2017 Category Management Conference

In 2014 an announcement was made with plans to embark upon a new paradigm for purchasing by moving from managing purchases and prices individually across thousands of procurement units, to managing entire categories of common spend and total cost.  The intention is to apply the principles of Category Management – used extensive in industry and other countries – to the Federal acquisition process.  This is intended to be more than just the adoption of new acquisition policies and procedures – the government’s goal is to create an acquisition ecosystem which facilitates a stronger relationship with industry and provides information and tools to achieve greater efficiencies, more transparency and better decisions.  The backbone of this ecosystem is the Acquisition Gateway.

On March 1, 2017 we will gather government and industry attendees in a one day user-centered educational and training event that will bring category management to life.

Attendees will learn about federal priorities for category management, how to employ category management practices, how to use the Acquisition Gateway, and Category Managers will be onsite for direct collaboration. All attendees will have an opportunity to actively participate and shape the future of this initiative, as well as work toward fostering a stronger relationship.

By attending this conference, attendees will be eligible for 6 CLPs and 0.6 CEUs.

Who should Attend?

• Whether you are a Federal acquisition professional or program manager who needs to purchase goods and services for your job, this day-long training will help align your acquisition requirements with the Administration’s strategy for achieving acquisition efficiencies.
• If you are an industry partner engaged in selling to the Federal government, this event will help you better understand how the government will be developing its acquisition strategies over the next few years and where you may have opportunities for increased engagement.

What Attendees Can Expect:

• Direct interaction with executives and category managers, with a special emphasis on IT, Security and Professional Services.
• Real-world use cases and storytelling that demonstrate how category management and the Acquisition Gateway make it easier to complete tasks and supports smarter decision-making at each step of the acquisition lifecycle.
• Innovation lab sessions that will give attendees opportunities to either participate in usability testing, offer feedback on planned user experience upgrades, or initiate the co-creation of new tools and resources important for their agencies or for the types of acquisitions they manage.