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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These highlights were posted November 6. Subscribers will receive their hardcopies during the week of November 7.
Don’t they know at the Washington Post that there’s a war on? The October 23 Sunday edition broke a story about an audit of the $1 billion TSA contract with Unisys, and it ran in the top spot on the front page. While the audit findings are fairly humdrum and not uncommon in large programs, the few million dollars in dispute appeared to be part of a string of defective acquisitions since September 11, 2001, according to the Post.
We take a look at the Post’s report on the audit and identify lessons learned a company can already exploit from the Unisys experience. We also have a few suggestions for the Post.
Well, that depends on what kind of program, its size, and who the client is. In the case of the FBI’s Sentinel program, the answer is probably: a lot of consultants. Two sources estimated for the Insider that the Sentinel Program Management Office had between 70 and 100 people, mainly contractors. We take a quick look at who they are
We devoted considerable space earlier this year to breaking and following up the story of allegations against SAIC in a suit that was settled with no admission of wrongdoing. So it’s fitting that we bring you the best snapshot available of the year’s False Claims Act cases pertinent to the government services industry at the close of the fiscal year.
See some recent data on who’s looking to fill an increasing number of positions.
Due to awful labor relations and Congressional and bureaucratic dithering, the $175 million MAXHR program at DHS is being starved for funding. Integrator Northrop Grumman IT is caught in the middle.
Could the vastly reduced revenue from this once promising contract have been foreseen? We take a look at a new kind of business risk factor that will get more attention in the future before bid decisions are made.
The most interesting development in government services M&A is the attempt by Lockheed Martin and three private equity firms to buy CSC. At the top tier of the industry there’s a view about who the winners and losers of such a deal typically are. We take a look at the state of play and where this deal may lead if the Lockheed consortium or a similar group succeeds in closing the deal.
Now that McNulty has been tapped to be the Deputy Attorney General, what impact will there be on the Working Group? And what about McNulty’s intentions as the No. 2 law enforcement official in the country?
Some in Congress are said to be concerned about the "duplication" of the set of contract vehicles that give government customers some real choices about how they can tap suppliers. OMB is forming a study effort to look at the extent of the problem and possible solutions.
Two proposed rules will affect how time-and-materials contracts, the least favored of the three basic types, can be used. The new regs won’t win smiles from contractors because of the added surveillance of subcontracts. Alan Chvotkin tells you about the changes and advises on how to live with them.