Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

DoD issues final rule restricting the use of LPTA procurements

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Effective October 1, 2019, a new rule issued by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) amends the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to limit the use of lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) procurements.  In December 2018, we highlighted the DOD’s proposed rule limiting LPTA procurements.  The final version of that rule, published on Thursday, September 26, 2019, is, as of October 1, 2019, found at section 215.101-2-70 of the DFARS.  As our earlier analysis concluded, this amendment to the DFARS significantly restricts DOD’s ability to favor low-cost options over technical superiority.

Continue reading at:  Perkins Coie

Prepare now to secure ‘controlled unclassified information’

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Nowadays, many people are familiar with at least some types of protected information, whether in the form of personal health information or government-classified information. But, contractors working with the Department of Defense (“DoD”) must remember to protect another type of information: controlled unclassified information (“CUI”). Failure by government contractors to put processes in place that protect CUI could result in the loss of contracting opportunities or potential False Claims Act-related litigation.  For more information about the far-reaching implications of cybersecurity requirements on government contractors, please also see Matt Feinberg’s blog on the recent settlement of a cybersecurity False Claims Act (“FCA”) litigation; Isaias “Cy” Alba’s piece about cybersecurity, implied certifications, and the FCA; and Dave Shafer’s analysis of current cybersecurity standards and the DoD’s plans to remedy confusion.

Continue reading at:  Piliero Mazza

Recent DoD contract awards (Aug. 15 – 28)

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Every week we will post links to the last seven days of DoD contract awards that were $7 million or more.  Contracts valued at $7 million or more are announced each business day at 5 p.m. at:  https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/

Contracts For Aug. 23, 2019

Contracts For Aug. 22, 2019

Contracts For Aug. 21, 2019

Contracts For Aug. 20, 2019

Contracts For Aug. 19, 2019

Contracts For Aug. 16, 2019

Contracts For Aug. 15, 2019

Recent DoD contract awards (Aug. 6-14)

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Every week we will post links to the last seven days of DoD contract awards that were $7 million or more.  Contracts valued at $7 million or more are announced each business day at 5 p.m. at:  https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/

Contracts For Aug. 14, 2019

Contracts For Aug. 13, 2019

Contracts For Aug. 12, 2019

Contracts For Aug. 9, 2019

Contracts For Aug. 8, 2019

Contractors have questions about DOD’s cyber requirements

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The Pentagon is making big moves in an effort to improve cybersecurity for its industrial base, but so far the department’s biggest roadblocks early on may be the same confusion, doubt and uneven compliance from contractors that led to the vulnerabilities in the first place.

Officials from the Department of Defense and the National Institute of Standards and Technology gave updates on two nascent programs at an Aug. 8 Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board meeting: NIST’s new draft cybersecurity guidance for contractor systems deemed high value assets and the Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program.

Both are designed to shore up different aspects of DOD’s cybersecurity regime for contractors, and both are causing heartburn among companies who are still unclear about how best to comply.

The NIST draft guidance around high value assets recently went out for public comment earlier this year.  The more than 600 responses reflect confusion about the scope and application of the requirements.

Continue reading at:  FCW.com

What I wish I’d known before I became a government contractor (part 1)

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This month marks my 15th anniversary of being a government contractor, mostly for the Department of Defense.  I’ve learned and grown a lot as a government contractor and I have enough experiences to fill a book, or two.  There are some things I wish I would have known, so I will share them with you.

I had a decade of private sector experience before starting as a government contractor for DoD.  I found a challenging, often frustrating, but never boring introduction when I arrived at the Pentagon for my first assignment.

Although I had been married for more than a decade to an Army Reserve officer, I was completely unfamiliar with military culture in the workplace.  Here is a list of some of the most glaring differences:

TIME KEEPING RULES

Direct hire employees in the private sector have more flexibility when it comes to time keeping, schedules, and leave.  Federal contractors have very strict rules when it comes to reporting hours worked to the government.  Most private sector companies allow their direct hires to telework, something government contractors are often not allowed to do.  This reminds me of my experience with a former federal employee turned contractor who was astonished to realize that contractors are often held to different rules than their federal counterparts.  In her previous role she enjoyed the 59-minute rule, but as a contractor she was not entitled to leave before her scheduled time.  This was a difficult pill for her to swallow.  She quickly realized government contracting is not the same as being a federal employee.

