

The Federal Information Technology Market report released earlier this month estimates total federal IT spending declining from $99.8 billion in fiscal 2016 to $98.3 billion by 2021.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2016/07/deltek-federal-it-spending-remain-flat-over-next-5-years/129890

Contractors attempt to get on the Presidential candidates’ radar

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More than in past election years, a top contractors group has been diving in to prepare for the coming presidential transition, in part with the release on June 9, 2016 of a new survey highlighting concerns over capabilities of the government’s acquisition workforce.

Professional Services Council - PSC“We are working with the Partnership for Public Service and other groups on a number of papers and a multi-pronged strategy” for meeting with the teams of the major presidential candidates, said Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel of the 400-company Professional Services Council, at a panel at the ACQUIRE Conference & Expo in Washington, D.C.

Getting an audience with the candidates or staff isn’t easy, added David Berteau, the council’s president and CEO, “because candidates don’t want to be take away one ounce of energy from getting elected.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2016/06/contractors-eye-presidential-transition-continuity-acquisition/128984

See article about the Acquisition Policy Survey with link to survey results here: http://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/?p=9709

Analysis covers top federal contractors in 20 purchasing categories at 24 agencies

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BGOV200 ReportBloomberg Government has released its annual BGOV200 report, ranking the top 200 federal government contractors by value of prime, unclassified contracts awarded by federal agencies in fiscal 2015. The report also analyzes the top contracts at 24 agencies and departments, and in 20 different purchasing categories.

“This year, top federal contractors have seen decreased contracts, enduring budget pressures, continued consolidation and unprecedented mergers and acquisition activity – our analysts have surfaced insights and trends of this complex marketplace for the government contracting community,” said Donald Thomas who heads Government Contracting Solutions Business at Bloomberg Government.

The BGOV200 report explores the way contractors have responded and performed against the contracting dynamics of the past year.

This year’s report shows total contract spending in fiscal 2015 was $440.8 billion, a 1.5 percent decline from $447.6 billion in fiscal 2014.  The share of total government obligations won by the top 200 was 62 percent, the same as in fiscal 2014.

Several factors contributed to the landscape in fiscal 2015.  After year-over-year declines in federal spending, fiscal 2015 may have been the bottom. While the marketplace continues to shape itself through significant merger and acquisition activity, the report hints that increased budgets and potential growth in contract spending may mean windfalls for the survivors.

To access the list and full analysis, click here: http://about.bgov.com/bgov200/

Federal spending decline slows, contractors merge, and DoD keeps cutting

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2016 Federal ScorecardAccording to the 2016 Federal Scorecard, which highlights key federal agency spending trends and top government contractors in FY15, overall agency spending fell by two percent (the smallest annual decline since FY11) — and half of all federal agencies increased spending.

The third-annual ranking of agency spending and contractor performance reveals several insights into the shifting federal market landscape:

  • Shifts in Defense Priorities. The Navy was the only Defense agency to increase its contract obligations, through recapitalization of major weapon system programs, including the F-35 and Virginia-class submarines, which emphasizes the U.S. pivot to Asia. In FY15, the Navy spent 55 percent more on aircraft than on ships and landing vessels, with aircraft contract awards totaling almost $15 billion.
  • Demand Still Strong for Services. Federal agencies were still heavily reliant on professional services, with the top two services categories holding steady with a combined $32 billion in awards. “What we saw was a major restructuring of industry in response to past LPTA measures rather than a disappearance of services contracting,” added Gillespie.
  • Impact of Services Consolidation on Competitive Landscape.Several contractors jumped in rank thanks to M&A (mergers & acquisitions) activity. For example, at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), newly formed CSRA jumped six spots in rank to join the top ten vendors with $106 million in capture.
  • Prescription Drug Spending Spikes. Prescription drugs are a growing cost across agencies, with Drugs and Biologicals purchases up 27 percent over the three year average. McKesson gained the most ground with capture, growing by 36 percent to $6 billion at Health & Human Services (HHS) and the VA.

