Acquisition
Acquisition workforce has OFPP nominee's attention
Federal spending has increased by 163 percent since fiscal 2000, while the number of contracting officers hasn’t kept pace.
Acquisition
Contractor database hit from both sides
Did the federal acquisition councils go too far or not far enough in designing a new database for contractors’ past performance and legal compliance? That depends on whom you ask.
Acquisition
Fixed-price contracts increase under stimulus law
The proportion of fixed-price contracts is increasing in the contracts funded under the economic stimulus law, a new report says.
Acquisition
Insourcing can create synergy between missions and personnel
Insourcing is one tool agencies can use to build a strong organization that has its main missions in mind, experts say.
Acquisition
OMB urges performance-based management
Agencies should use performance-based management systems to improve acquisitions practices, according to an OMB memo.
Acquisition
Twenty must-follow contracts
A ranking of the largest and most important contracts set to be released in the coming year.
Acquisition
Federal cost-reimbursement contract overview is a mess, GAO says
It is hard to get a handle on federal cost-reimbursement contracts because of missing documentation and incomplete accounting, says a new GAO report
Acquisition
Insourcing: It's still more with less
It's time to use available commercial technologies and business practices and bring federal acquisition into the 21st century, Bruce Sullivan writes.
Acquisition
A bid for protest sanity
The latest case of a bid protest against a multibillion-dollar award prompted our colleague Nick Wakeman to ask a simple but pertinent question: What gives?
Acquisition
Senators skeptical about Obama acquisition reform plan
The Obama administration expects agencies to save $40 billion by fiscal 2011 through better acquisitions.
Acquisition
OMB says agencies must boost competition in contracting
Civilian agencies must consider new ways to promote more competition in their contracts, the Office of Management and Budget said today.
Acquisition
The good, bad and ugly of bid protests
Some feel that they are about greed, while others blame the government for poor requirements and incomplete debriefings. Tell us what you think.
Acquisition
Government bears brunt of bid-protest criticism
Commenters direct most of their frustration at government officials who they say are doing a poor job of explaining their award decisions.
Acquisition
What's behind the increasing number of bid protests?
The decision by Unisys and General Dynamics to protest the lost TSA contract has this observer scratching his head. Why so many protests?
Acquisition
Schedule 70 IT sales flat in 2009
Schedule 70 IT sales remain flat but steady because of many more options for services contracts, experts say.
Acquisition
Social contract
The world of federal procurement and acquisition policy is about as insular as it gets in nonclassified government.
Acquisition
Snowe urges SBA to start contracting program for women
Agencies have exceeded small-business contracting goals with recovery act money, although women-owned small-business category hasn't met its goal yet.
Acquisition
Justice needs technology support
The department is considering as many as 15 contracts on a multiple-award contract along with a possible small-business set-aside.
Acquisition
Congress, Obama set boundaries for contractors
No one in Congress or the Obama administration is beating the drum for a new generation of acquisition reform, but a reform of sorts is under way nonetheless, and it might not be to the liking of contractors.
Acquisition