Letter: Tracking past performance good but time-consuming
A reader comments about the lack of employees to handle the important task of tracking performance.
Regarding "Performance: Past is prologue": Tracking past performance is a time-consuming activity. I don't know how many contracting officers people think the government has but, trust me, it's not that many.
Past performance is a valuable source-selection tool, but so are many others (technical requirements/capabilities, cost, etc.). When contractors are assessed as having adverse past performance, they are given an opportunity to refute it. Round and round it goes.
Consequently, most past performance is graded at the median level (no comments required). A sad state of affairs. By the way, we got rid of procurement clerks and other administrative assistants a long time ago. Only the poor contracting officers are left.
Michael McManus
Air Force
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