Listen and Learn… Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) has become a very important issue for Government contractors as the Government’s perception of and sensitivity to OCI has changed over the last few years. Agencies have...
Listen and Learn… Unlike in commercial industry, the Government is required to notify bidders that they’ve lost a bid. Kevin and Paul explain what information the Government can and cannot share in the notification as...
Listen and Learn… How can the Government buy commercial items efficiently? Good question! One streamlined acquisition process has now become an official part of the FAR. (after years as a “test program”) FAR 13.5 describes...
Did you know that the Government can negotiate with Industry right in the middle of a competition? It’s true! In the Government world negotiations during the source selection process are called “discussions”. Kevin and Paul...
Letter contracts are a special type of contract that allow the Government to authorize a contractor to start work immediately when there isn’t time to negotiate every detail of the contract in time to meet...
Listen and Learn… Indefinite Contract? How can a contract be indefinite? Indefinite contracts can be used when the Government knows exactly what it wants to buy, but not how much they’ll need or when they’ll...
What does it mean if your contract has “options”? Kevin and Paul explain the reasons why options are used in Government contracts and how they impact proposals and source selections.Learn how the execution and administration...
Kevin and Paul explain Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) and help listeners understand why they are used and why it is important for both Government and Industry to understand them. In addition, learn how the...
Are Sole Source Awards Easier? In this episode Kevin and Paul debate this listener question. A Contracting Officer (and listener!) took issue with a comment from a previous episode regarding sole source contracts and provided...
In this episode Kevin and Paul describe one step of the Government’s source selection process, Competitive Range Determinations. They explain the purpose of competitive range determinations, when the determination takes place, and why the Government...
In this episode Kevin and Paul discuss the balance that both industry and the Government must consider as they plan how best to meet a requirement. Industry must decide whether or not outside vendors, suppliers,...
What is a Protest? When Should I Protest? What Can I Protest? How Do I Submit a Protest? In this episode Kevin and Paul provide answers to these questions and more. The discussion goes far...
What are weighted guidelines? In this episode Kevin and Paul discuss the Government’s use of a structured approach to determine fair and reasonable profit during sole source negotiations. They explain what weighted guidelines are and...
Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of a Government source selection? In this episode Kevin and Paul provide a glimpse behind the curtain and answer a listener’s questions about the source selection process....
The last in a 4 part series describing the Acquisition Time Zones in greater detail. (see Episode 003 for an overview of the Time Zones) In this episode Kevin and Paul discuss what happens after...
One of the many unique elements of federal contracting is the Debriefing. In this cast, we continue our discussion on the nuances and lessons learned on the enigmatic debriefing. During Part 2, we cover some...
Listen and Learn… One of the many unique elements of federal contracting is the Debriefing. In this cast, we explain what a debriefing is (and what it isn’t). We also describe the debriefing process...
If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul provide an overview of the Acquisition Time Zones. The Acquisition Time Zones are a...