Jump to content

General.Zhukov

Members
  • Posts

    190
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by General.Zhukov

  1. As everyone else here has noted, don't mix FAR 15 and FAR 8.4. Vern's quoted GAO decision has the key phrase - " fair and equitable." What's important is not so much what the CO tells to one particular offeror, but rather how the CO treats the offerors with respect to each other. Whatever criteria the CO uses to engage with one vendor should be used for all vendors. This isn't complicated, nor does this criteria need to be mechanistically implemented. The CO's criteria could be quite straight-forward 'I'm not going to bother telling offerors about 'weaknesses' that are unlikely to have an impact on who gets awarded." In your case, what the CO is doing regarding 'discussions,' while not the preferred method (using FAR 15 procedures), does appear to be 'fair and reasonable' because they are treating the offerors the same. Usual caveats apply.
  2. Agree with the grey beards 😁 Its is not a competition issue. FAR 13: Contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available Your circumstance: This order fixes a mistake. We bought the wrong size product, returned product to vendor, have credit, and now want to use credit to buy correct size product from same vendor. I can't speak to the mechanics of how credits in ECATS work, but in my experience, every procurement system has a way of dealing with 'oops. we bought the wrong thing and want to exchange the wrong thing for the right thing.' You can explain the vendor that simply they have your money, you have nothing in exchange, and they either give you your money back or give you the product you want, figure it out.
  3. I have read many books on the Eastern Front (no surprise) - but not that one. I'll check it out. Come and See. As a combat veteran, its one of the few war movies I can tolerate, but I will probably never watch it again. The sound design is incredible, like nothing else. I've heard about a similar film 'The Ascent' - but haven't built up the fortitude to watch it.
  4. Agree. Remember that complexity vs. complicated discussion? Well, the word 'subcontract' appears in the title of 21 clauses, and a total of 1,771 times in FAR 52. I suspect prime contractors add 52.219-9 because they (reasonably) read the application in 19.708 and think 'well, that's us.' - rather than wading through that complexity.
  5. I wonder if this is true. My policy analysis training wants me ask 'failed compared to what?' I want to compare the US fed acq system to other systems. Are comparable acquisition systems - large states like CA, TX or NY, or overseas with vaguely similar legal structure like UK, EU, AUS, or Canada - 'better than' the US FAR system? By what metrics would the FAR way be better or worse? Someone, somewhere, has done this comparative analysis.
  6. Its a bit of a linguistic game, of course, but my vote is - Complicated, not complex. The Federal acquisition system has bazillions of parts, so its pretty complicated, but it doesn't have those properties I associate with complexity. It doesn't have emergent behavior- like there isn't anything about it that is more than the sum of its parts. At least, not that I observe.
  7. This is a thing that probably every B-School or general management book covers, something like 'empower your team' or 'how to delegate to your direct reports' Google re:Work has a bunch of stuff on this. https://rework.withgoogle.com/ Get *honest* feedback from the CO's themselves as to why they are acting like that, and listen to it. Explicitly define the responsibilities. Don't micromanage. In your case, perhaps that means refusing to answer the question. Forgive mistakes. "I told you to make your own eval criteria, and you did, and your sol flunked review. That's okay. Let's go through, and try again."
  8. https://hallways.cap.gsa.gov/app/#/doclib Many examples. Maybe hundreds.
  9. Part of a pitch I'm putting together for management. Essentially, I am arguing that we need some technology solutions to simplify some work processes that are frequent, time-consuming, and 'brainless' (ie, can be straight-forwardly handed-off to software). As an example of this type of process , I drilled down into exactly what should be done to correctly use the extremely common FAR Clause 52.212-5, within my department, HHS. It appears to be worse than I thought when I started out. HHS has three separate deviations for clause 52.212-5. In addition, the -5 clause refers to multiple clauses which themselves have different HHS deviations. By my count, the 52.212-5 clause, in order to be compliant, has to refer to at least four different HHS deviations. These deviations have mandatory language that cites clauses which are obsolete, or have been removed from the FAR. My conjectures: 1) Not a single -5 clause in any HHS contract in existence is compliant, in that they correctly identify the (at least) four deviations, and have updated deviation language. 2) Very few people, possibly just me, are aware of this fact (if it is true). 3) Very few people who know or who learn this fact, possibly nobody (myself included), actually care enough to get it right. I am venting. I have no questions. I would like to be wrong though, so please let me know if I am.
