Don't change policy: Procurement works as is

In reference to "OFPP pushes for more competition," before the federal government goes off once again changing policy because of a nit in the procurement process, I firmly believe a study of current competition improvements in the past three years will show that overall competition has greatly increased, and the parts that appear to have difficulty are the exception rather than the rule. Applying more rules doesn't really enhance the process and in some cases can hamstring the process.

An example is the effect of GSA's opportunity distribution system, eBuy. Barely 3 years old and it has carried more than 200,000 task order opportunities, most of which were awarded. Distribution of these orders is available automatically to thousands of vendors.

Finally, demanding three bids be made is a foolish exercise. It is the vendors who decide what to bid, not the government. Thus, if only one vendor bids out of 1,000, does the government waste additional resources recompeting the effort because it didn't get three bids? Neither efficient nor cost effective at all. The procurement process has enough rules -- let them work.

Bill Johnson