The Performance Institute Calls on Congress for Acquisition Reforms
As procurement reform takes center stage on Capitol Hill, The Performance Institute contacted legislators and urged them to follow recommendations set forth in the final report issued by the SARA Panel. The letter also called for an increase in funding for the Federal Procurement Database and a more transparent contracting process. Read the letter here.

Performance-based contracting still
baffles agencies
Center for Contracting and Acquisition Federal
Performance-based contracting still befuddles federal agencies. And industry isn’t much better either, according to a panel of procurement experts. “The biggest impact of performance-based contracting has been confusion,” said Mike Sade, the Commerce Department’s senior procurement executive, at a lunch in Washington sponsored by the Young Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association’s Bethesda, Md., chapter. “Performance-based contracting raised three questions: What does the government really want? What were they thinking when they wrote the requirements? And how will they pick the winner with all the different solutions that vendors propose?” Sade added that the issue is as much about culture change and getting to think about metrics and outcomes than anything else.

GSA Opens up Reorganization Playbook
Lurita Doan has discussed reorganization at the General Services Administration since joining the organization. Also the GSA got a boost for its restructuring when President Bush signed the necessary legislation. The GSA Modernization Act creates the Federal Acquisition Service by combining the duties of the Federal Technology Service and the Federal Supply Service. It also brings together the Acquisition Services Fund to replace the Information Technology Fund and the General Supply Fund. In doing so, GSA hopes to provide customers with quality service without hassles and delays.

DOD Aims to Improve How it Buys Services
The Defense Department is making another attempt to improve how it buys services. “Over the next three to five months, DOD will identify what services the military branches buy and put them into portfolios. Once the services are in portfolios, Defense officials will determine what the best practices are to buy them,” said Shay Assad, director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy. “All cards are on the table and we will try to take the best approach,” Assad said yesterday at a conference in Arlington, Va., sponsored by the Contract Services Association of America, an industry association in Arlington. “We spend more on services than major weapon systems so it is important for us to manage how we buy services and make sure we create competition.” Improving the way it buys services has been an ongoing challenge for DOD.

The Performance Institute holds the 2006 Federal Acquisition Summit
The Performance Institute recently convened the 6th annual Federal Acquisition Summit in Arlington, VA. The summit brought together leaders in the field of acquisition including Robert Burton, the Associate Administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, Marcia Madsen, Chair of the SARA Panel, Gregory Rothwell, First Chief Procurement Officer for DHS,  Carl Demaio, President of The Performance Institute and many other experts from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the GSA. The event, attended by delegates from around the country, featured topics on Performance-Based Acquisition, Development of the Acquisition Workforce, Inter-Agency Contracts and Sourcing Strategies. Matthew Sheaff, Director of the Center for Contracting and Acquisition for The Performance Institute, chaired the event and commented that, “The event provided delegates the opportunity to hear the latest policy updates, best practices and SARA Panel insights from the leaders in the field.” The Performance Institute will be holding the 2007 Federal Acquisition Summit in March and more information will be available on www.excellenceinacquisition.org.

Federal Acquisition Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century
The Comptroller General recently convened leaders in the acquisition field to discuss the future challenges and opportunities in the 21st century. The report distributed by the Government Accountability Office highlights three major challenges facing the acquisition community: they found those to be determining who should perform the business of government in a constantly changing environment, the capacity of the federal workforce and better managing for results. Carl DeMaio, President of The Performance Institute and member of the SARA Panel, recently discussed the problems facing the acquisition workforce and the recommendations that the Sara Panel has made to fix the problem. These solutions include requiring Acquisition Human Capital Plans, establishing OFPP Workforce Advisor, creating a government-wide acquisition internship program, and recommend an aggressive use of streamlined hiring practices. To read the recommendations from the SARA Panel, please visit their website at http://www.acquisition.gov/comp/aap/index.html

OFPP Sets Deadline for Plan to Increase Use of Performance-Based Contracts
The United States Government Accountability Office has issued a report that the Army Corp of Engineers does not know how many continuing contracts they awarded during the years 2003-2005. Continuing contracts have allowed the Army Corp of Engineers to award multi-year contracts without having received appropriations to cover the full contract amount. The report recommended that the Corps eliminate the routine use of continuing contracts, establish meaningful criteria on the use of such contracts, and implement a system by which these contracts can be monitored.

OFPP Sets Deadline for Plan to Increase Use of Performance-Based Contracts
The Office of Federal Procurement Policy has given agencies until October 1 to submit a plan on how they will increase the use of performance-based contracting over each of the next five years. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy has set a goal of having forty percent of all contracts performance based. Performance based contracting is designed to increase results and provide better services for the tax payers. The Performance Institute understands and supports the use of performance-based contracting and this acquisition methodology will be highlighted during the 2006 Federal Acquisition Summit to be held in October. For more information on the Summit and to download a copy of the brochure, please visit www.excellenceinacquisition.org.

Annual Size Recertification May Become Part of SBA Regs
The Small Business Reauthorization and Improvements Act of 2006 looks to provide more requirements which aim to aid small businesses win intended work instead of it being provided to large federal businesses. The most significant of the new regulations are the annual size recertifications. The bill comes as reports have been published which show large companies winning small business contracts for 2005. The Bill also requires large prime contractors to meet small-business subcontracting goals, or face still penalties that could include the federal government withholding payments, or paying its subcontractors directly if the company failed to pay its teammates.

Contracts Database Short on Info, Long on Problem
The Federal Procurement Data System, created in 1979, was intended to provide the federal acquisition community with details on the government’s $300 billion-a-year contracting operation. However, this database has come to be unreliable when dealing with procurement practices, detailing how many agencies are using performance-based contracts, or even detailing why some contracts were awarded with competition. Carl Demaio, President of the Performance Institute and chairman of the subcommittee on performance-based contracting for the SARA Panel stressed that, the Federal Procurement Data System does not provide reliable data on federal acquisition and procurement.

DOD Competition Measure Could Go Governmentwide
The Service Acquisition Reform Act (SARA) Panel is recommending that agencies issuing services task orders worth more than $100,000 should seek a broad range of competition. This rule used now by the Department of Defense also means that when using the General Services Administration schedule contracts, DOD agencies may choose to alert all companies on the contract and give them a chance to bid, or they may opt to alert fewer companies. If they choose the latter option, DOD agencies must inform enough companies to receive at least three bids.

Acquisition councils finalize EVM rule
Federal Acquisition Officials finalized the new Earned Value Measure rule as The Performance Institute prepares to launch two trainings and a webinar in August on EVM. Be sure your agency understands how this rule will affect them by checking out our upcoming events page. The rule, which was effective in July, details how agencies should implement an earned-value management system for managing major acquisitions.

No one-size-fits-all approach for EVM
New FAR rule allows agencies to tailor their IT project management policies
Being the nation’s leading authority and repository on performance based management practices for government; the Performance Institute can help your agency with proven strategies and techniques to get the most out of EVM for your agency. A new rule issued July 5 gives federal agencies extensive latitude in determining how and when to apply earned value management to track information technology programs. EVM policies “should be based on the particular agency facts and circumstances,” according to comments accompanying the rule’s publication in the Federal Register.

Inspector General to Audit Massive FAA Outsourcing Effort
The Transportation Department inspector general soon will launch an audit of a contract awarded last year through the government's largest-ever public-private job competition at a civilian agency, including a closer look at a $500 million drop in the contract's anticipated savings, department officials said this week.