  10. Yes, as the experts above have stated. Its permissible under the HHSAR KP clause (I am also in HHS). This is fairly common for projects where the contractor, especially small businesses, need technical expertise. Say you are doing run-of-the-mill software dev, but need to connect your software to some weird archaic government IT system (this is very common, btw). This is a small but crucial part of the project. You might want to hire, as a consultant, an expert in that weird system. You expect you'll only need a few hours of their time (hence consultant, not employee or sub-contractor). Since its a crucial part of the project, GVT may want to make that consultant a KP. All of this is normal.
  11. In my agency, less than 5% of all contract actions are competitive using trade-offs. Less than 1% are competitive using FAR 15 procedures. There may be GS-13 FAC-C III 1102s in my agency who have never done a FAR 15 action. I'm speculating here, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were true. OK, some tactical advice. The main issue, as I understand it, is that the Program side doesn't want to spend a lot of time and effort on the low-value task of reviewing lots of proposals when the contract will most likely go to the LPTA offeror anyways. This is a common issue, and there are some common methods to deal with it: 1) Avoid complication: a) Do not use FAR 15. b) Use one of the the many, many, many IT service acquisition vehicles out there, rather than going open-market. GSA has a list of 43 of them. Probably hundreds more that aren't tracked by GSA. c) Do not use FAR 15, seriously, don't do it. 2) A two-phase evaluation. Phase one should be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy to evaluate and screen out all but a handful of most promising offers. DHS's PIL has a clever version of this - advisory down-select. 3) Performance Price Trade-Off (PPT) Process is what you are proposing to do in one of your comments. If you use this method, then for the sake of everyone involved, do what Vern has said many times, and do not have an elaborate "technical proposal." Caveat: In my experience, I cannot and would not do a quasi-LPTA for IT Services, but that's me. 4) Directly solicit from a few good sellers, rather than posting a public solicitation open to anyone. Although, you gotta follow the (complicated) rules about how to do this. 5) I have nothing to say about Sealed Bidding. Never done it. Never seen it done. No clue about it.
  12. I have had to do something like what you are describing. Basically, for system reasons, I couldn't add funding to a CLIN that needed more funds. Do not recommend except as last resort. We created a new CLIN just for funding. Its description was something like 'CLIN 2 replaces CLIN 1 as of date. No change except for funding.' It was actually quite complicated to do this, since we had to transfer over the incomplete work to the new CLIN, close out the funding for the old CLIN, update a bunch of stuff since CLIN 2 didn't exist nor was anticipated at time of award, etc. We tried to clearly and repeatedly describe what was going (for invoicing/payment, auditors, new people on the project), but that didn't work. Everyone else was confused forever, up to and including contract close out. That said, I think creating a new contract/order would be worse. Maybe, technically, a starting over would be less key strokes. But it would be a review/approval/audit nightmare, covered in red-flags, and attracting interest of people you want to stay away - legal, IG, irate competitors who see something sketchy on FPDS-NG, etc.
  13. Hmm, yes, you are right, I change my mind. Do it commercial, so long as I can make the contract reflect the inherently very-high-risk nature of that type of work. For example, ensuring (contractual) hellfire will reign down upon the contractor in the event of a data breach. Honestly, I don't know why federal contracting has such a bright line between commercial vs. non-commercial (although I am 100% sure somebody reading this does know why).
  14. In all seriousness, there are thriving markets for any and all types of cyber attacks and information collection - tools, methods, data, techniques, Cyberwar-As-A-Service, you name it. That joke about spying on Mexican narcos? That's a commercial service. Hacking into encrypted iPhones? Cellebrite (private company) can do it, but not the NSA. Its all commercial. My guess is anything 'investigation' related or otherwise that involves gathering and/or analyzing digital information is commercial. I also think we (GVT) should not treat these services as commercial, even if they are.
