There are some unique words in GovCon – my favorite is still “de-obligated” (not be confused with “not obligated”), but there are also words like “small business” – that in some cases can include businesses…
GovCon has unique words, like “de-obligated” (not be confused with “not obligated”) – or “colors of money” (not to be confused with regular money that’s well, green here in the US). While unique GovCon words…
In this episode, Kevin is once again joined by Troy Francis. Troy knows the nuances of both Federal and Local contracting because he’s been both a Federal Contracting Officer and now he is a Chief…
Not every contract has the same payment terms. Sometimes we pay in full up front. Sometimes we pay upon completion. Sometimes we pay in parts along the way. Those same payment terms can apply to…
The government awards most contracts using competitive processes. Some of those processes are simple. Some of them are complicated. Sometimes they are so complicated that the process from requirement to award (through the Acquisition Time…
Plenty of ink has been spent on how government and industry need to communicate more, and better (including by us). However, knowing we are supposed to communicate “better” and knowing how to communicate “better” are…
In government contracting, there are so many ways to buy products and services. Multiple award, commercial, simplified acquisition, micro purchase, letter contract, GSA contract, logical follow-on, sealed bid, down select, lowest price with acceptable rating,…
Forms. Really? That does not sound very exciting. Fair enough – while “exciting” is not the word most people think of when discussing forms, this topic is relevant and important. Why? Because government contracts are…
In the 3 Deciders episode (episode 118), Kevin and Paul explained how the Economic Decider has the funds that are used to buy products and services under government contracts, the Customer has the need for…
Contract Severability is one of those concepts that has one meaning in the commercial world, and a slightly different meaning in the GovCon world. In non-government contracts, a simple definition is of severability is that…
Episode 443 was Part 1 of Pre-Acquisition communication. In that one we introduced the concept of Pre-Acquisition communication, Kevin and Paul provided some context why it matters. To recap, Pre-acquisition is what happens BEFORE there…
The government buys lots of services…but not all service contracts work the same way. There are personal services, non-personal services, Service Contract services, advisory services, and so on. We have a whole podcast playlist just…
Communication between government and industry matters throughout the acquisition process. In last week’s episode, we dug into a common misconception that gets in the way of effective communication – namely a lack of clear agreement…
Communication between government and industry matters throughout the acquisition process. In this episode Kevin and Paul dig into another common misconception that gets in the way of effective communication – namely a lack of clear…
If we’re going to buy something, we need to know how much it will cost. D’uh, right? The contract defines the terms and conditions of the purchase, while the price determines the value and/or cost…
Kevin and Paul have covered a LOT of topics on this podcast. In each of the episodes, they map out where a particular topic fits within the Acquisition and/or Execution Time Zones®. (NOTE: For more…
The United States government buys a wide variety of things in a variety of ways. In this episode, we cover one of those unique ways: through Foreign Military Sales (FMS). Under FMS, the US government…
We talked in episode 440 about how the government awards contracts for lots of services – unless those services are “inherently governmental activities”. We outlined the definition of that in episode 195. What makes these…
The US government decided a long time ago to contract out as many services as possible, except for the ones that are “inherently governmental services” (see episode 195 for those). However, the hiring of all…
Is federal contracting really that different from state and local contracting? In this episode, Kevin welcomes Troy Francis to the podcast to help answer that question. Troy knows the nuances of both Federal and State/Local…
Chess is one of my favorite games. It’s simple, yet maddeningly complex. Chess is a game in which it’s easy to get the basics: there are only 6 types of pieces. However, the game gets…
There are several places in the FAR that direct contracting officers to award products and services against existing contracts BEFORE establishing new ones. There is even a specific provision that acquisition planning include consideration for…
Wanting to award a contract and having a path to make award are two different things. The government needs to acquire goods and services. Even when the government customer clearly knows what they need, just…
A Sole Source contract award is when the government awards a contract without competition. The standard procedure in GovCon is to use competition to compete requirements, therefore awarding a sole source contract is a “non-standard”…
The Agency Protest is yet another communication tool available to industry to engage with the government team. It’s one of the ways – and it has it’s place. First though, we recommend straight up, “open…
How long can a government contract be? Most contracts are awarded to meet ongoing requirements. Therefore, it makes sense to have a contract in place to cover that requirement at all times. However, is there…
A protest is the formal process for offerors to challenge the way the government awards a contract. It’s like having check and balances built into the contracting “system”. However, protests tend to be sideways activity…
“Government contracting” is a broad phrase. There are many types of contracts, and types of contracting that fit under Government Contracts. One of the lesser known types of contracting is Contingency Contracting. This is contracting…
Government and industry are “encouraged to communicate” in the FAR…that’s nice…but how do they do that? How can the government and industry teams actually execute that “encouragement”? What exactly do the regulations say that government…
One of the best ways to improve acquisition outcomes is for Government and Industry to communicate. Open communication is one of the key concepts we focus on in our podcast, as well as Skyway’s consulting,…
The federal acquisition regulation (FAR) is chockablock with “thresholds” – a threshold is the term for a specific numbers (usually dollar a specific dollar amount) that requires specific action. Threshold types include: Review thresholds Approval…
Sometimes, the government gets a vote on who contractors subcontract to. It’s called “consent to subcontract”.. Part 1 was about the process to get consent (as a contractor) Part 2 is about the process to…
Back in Episode 422, Vicky Strycharske and Kevin Jans outlined how Oral Proposals work. They dug into what they are, and why they tend to be a valuable option for acquisition teams…especially when buying services….
In this episode, Shelley Hall and Kevin Jans outline the Dynamic Small Business Search tool. The DSBS. Industry: You may have a great product. Your service may be the best in your industry. You may…
To meet its mission, the government needs to buy things. To meet their mission, contractors need to sell things. Easy, right? Well, no. The difficulty comes when neither side is targeting. When the government is…
Communication matters. Communication between Government and Industry (between buyer and seller) is a key factor in the effectiveness of GovCon. Without effective communication, both government and industry can be very busy sending information back and…
Oral proposals are back… though maybe they never left. Either way, the government teams are using more oral proposals more often as part of their acquisition process. Kevin invited Vicky Strycharke from the Skyway team…
Protests are rarely the best course of action. Nonetheless, they are part of the GovCon landscape so it’s important to understand them. Kevin and Paul cover the basics of protests back in Episode 066. In…
In this episode, we dig into the OASIS+ contract. OASIS stands for One Acquisition Source for Integrated Services and the + is that this is the second version of the contract. In OASIS+, the contract…
In this episode, Kevin and Paul explain the concept of SETA Support or Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance Support. This is a specific type of professional services the government hires to provide direct support on…
