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 November 5, 2007
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The issue of the year for industry may be the spiraling perceptions of contractors of all types in the eyes of some members of these stakeholder groups: taxpayers, congress, media, federal customers and all kinds of overseers. The perceptions may not square well with facts, but good management practice suggests you gotta deal with the perceptions nonetheless. Our monthly columnist, Alan Chvotkin, makes the point that many stakeholders don't distinguish much between one type of contractor and another. He also suggests some practical steps to deal with this phenomenon.
The saddest personal story in government contracting this year has to be about the talented man who stepped into Darlene Druyan's old Air Force job. In the wake of a Wa Po scoop on the funding of two months of work before Charles Riechers formally assumed that position last January, he apparently took his own life. We comment on industry reaction that suggests that the practice of funding gaps in paid employment for officials-in-waiting from funds appropriated for other purposes is common. The most surprising thing about the aftermath is that the propriety in terms of accepted practice, regulatory conformance, and legality of arrangements that led to the Riechers tragedy remains uncertain and largely unspoken.
The high-priority USVISIT program at DHS spends $1.25 in program management and related contract support for every $1.00 spent for actual systems development. That's quite a burden, especially when the program management plans and analysis have so many gaps and flaws, according to the GAO. Accenture's program management support contract is not the cause, according to GAO; in fact the contractor gets very good marks. And Accenture is not holding the bag to deliver a finished system, the government is.