  15. I've both received and (self-servingly) presented this argument, which is false. Its not the classification (labor category) of the workers that matter, its the thing being worked on. Counter-factual 1: Let's say the service is off-the-chart obviously non-commercial. Updating the on-board guidance system for the AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missile in response to recently discovered PLA ECM tomfoolery. We agree this is non-commercial, right? Well, it so happens that the AMRAAM guidance system is written in the software language ADA. So you hire someone to write the code. Computer Programmers, even those who specialize in ADA for avionics, and have TS/SCI, exist on Schedule 70. This fact, rather than making this project a commercial service, is irrelevant. Counter-factual 2: Are there any IT services which don't have the applicable IT categories on schedule 70? I think the answer is no. No matter what you are doing, you can find a generic broadly scoped LCAT somewhere on FSS 70 that's a fit. You want to exploit a CNI-planted backdoor in Mexican cellular networks to geo-locate narcos based on their social media uploads? What you need is a SME IV, available on FSS 70. Commercial.
  16. Yes, we covered it in grad school (Public Administration). As I recall, all the case studies were from UK (apparently its much more widely applied over there), EU or transportation in US. Seems to be a reasonable option when there's a large up-front capital expenditure that the government is unable or unwilling to finance, plus a predictable future revenue stream, and low interest rates. They do tend to be very expensive - hefty premium when the contractor is responsible from cradle to grave, and break-even is like 20 years in the future - but sometimes its worth it. P3's have other issues too, but I think this arrangement is no better or worse than the alternatives, just different. Close to home, I think some of the northern VA toll roads are P3s. Results are a mixed bag - the specifics of the project matter a lot.
  17. 1. There are guides about how to contract for software and address your specific issue. Not gonna link now, but they are out there. DoD has a few. Recommend using them. 2. Yes, this is the norm. Software doesn't show up in the loading bay on shrink-wrapped pallet, ready for go. Software these days almost always has supporting services integral to its operation. As they say, 'software is never done.' 3. Practically speaking, here is some advice based on when I got a SBA protest related to classifying something software-like as a product or service. If the total estimated value of the mixed product & services acquisition (which may include several different contracts) is predominantly for the product, then it is considered a product for SBA purposes. You get get very complicated about this stuff, but that's the gist of it. 4. You are hiring some folks to help you set up some fancy software. I could argue that what you describe may not be 'services' per FAR 37, which defines a service contract as "Service contract means a contract that directly engages the time and effort of a contractor whose primary purpose is to perform an identifiable task rather than to furnish an end item of supply." I'd argue that the purpose is to furnish the end item (software), so not services, technically, but I could be wrong. But I would argue this if I had to wiggle my way out of some onerous administrative process that kicked in when something is defined as a service. 5. So far as I know, there is no FAR rule saying *every* service has to have PWS, and the rest. I mean, FAR 8.4 talks about "services not requiring a statement of work." Ask 'why do we have to do this?' not 'why don't we have to do this?' 6. Here is a whole white paper devoted to pondering whether software maintenance is a product or service. https://www.esi.mil/contentview.aspx?id=721
  18. lol. Did you work at my agency? Anyways, agreed PALT has its uses and limits. At some future time when I've gotten a handle on the basics, our data may incorporate quality metrics, such as they are, things like audit findings, review & approval. Thank you @Vern Edwards for that paper. I love that stuff. For the detailed data that seems to not be available online, I'm going to reach out to our sister agencies within our Department. Thank you all, its been very helpful, I don't think I will be updating this discussion again.
  19. We have two PALTs. The Target PALTs are negotiated between two major parties - Contracting Office and the Program Office. This is one that Simplifieds are missing. The Actual PALTs how much time it actually takes. Actual PALT > Target PALT => Bad. % Target PALTs missed are a KPI. What's useful about data analysis is that this negotiation has, in the past, taken place in the absence of actual evidence. Looking at the data, we can see that our PALTS should probably be tweaked and there is room for win/win between the two parties. Another thing we can look into with the data we will (eventually) have is what factors contribute to actual PALT? My hypothesis is that I can predict most of actual PALT with just three factors: Product vs. Service Competitive vs. Other (Non-Competitive, SAP, Directed Small Biz, Single-Award TOs, etc.) Under or Over SAT (for this, $300K or $300M are the same thing, both over SAT) I'd put Commercial/Non-Commercial, but the nature of my agency's work is that this isn't an important distinction for us.
