Prospective contractors won't have to register online to sell goods and services to the Defense Department, as required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation, because of technical problems with the government's newly launched procurement system.

An Aug. 21 memo from Richard Ginman, director of defense procurement and acquisition policy, pointed to issues with the System for Award Management in announcing that contractors would not have to adhere to the registration requirement before bidding on government work. Read full article.

Are you going through GovPhases?  Below are tips to help survive the mid-cycle crisis.

 If you are a current government contractor, you may be experiencing the government procurement mid-cycle crisis.  The key to successfully mitigating a crisis is to focus on each phase of the cycle…one phase at a time. The only medicine needed is patience and dedication.

 Phase 1 – Pre-proposal.  It is very important to know your market.  Prior to proposal release, conduct thorough market research and competitive analysis.  In addition, conduct an internal review of your companies pricing structure and technical strengths.  Continually update your Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) analysis to determine how to strategically bid and increase your PWIN.

 Phase 2 – Pre-award.   You have submitted a winning proposal, now what?  Take some time and Prepare to Win.  Review the performance work statement (PWS) and contract terms and conditions and create a compliance check matrix.  Check off all the requirements that are in place and highlight the areas that need to be implemented.  Create a timeline and conduct a pre-award kick-off meeting with your team.  Take full advantage of the source selection phase by proactively preparing your company.

 Phase 3. Award.  Congratulations, you won!  Now it’s time to perform.  Revisit your timeline and add any crucial dates and milestones needed for contract execution.  Schedule a kick-off meeting with the Contracting Officer, COTR and project team. 

 Phase 4. Post-Award. Continually monitor performance through quality control processes, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and project management.  Conduct monthly meetings, reporting and feedback with the customer.  Know your customer.

 Phase 5.  Contract Compliance and Customer Satisfaction.  This phase is critical and must be monitored on a daily basis.  Customer satisfaction may lead to more business through past performance evaluations and future opportunities with the customer and other agencies.  Perform to expand.

 Phase 6. Contract Closeout.  Unfortunately, every contract comes to an end.  If you are fortunate enough to win the recompete for an on-going effort, then this phase comes later.  However, if your contract expires, you will need to process the contract closeout documents in a timely manner.

If you proactively plan for each phase and manage each process, the mid-cycle crisis can be avoided.  Prepare to Win…Perform to Expand!

Using Sequestration to Your (GSA) Advantage

In addition to the political outcome this winter, there is something else that people are concerned with, but don’t totally understand: Sequestration. The OMB has plans to reduce the budget by nearly 10.3% by January 3, 2013.

For organizations involved with defense spending, difficult decisions will need to be made. If the Department of Defense cuts approximately 108,000 Federal employees, Contractors will be forced to make some cuts to their staff as well.  Some defense contractors have already issued 60-day notices to a portion of the workforce.  Even though the budget cuts won’t immediately reflect the 10.3% decrease in spending, now is the time to start thinking about a few things:

First, what are your current staffing levels?  If you’ve been running lean for the last few years, do you have room in the budget for new talent?  There will be some very accomplished professionals released from the public and private sectors.  Think about your staffing needs and some of the changes you can make that you may not have considered before.

Are you taking advantage of all of the set-asides available to you?  Are you bidding on every contract that has a high probability of win?  Have you formulated a new Marketing Plan for the next ten (10) years, with these budgetary changes into account?  Are you on the GSA Schedule?

These are all important things to look at right now.  GovPartners understands the coming challenges and are assisting many clients navigate the uncertain future we’re facing.  Here are some areas we may be able to help:

·         Market Research and Capture Management:  GovPartners will research the opportunities that are available for your organization to help alleviate some of the uncertainty in the market.

·         If you’re not on the GSA schedule, GovPartners can assist you in determining which schedule is right for your company, prepare the submission and follow it through to completion.

·         Teaming:  GovPartners has recently relaunched the SubTeamPartners (STP) network. Through this network, GovPartners can assist you in facilitating teaming partnerships for targeted government opportunities.  STP matches your teaming needs with other contractors complementing each company's areas of service and/ or socio economic statuses for set-aside requirements. This provides you with the visibility and capabilities to  bid on opportunities that may not have been available to you before.

·        Proposal Preparation:  In the past, most companies had staff that were dedicated to preparing their company proposals.   The environment and economic climate has changed, and more companies are utilizing 3rd parties to assist with each proposal effort.  GovPartners develops lasting relationships and partnerships on integrity. Our proposal preparation team allows our clients to experience a service that provides proposal with the ambiance of your own in-house proposal department.

·         Once you’ve acquired the contract, GovPartners provides Acquisition and Contract Management and Administration to include kick-off meeting attendance, invoicing, Quality Control, Performance Evaluation, deliverables, close-out reporting, etc.

Let GovPartners help you Prepare to Win and  Perform to Expand.