Library

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) In this update to Episode 239 Kevin and Paul talk working from home, or remote, or anywhere…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss FAR Part 18, Emergency Acquisitions. Learn how the flexibilities within the FAR (not…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul provide guidance on how the FAR handles situations like the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic….

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) The 8(a) Business Development Program is a Federal government program designed to give a lift to small…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) The Small Business Administration issued a final rule that includes significant changes that impact small businesses overall…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss another one of those “only in GovCon” situations – you have a contract…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!)   In Part 1 of our past performance series (Episode 267) we covered the factors the government…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) The Government’s choice of evaluation criteria are the critical element in any source selection. The evaluation criteria…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the concept of perfect competition – where the competition has commoditized the product…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Sometimes it is difficult for the Government acquisition machine to operate as efficiently as the commercial world’s….

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) This week we welcome special guest Michael Derrios, currently the Senior Procurement Executive and Head of Contracting…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the SBIR program, a great way for small businesses to enter the government…

Contract administration is like flossing your teeth. Best to do it on a regular basis. If you skip it for a while you may not notice any pain right away, but you can bet that…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) What does a COTR do? What can a COR direct a contractor to do? What is outside…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) In this holiday encore presentation of a foundational episode, Kevin and Paul explain the role of a…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) It’s a common human tendency. When things are going well, we become complacent to the reality of…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) What is the advantage of being in a HUBZone? (Historically Underutilized Business Zone) Kevin and Paul gave…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Use past performance to your advantage? When you read that, did you think of how Government contractors…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) This is a special holiday encore presentation of a previously released podcast. Kevin and Paul discuss the…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Subcontracting in the Government world can be a complicated process. We’ve talked about small business goals and…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Today we welcome Mike LeJeune from RSM Federal and host of the Game Changers for Government Contractors…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) GovCon isn’t static. Many of the common themes of the podcast, like context and communication, never change….

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) We talked about colors of money way back in Episode 19, including the limitations that are attached…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Can the Government negotiate with an individual offeror after the selection process has begun but before awarding…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) The line above has been part of almost every podcast intro for the last 5 years. We…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Past performance is always an important factor in Government award decisions, but just having past performance isn’t…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the impact of scale on government contracts. Learn how contract size and scope…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul expand on a blog written by Michael Derrios (Head of Contracting/Senior Procurement Executive at…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Paul welcomes special guest Larry Leffler of Leffler Consulting (https://www.lefflerconsulting.com) to discuss the federal budget process. Listen…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Can a contractor evaluate your proposal? Tricky question. Kevin and Paul explain how this common practice can…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) What is an ACRN? Yes, another confusing Government acquisition term. ACRN is an acronym for Accounting Classification…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul torture yet another metaphor, this time using storm surge to discuss the wave upon…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Paul welcomes USAF Major Dan Finkenstadt to the podcast to discuss knowledge-based services. (KBS) Dan has had…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) The question was “How do I get to the decision maker?”.  Before we can answer that one…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Back in the “good old days” of acquisition reform, 20 plus years ago, FAR Part 12 was…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Price to win? Why would anyone price to lose?  Paul discusses the purpose of and methodology behind…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul respond to a Skyway Community member’s question about fall out money.  What is “end…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Three contracting officers walk into a bar… Have you heard that one?  What do you think of…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!)  The Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) has been designated as the Federal Government-wide solution for collection…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) We’re all busy.  That doesn’t mean we’re all productive.   Kevin and Paul discuss a strategy many…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Learn how recognize and use your company’s competitive advantages to lock your competitors out of a competition. …

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul describe the symptoms of a preventable disease that often infects the incumbent contractor during…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin discusses real world application of the Acquisition Time Zones with Myran Hunter.  Myran is a capture…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the phenomenon of “happy ears”.  (otherwise known to the world as confirmation bias)…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) In this encore presentation of one of the earliest Contracting Officer Podcast episodes, Kevin and Paul provide…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the FAR’s preference for telecommuting. (or working remotely in more modern lingo) Learn…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Prior to negotiations it is common for both Government and industry contracts folks to get “clearance”  to…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul return to CLINs to dig deeper into the Contracting Officer’s responsibilities regarding CLIN structure. …

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul provide a simplified overview of wrap rates including what cost components make up a…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Government requests for proposals (RFPs) contain many explicit requirements.  They also include many “buried” requirements that, if…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the common question “when should I contact the Contracting Officer during the acquisition…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Possibly the most common question posed to the podcast:  Why do RFPs take so long? Kevin and…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin talks proposal automation with Skyway team member (and proposal professional) Wendy Frieman. Learn why automation tools…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul review, refresh, and update the Acquisition Time Zones.  The Acquisition Time Zones are the…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the government’s proposal evaluation process using yet another baseball analogy. (smile…you know you…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) In the final episode of our mini-series on the “Fair Opportunity” process, Kevin and Paul discuss how…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Imagine reading your contract closely to determine how to approach a potential issue, only to find out…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul dig deep into the acquisition process and explain how a bid is often won…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) This is Part 3 of our mini-series on the “Fair Opportunity” process. Winning the IDIQ contract was…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the concept of “the complex sale” and the complex buy on the other…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) This is Part 2 of our mini-series on the “Fair Opportunity” process. Kevin and Paul discuss the…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss how the impacts of yet another government shutdown flow far beyond the thousands…

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 discuss “the technical vs. the business sale” as it relates…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) This is Part 1 of our mini-series on the “Fair Opportunity” process.  Kevin and Paul discuss the…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Get ready to tackle the confusing world of MAS (Multiple Award Schedule), GWAC (Governmentwide Acquisition Contract), and…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) It’s time to re-compete your contract. You’re the incumbent, so this is going to be easy, right? …

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) In this encore presentation of an earlier episode, Kevin and Paul discuss the Government’s preference (or lack…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Just when you think you understand the rules… Kevin and Paul provide an update to Episode 210…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the common practice of hiring, or at least planning to hire, the incumbent…

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Do the words cost and price mean the same thing to you?  In most of your life…