  20. Yes, that's right. I sometimes see contracting as a type of 'queuing system.' Work comes in, its gets done, and goes out. My favorite analogy is a car mechanic's shop or law office. I think our HCA would like to compare ourselves to 'the norm' first. Given the type of contracting work we do, is our process normal compared to other contract agencies?
  21. @Vern Edwards I'm a fed, this is work. My HCA is interested in making use of office's contract, financial and operational data. He wants us to go exploring into this data and see what we find, and to see if this data can help answer some long-standing questions. Basically, I bucket the data into three types. Outputs (contract actions), Inputs (staff, hours) and Process (PALT, stuff like that). We've got these data, but we just starting to make use of it. Analysis is descriptive, or versions of this model [Input] x [Process] = [Output]. Examples: Our data shows that an average 1102 awards somewhere between 30-45 contract actions per year (depending on how you measure, whether to include close-outs, mass mods related to COVID-19, etc.). About half of all the actions are modifications. The composition of work does NOT really change much with GS grade, but the volume increases a lot. That is, GS-13s and 14s don't work on a handful of the most complex contracts, rather, they do do much more of everything (on average) compared to our 9/11/12s. This is surprise. What does it mean? Don't know yet. Do we want to change this as an office? Probably. Does this imply we should hire more junior staff to replace our senior staff and spend that money elsewhere? Dunno. It also shows that, for PALT, actions under the SAT are late much more frequently than contracts for, say >1M$. Under SAT actions have much shorter PALTs that Contract Specialists gripe about as being unrealistic, and the data backs them up. Maybe we should change them? Does high workload or manager turn-over lead a leading indicator for new employees exiting the organization early? We all think so, but we are all just guessing. When the data is in better shape, we may be able to answer this question definitively. However, what's missing is a baseline or something to compare ourselves to. We have a sample size of one. Are our processes and metrics within the norm? Is there a norm? I have no idea, just guesses. For comparison purposes, it goes back to Input, Output, Process. That is the data I am looking for, from other agencies. At a very basic level, Output = FPDS-NG reports. Input = OPM's Fedscope (thanks @formerfed) has basic FTE stats. That's better than nothing, but I'd like to know much more. Process = nothing. Zilch. So these later two are what I am looking for.
  22. Update: Investigating these leads. Thank you. OPM has personnel data. I don't know this data, or how accurate it is, but there is a lot of it. I've found at least a few reports and publications that must have had granular acquisition workforce data, especially DoD. This data is not obviously available, like an attached Excel file. Probably going to end up emailing authors. Sigh....
  23. For a work project. Looking for open accessible data sources for data about the INPUT of contracting, especially more granular data. Data like # and grade of 1102s. Budget. Workload per employee. Any type of time-series contract process data (time b/w milestones, ALTs, stuff like that). I doubt there is much, or anything, publically available, but I thought I'd poll the audience. For OUTPUT, I know I can pull respectably detailed contract information from FPDS-NG, so I am not too concerned about that side of the box.
  24. I'm no lawyer and not an expert at anything remotely close to this topic, but I'm not sure how the GVT could terminate a contract and then use the (months old?) proposals to re-do the award, outside of a protest or something like that. But assuming this is okay... If its a GWAC, hit up the GWAC ACO. They might know something. Probably not, but worth a call. They probably would be interested to know if the buying agency is violating the GWAC ordering procedures in some egregious way. But there are lots of potential reasons for the seemingly shady behavior. You'll probably never know for sure, short of an uncharacteristically frank and detailed debriefing, or going to court. One possibility is the source selection / evaluation process had a major flaw, error or unexpected and difficult issue. Late and weird clarification questions are a hint. But it could be something totally different - I once had a SS where, right in the middle, we were informed of some pretty serious conflict of interest allegations, which took months to resolve, and given the nature of the allegations, we couldn't say much about it to anyone, had to be all mysterious and secret-agent-like.
×
×
  • Create New...