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 July 1
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This new book, by independent investigative journalist Tim Shorrock, breaks new ground by providing a coherent picture of the companies that serve the intelligence community and how they do it. Based largely on public sources and some surprising interviews, the book also raises some vexing policy issues, such as the need to settle what is inherently governmental.
The way contracting works in the IC won't surprise people familiar with government services contracting. However, the extent of "partnership" and intimacy between contractors and customers may be somewhat jarring. There's a lot that doesn't look good, but there are very few contracts that founder—that we know of. There could be many reasons for that, and Shorrock explores them. He also proposes measures to strengthen the government's control of contractors in perhaps the most sensitive market segments of all.
Soundings from people who know what is going on at the firm's Tysons Corner headquarters suggest a relative calm as some important mechanics of the deal get settled before closure later this summer. Partners seem more at ease with the prospect of working for an outside owner and living in the world of leverage.
One thing that can be said confidently about the next president is that he will turn more attention to competition in contracting than the current regime. That's because the two candidates happen to think similarly about the need for more competition. The likelihood of a real push for more competition was reason enough to talk with PSC president Stan Soloway about what competition means to the industry.
While the squawks from contractors and government officials concerning the return of Congressional oversight were audible last year, we think things have settled down. The world hasn't ended. The targets in Rep. Henry Waxman's committee have been the obvious ones. And, we think, more people are motivated to perform so that they don't invite active, intrusive oversight. That's better than thinking that no or inept oversight of your contracts is good for business.
While many folks are riveted on the election and November–January phase-down of the Bush years, smart business executives and managers have been motivated to plan for safely transiting that slushy period after the election. Alan Chvotkin advises those who may not have begun preparing for anticipated awards, task and contract expirations, and funding and management gaps during that quadrennial silly season.