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…
SMB or Small to Mid-sized Businesses is a marketing term often used in the private sector to describe businesses that are larger than a sole proprietorship but smaller than a large corporation. In government contracting,…
One of the most frustrating variables of the source selection is not knowing how many proposals the government will get. One of the ways to solve this problem is to require a notice of intent…
In this episode Kevin welcomes guest Shelley Hall from The Skyway team to talk about unduly restrictive requirements. Every contract starts with a requirement, one of the roles of the Contracting Officer is to decide how…
Sometimes the government gets a vote on who contractors subcontract to. In some specific cases, mostly when using cost type contracts, the government has the right to give consent to subcontract. This means that the…
In this episode, Kevin welcomes John Ferry to talk about artificial intelligence, which is the buzzword of the day it seems and its potential impact on government contracting. Specifically, we’re going to talk about how AI and…
In this episode, Kevin and Paul, explain how a past performance questionnaire or a PPQ works in government contracts. While there are many ways to evaluate the past performance of contractors, a PPQ is specific…
Procurement Action Lead Time or PALT is how long it takes from requirement to contract. For years this has been the standard for how the Government decides how quickly contracts are awarded, or how quickly…
In this episode, Kevin and Paul explain a relatively new source selection process, the Highest Rated Technical Offer at reasonable price or HTRO. This source selection process is a mirror image of LTPA, however there are…
Sometimes the Government’s acquisition plan doesn’t line up with the schedule for a requirement. While there are lots of ways to meet a short term requirement, the Contracting Officer may use a bridge contract as…
Winning the contact is step one, managing and administrating it afterward is just as important. In this episode, Kevin and Paul describe key factors that could create pitfalls in your post-award contract management and also…
While not raising the Federal debit ceiling seems like a political exercise, it has a direct impact on Government contracts of course. In this free episode, we describe some of the impacts that may already…
The Government awards multiple award contracts in order to have more contractors to pick from after award. However, to avoid being “stuck with” the list of contractors they have, the Government may also include on-ramps…
In this episode we describe the best value continuum. We explain how the Government is always looking for “best value” through every acquisition. The question becomes where on the continuum does a specific acquisition lie?…
Contracting Officers are often required to do provide a debriefing to contractors when they are unsuccessful. However, the means to how that debriefing happens is open for the Government to choose. In this episode we…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you! It’s not just for Contracting Officers. In this episode we discuss the why, how and what of a Stop Work Order. We…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you! It’s not just for Contracting Officers. Contract value should be clear. However; the funded value, the face value, the potential value and…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you! It’s not just for Contracting Officers. Contracts are awarded by Contracting Officers other agreements are awarded by Agreement Officers. In this episode,…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you! It’s not just for Contracting Officers. One of the biggest challenges contractors face is getting the Contracting Officer to talk to them. …
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) This is the 400th episode of the Contracting Officer Podcast. Thank you to all the listeners who…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) In this “companion episode” to The 3 Deciders, Kevin and Paul discuss how roles change after contract…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Skyway team member Joe Luetke discuss the importance of timely and efficient contract closeout. Listen…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin welcomes special guest Brian Burns to revisit “the three deciders”, a concept you’ll recognize from episode…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the process that industry uses to review proposals prior to final submittal. Listen…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin talks Other Transactions and consortia with Mica Dolan, Chief Operating Officer at Advanced Technology International (ATI)….
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) We spend a lot of time on the podcast talking about the Acquisition Time Zones and the…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and special guest Alan Apple (applelaw.us) discuss why the government uses Small Business Innovative Research (SBIRs)…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul talk government source selection evaluation criteria. Listen and learn how using threshold requirements and…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Questions about the solicitation are a fact of life for most acquisitions. Kevin and Paul discuss how…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul describe the process of amending a government solicitation. Listen and learn why (as always)…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss two hurdles a small business must leap in order to receive a government…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the not-very-black-and-white nature of decision making and how not making a decision is…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and special guest (and former Contracting Officer) Angela Jacobs discuss the differences between official contractual direction,…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) The FAR has long defined commercial items, though the very term “commercial item” has created confusion for…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Only a contracting officer can sign a contract on behalf of the government, but as the acquisitions…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) It may be surprising to learn that the federal government sometimes duplicates effort and misses out on…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul return to the balance between process and relationships in the GovCon world. Every government…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin discusses the Acquisition Time Zones with Brian Burns, podcaster (https://www.b2brevenue.com/about) and government sales guru. Listen and…
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) When an RFP is released, there has been some activity, maybe a LOT of activity, by both…