The Complexities of Government Acquisition

Acquisition-it's a complex topic for the government market. Private sector companies must navigate a complex system to make their solutions and services available to government customers. Federal acquisition professionals are working to ease this process and adapt decades old policies to meet the needs of modern technology buys such as cloud and as-a-service offerings. There are also new mandates and government-wide policies like FITARA that IT and procurement personnel have to understand and comply with.  Add to this the fact that the acquisition workforce is in an incredible state of turnover with older professionals retiring and new ones coming in without the guidance of procurement veterans.[Tweet "Acquisition - it's a complex topic for the government market. #GovEventsBlog"]

The ACQUIRE Conference and Expo that took place in June in Washington, DC was designed to help government agencies create, manage, and run successful programs. The conference program offered federal agency-led training sessions, and government & industry thought leadership panels and keynotes. At the event, the Professional Services Council (PSC) issued their biennial Acquisition Policy Survey that more definitively outlined the challenges detailed above. Some of the findings included: Continue reading

Top Level Panel to Discuss DoD Acquisition at I/ITSEC 2012

I/ITSEC 2012 is an outstanding opportunity to hear directly from DoD senior leaders on the latest Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) challenges. Learn from subject matter experts on a variety of AT&L topics and network with Military, Government and Industry acquisition professionals.

As the Defense Acquisition Executive, Mr. Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense, Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, will address DoD Acquisition in terms of balancing the warfighters' requirements with the significant reduction in the budget. Mr. Kendall's opening remarks will be followed by the Service Acquisition Executives (SAEs) from the Army, Navy and Air Force who will address improving the efficiencies and affordability of their respective organizations by implementing Better Buying Power initiatives.

Continue reading