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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Posted on December 5
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We've always been curious about the consulting firms that serve government services firms. There are few (but many individual consultants), they have low profiles, and, it seems, some pretty good business. We profile three in the first part of a voyage of discovery.
Surprised by the departure of the head of the Institute for Defense Analyses because of a conflict-of-interest controversy, we started looking at the approach to handling ethics and conflict matters at government services organizations that don't aim for profit. We talked with the leaders of the CNA Corporation and LMI Government Consulting and also asked whether they really have an edge in this regard.
We always knew the Intel Community had special relationships with its contractors, and now the government has added expectations of its "partners." Alan Chvotkin evaluates new, far-reaching self-reporting requirements of contractors working for the NRO—and soon other intelligence agencies.
If you paid a contractor over $100 million for a system but found you couldn't use it, what would you do? FBI Director Mueller raised the idea of getting some money back from SAIC. Now Congress may compel him to actually follow up.
We're a little concerned about "the sky is falling" refrain concerning the advent of Congressman Henry Waxman as chair of the Government Reform Committee. In an industry that overwhelmingly delivers good value, we think companies and their federal clients should be concerned less about being excoriated in hearings and more about how to avoid the appearance or reality of trouble in the first place.