The 2016 Federal Scorecard is published by Govini, a business intelligence provider for companies selling to the public sector.  The full Scorecard report can be downloaded here.

Contractors predict tightening of federal opportunities in next 5 years

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Governmentwide spending on defense and civilian contracting risks being pinched over the next five years by growing mandatory spending on entitlements, according to industry research being unveiled last week at a conference convened by the Professional Services Council.

Professional Services Council - PSCThough the overall federal budget will rise from current $3.9 trillion to $6.2 trillion in 2025, the defense portion is projected to fall from 15 percent to 11 percent of that total, while discretionary spending shrinks from 30 percent to 20 percent, according to the group’s first annual Vision Federal Market Forecast, a synthesis of the thinking of some 300 contracting specialists from industry, agencies, think tanks and Congress.

“Interest payments on the debt alone will double by the mid-2020’s,” said Stan Soloway, the council’s retiring president and CEO, in a preview conference call with reporters. This and entitlement accounts such as the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund will have a huge financial impact, which often gets glossed over, and is “untenable and unsustainable,” he said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2015/11/contractors-predict-tightening-federal-opportunities-next-5-years/123799

Civilian agencies could face nearly $2 billion in spending cuts due to sequestration, OMB says

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Federal civilian agencies will face nearly $2 billion in spending reductions if Congress doesn’t rollback sequestration cuts for fiscal 2016 or set spending levels under Budget Control Act caps, according to an Aug. 20 Office of Management and Budget report.

Sequestration was canceled for the last two fiscal years because of a bipartisan budget deal that was struck in Dec. 2013, but the cuts are scheduled to go back into effect in fiscal 2016 unless Congress cancels them again.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercegovernment.com/story/civilian-agencies-could-face-nearly-2b-spending-cuts-due-sequestration-omb/2015-08-24

Federal contract spending fell 3.1 percent in 2014, study finds

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Despite an overall hike in government spending in 2014, federal contract spending last year fell by $14.5 billion or 3.1 percent, according to the latest annual federal industry leaders study from Bloomberg Government, released on Friday.

Budget Versus Contract Obligations

But the good news for industry is that last year “may have represented the dawn of a new normal in the federal marketplace: contract spending was down following the drawdown in Afghanistan and Iraq, but greater budget certainties allowed greater planning and projections,” the analysts noted.

The drop in Pentagon spending was partially offset by a $1 billion hike in spending by the Health and Human Services Department. HHS spent about a billion more last year on services to medical providers.

Technology Spending Increases

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2015/06/federal-contract-spending-fell-31-percent-2014-study-finds/114547

See full report at: http://about.bgov.com/nextedge/report/bgov200/

Small is big in DoD business systems contracts … and that’s a good thing

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“Thirty-six years ago, a young computer programmer working out of his parents’ garage was looking for investments so he could create the world’s most user-friendly personal computer. “The programmer in question is the late Steve Jobs, and the fund that helped seed Apple in its infancy was part of the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program – the SBA’s investment arm,” said the December 19, 2014 SBA Blog.

Until recently, the Air Force struggled to meet SBA “negotiated” small business goals (SBA Agency Small Business Contracts Data), but there have been steady improvements due to a number of factors, such as implementation of the AF Small Business Improvement Plan. On January 20, the headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command announced they’d met small business goals for the first time in nine years.

From my perspective as a member of the Air Force for 31 years who has been working on small business contracts for the Air Force the past two years, I have observed the following 10 factors driving the recent success of small business in the Air Force and other services/agencies:

Defense budgets are puckered up. Our Department of Defense (DoD) is painfully trying to balance the needs for research and development, modernizing major weapon systems, increasing personnel costs, heavy deployment requirements and soaring sustainment costs and risks for weapon systems and infrastructure. Amidst all the sequestration, continuing resolutions for funding, budget cuts and racking and stacking priorities, DoD still confronts greater requirement vs. resource deltas than ever before.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.hstoday.us/blogs/guest-commentaries/blog/new-small-is-big-in-dod-business-systems-contracts-and-that-s-a-good-thing/cd9ad5f0c912386bd3f76e9be0ba3296.html

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