[Programming note: I plan to be off next week, while I participate in the Wisconsin ritual of going “up north” for a couple of days.] As readers of this newsletter know all too well, things can go wrong in government contracting.  There are different categories of ways things can go

A threshold question in every bid protest is whether the company that files that protest is an “interested party.” If you’re not an interested party, you can’t pursue the protest. The principle behind this requirement is that courts aren’t supposed to be forums for the airing of

A few months ago, I wrote about how a restaurant menu can be a mental model for the Multiple Award Schedules program. The salient points are that: 1. In general, a schedule contract lists all of the items you can order and the price associated with the item; and 2.

A few months ago, we talked about how a draft of the NASA SEWP VI solicitation created some sturm und drang in the govcon community due to its choice of NAICS code 541512. By moving from an employee-based NAICS code (541519) to a revenue-based NAICS code (541512), it created some

When talking about the government, some people love to talk about cost savings and efficiencies. People in government procurement talk about cost savings and efficiencies occasionally but, much more often, people in government procurement talk about a metric called "cost avoidance," which is not the same thing as

I suppose you can tell a story that the government has made a lot of progress over the past decade or so in terms of acquisition innovation. For example, in the early 2000s, it used to be a bit of a meme that preparing government proposals required three-hole punch-ring binders

A thing that never gets old to me is how much weird stuff the federal government buys. For example, we've talked about Smokey Bear Baseballs and snorkeling-equipment operators in the Virgin Islands. This week, I learned about that time that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) acquired wildlife-management

Suppose you run a govcon services company and you're trying to grow your book of business. One strategy might be to try to increase revenue with your existing clients by leveraging your knowledge about that client to win more work. Another strategy might be to win contracts with

[Programming Note: I’m back from vacation and, yesterday, I shared more about what I’m doing when I am not writing GovContrActually. Namely, my colleagues and I have started TandemGov, a company that helps organizations navigate government contracting while leveraging their strengths. If you are interested in more fresh

[Programming note: I am on vacation for the next week during the kids' spring break.] Here's a fun trick. Want to get a contracting officer riled up? Tell them that the most important thing they should measure is their Procurement Administrative Lead Time. As a metric, PALT