Continue reading at:  Clearance Jobs

HHS shuts down assisted acquisition services

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The Department of Health and Human Services’ Program Support Center handles more than $1.4 billion in contracts for other agencies as part of its assisted acquisition services offering.

Program Support Center customer agencies include the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Special Counsel, the Environmental Protection Agency and most notably the Defense Department.  In fact, DoD accounts for about $1 billion of that total.

Unfortunately for those and many other agencies, HHS is pulling the rug out from under them at possibly the worst time.

Internal memos obtained by Federal News Network show HHS decided to stop offering assisted acquisition services on June 14 just as agencies were gearing up for the fourth quarter buying season, one which many experts say will be even busier than normal because of the 35-day government shutdown.

This means all new acquisitions are stopped, including a $150 million multiple-award contract PSC was close to awarding for EPA and numerous in-process contracts for DoD.

It also means that any award made over the last four years must be moved to other agencies or absorbed by the home agency by Sept. 30, 2020.  This basically gives agencies 15 months to move existing contracts.

The reason HHS gave for immediately discontinuing its assisted acquisition services:  “As the result of an internal review that is ongoing, PSC has determined that it does not have the policies, procedures or internal controls necessary to conduct assisted acquisitions for agencies outside of HHS,” the agency wrote in a memo to civilian agency customers.

In a similar memo to DoD customers, HHS said it can no longer certify that it complies with the requirement in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 17.7 and in the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act that “requires the heads of all non-DoD agencies that provide acquisition support to DoD to certify that their respective non-Defense agencies will comply with defense procurement requirements for fiscal 2019 for assisted acquisitions executed on behalf of DoD in FY 2019.”

Continue reading at:  Federal News Network

How US Army Futures Command is working with small biz, academia

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U.S. Army Futures Command is laying the groundwork to strengthen collaboration with academia and small businesses to solve some of the service’s most major problems.

The Army has struggled with relationships outside of the established defense industry, particularly with small businesses and Silicon Valley.

Small businesses have expressed concerns about working with the government, mostly in regard to the time it takes to secure a contract award as well as the complex and cumbersome government-contracting process.

The Government Accountability Office issued a report last week that found Army Futures Command could improve how it works with small businesses.  The report was released on the eve of AFC’s declaration of full operational capability, which is officially set for July 31.

“The funny thing is if I talk to defense primes, they are convinced all we are working with is small business, and I talk to small business [and they are] all [convinced] … we are [just] working with the defense primes,” Gen. Mike Murray, AFC commander, said during a July 18 press briefing at the Pentagon.

“It’s going to take a combination of both for us to accomplish our mission, and in many ways a combination of both working together” to achieve the command’s goals in modernizing the Army, he said.

Continue reading at:  Defense News

The FY 2020 NDAA: What government contractors should watch for

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Congress is moving closer toward passage of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  Although key differences remain between the House and Senate versions of the bill, the legislation is ultimately likely to include authorization for new investments by the Department of Defense (DoD) in software and cybersecurity, and potential changes in areas relevant to government contractors, such as commercial items, data rights, and cost or pricing data.

On June 27, 2019, the Senate passed its version of the NDAA, S 1790, which would authorize $750 billion in DoD spending for FY 2020.  On July 12, 2019, the House of Representatives passed its version of the bill, H.R. 2500, which would authorize $733 billion.  The process of reconciling those bills and passing a final NDAA for the president’s signature appears likely to be a lengthy one.  No Republicans voted in favor of the House bill, which the Trump administration has threatened to veto, in large part because it falls short of the administration’s $750 billion budget request.

Following is a preview of the key procurement-related provisions of the 2020 NDAA that government contractors and others should watch for as the legislative process continues.

Continue reading at:  Perkins Coie

If you’re working on a military installation, don’t lose your base access

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In the classic 1993 movie Gettysburg, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, a great American hero (played by Jeff Daniels), commented on the power wielded by military commanders, particularly generals:  “Generals can do anything.  Nothing quite so much like God on Earth as a general on a battlefield.”

It turns out that this this power extends to actions that might affect your Government contract.  For instance, a base commander can revoke a contractor’s access to the base; if that happens, and the contract required the contractor to maintain base access eligibility, the Government can rightly terminate the contract for default.

Continue reading at:  SmallGovCon

 

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