Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Introducing the Insider
The Industry Defined
HUBZones: Anyone Can Play
Beyond Reproach: The Incumbent's Bind
Breaking Wave: Human Resources BPO
Cooperative Personnel Services: Differentiating Not a Problem
Adventures in Marketing
Policy & Regs: Can We Satisfy the Appetite for Cleared Personnel?
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It's been a long time since industry grumbling about the federally funded R&D centers competing for business with the private sector. To get the MITRE Corporation's view on this concern, we visited with Alfred Grasso, the MITRE executive chosen to become CEO later this year. He talked us through how MITRE has approached this problem and how it tries to avoid it.
About a week after our last issue, in which we suggested that the FBI held itself harmless from obvious acquisition process delays, the Sentinel contract was finally awarded—to Lockheed Martin. Though the bureau is still rationing out information and won't release the contract documents, we still found some interesting information in the hoopla surrounding the award. Among the concerns: the bureau's ability to manage the program and the distrust in Congress in the FBI's ability to manage IT.
Say it ain't so. Can the government try to impose a clause after contract award? Or launch some new provision in an RFP without public comment? Well, it can try. Alan Chvotkin gives you some examples and recommends what to do about rogue clauses that may pop up on you. Silence is not a virtue in these situations.
In September 2004, BearingPoint won a blanket purchasing agreement for up to $229 M from DHS that would put it at the pointy end of the spear of financial systems consolidation within the sprawling department. It didn't turn out, and recently the government, with rare candor, detailed its own flawed concept for how to consolidate. BearingPoint took only small lumps in the process and is interested in future work. There are some lessons on how to survive such events.
Travelgate update—some companies don't get the word on sharing rebates with federal clients. The Navy signs up for three more years of EDS on NMCI, just in time for EDS to finally make some money from this contract. The DHS IG bashes TSA for its poor management of the Unisys contract to equip TSA airport sites with IT. Custer Battles loses its first False Claims Act trial, with a jury verdict to pay the government $10 million; expect an appeal.