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A Case Study on the Power of Partnership: How Federal Agencies Can Find Qualified Small Businesses, Faster

When the Government Technology and Services Coalition (GTSC) was formed a little over 5 years ago, one of our primary missions was to improve and assist our federal partners in performing their market research. We immediately formed a “Market Research” workgroup, chaired by Brian Nault, President of BlueWater Federal to identify how the government could find the best providers, and reach the largest number of competitors, possible to meet the demands of their mission at the best price and highest quality.

We met with procurement officials and contracting officers to discuss some of the challenges of “being noticed,” by federal agencies, particularly for small businesses. We conveyed the shortcomings of the “Requests for Information” from a small business’s perspective, described how the lack of response from some agencies to the information provided in an RFI hindered a robust response from industry, and explained how the value of responding often was not high enough given the need for companies to spend time staying afloat chasing real opportunities. All of these shortcomings held true for any size business.

We are still working on improving the RFI process but recently we were able to provide some tangible assistance to a partner in the government – and were successful in showing that with the proper partnership, the government can get better, and faster access to qualified providers.

It began with a call from GTSC member and GTSC Small Business Member of the Year 2016 Kathy Pherson, CEO of Pherson Associates, a Woman-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB), who was concerned that a partner agency found no Woman-Owned Small Businesses in a certain NAICs code. The member connected us with the agency and to their credit, they were very interested in hearing from us! GTSC put out a call for firms qualifying for the requirements. In less than 48 business hours we had amassed over 25 qualified WOSBs and submitted them to the agency.

With that, they altered their initial track structure for the intended procurement to reflect this market research.

Why am I writing about this? This is obviously an “ideal” scenario!

I wanted to provide a real life example of how our government partners can leverage their industry partners to find their most qualified providers and best solutions competitively. We encourage all of our government partners to consider:

  1. Go to where the small businesses live.  There are very few organizations that really represent small businesses in the federal market. Why? Simply because they do not have tremendous marketing dollars. Small companies look for the most resources for the least outlay of the capital they use to grow. Federal agencies should forge close ties with non-profits that work with, and actively represent small businesses.
  2. Develop and Leverage relationships.Every market is a series of relationships – healthy markets are composed of those you trust and those you do not. That is why “industry relations” are so important to a vibrant federal market. Good relationships with industry allow an agency to reach and get assistance to find the small businesses they need. It also saves a tremendous amount of time and leg-work to try and find new communities around every procurement.
  1. Be strategic.  Different organizations are good at different things. The best federal industry liaisons, procurement officers, and leadership understand their market’s industry partners, who represents what, the organization’s mission, and the efficacy of the organization. Developing these relationships with industry allows them to understand how to best leverage existing resources and find active, engaged businesses.
  1. Talk to your industry partners.  We may finally be coming out of a period where many in the federal government were reluctant to talk to industry. The message we’ve been hearing more than ever – from nearly every component within the Department of Homeland Security – is that acquisition and procurement leaders are encouraging their staff to get out more and talk to, and learn from, industry. As a matter of fact, under the leadership of DHS CPO Soraya Correa the Department has undertaken “Reverse Industry Days” – devised by industry – to provide their contracting staff an opportunity to learn about industry and how it operates. GTSC’s Acquisition & Procurement Workgroup lead, Carolyn Muir from SE Solutions and a former contracting officer with the Navy has been instrumental in crafting and adding tremendous value to the topics and lessons provided in these “Master Classes” on government contracting.

We continue to applaud these changes to our procurement and acquisition process and look forward to continue leading both industry and government as we navigate a market environment moving faster than conventional procurement can handle.

 

Kristina Tanasichuk is CEO & Founder of the Government Technology & Services Coalition, a non-profit, non-partisan organization of small and imd-sized companies working in homeland and national security.  She is also the president of InfraGardNCR, a public private partnership between the private sector and the FBI to share information to protect our nation’s critical infrastructure, and the president and founder of Women in Homeland Security.

The New Paradigm of the Government Market:  Plan, Prepare, Position, Partner

I recently attended a small business Match Making event sponsored by the Government Technology Services Coalition for small business and prime contractors to meet, greet and exchange information on each other in hopes of identifying potential government contracting opportunities. This event showcased a three person panel of small business program office directors from the Small Disadvantage Business Offices of three different agencies.

I have attended many of these match-making sessions and recently asked the question in one of my Linkedin discussion groups: is attending these events valuable time well spent or a waste of time? I received various comments both positive and negative. However, I must say that this particular event was one of the best that I have attended and my reason is based on the content that the government panelist shared with the small businesses.

There is no question about the changing state of the government contracting market. There is definitely a new paradigm. The landscape has and is continuing to change significantly.

What does this mean for small business? Well, it means that they are being presented with opportunities greater than they have ever been presented within the history of small business contracting in the federal market.

With the implementation of the President’s Job Act coupled with new legislation and regulation that are favoring increased small business participation for contracts and better oversight on Prime/sub-contracting relationships, larger and longer multiple year contracts are being offered to small businesses. To support these initiatives Agencies are increasing their market research activity by sending out more RFI’s and Sources Sought announcements with the intent of identifying more small business  to contract with.

Agency Collaboration and the need to reduce redundancy and budget cuts are responsible for this new trend. With that said, the small business community has to change its thinking and their desire to go it alone when pursuing contracts.

The main theme presented by the government panelist was the lack of preparation by the small business community in pursuing contract opportunities. Some specifics were:

  • Presenting too many capabilities “jack of all trade” scenarios
  • Limited knowledge of agency mission
  • Inability to clearly present their core skills and solutions relevant to the agency mission
  • Not responding or poorly responding to RFI’s and Sources Sought announcements
  • Failure to present their value proposition as it relates to the agency request for support

Considering these things, the take away from this event boils down to the following:

Plan

Plan by performing an internal assessment of your company, who are you, what business are you really in, what are you best qualified to do – not what you want to do. Do your market research to establish where your skills and solutions best fit the agency problems you have targeted and refine your pitch based on your research and knowledge of the agency’s mission.

Prepare

Prepare by creating a compelling story of who you are and why your company is best suited to solve the agency problems based on your research and understanding of the agency mission. Responses to the RFI’s and Sources Sought should be focused on how your skills or solutions support the agency mission. Follow the congressional legislative and regulatory initiatives, and agency news. This information will provide you with great insight into the agency mission and the problems they are encountering in carrying out their mission

Position

Use your research to position your company. The more information you know about the legislative, regulatory initiatives and agency news, the easier it will be for you to communicate with agency program managers and department heads. The more knowledge you can share with them will provide them with a level of comfort that you have a understanding of their issues. This will be the basis of establishing a rapport which will lead to trust.

Partner

Performing a formal assessment on potential partners you have identified to team with is essential. The dynamics of the market demand that you spend ample time to do this. There are more contract opportunities that are multiple 8-10 year contracts and this requires thorough knowledge of who you will be spending that time with.

Compatibility, integrity, culture, vision, goals and trust will be the key factors for you to assess and consider in your selection. These criteria should be used regardless of whether or are considering a Prime or subcontractor relationship. Casual teaming is not the best way to go in the new market.

Contributing Author

Earl HollandEarl S. Holland III is the President and CEO, Growth Strategy Consultants, Strategic Advisor with the Government Technology Services Coalition and former Vice President of the Washington Chapter of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals.  You can reach him at: [email protected]www.growthstrategyconsultants.com

 

4/8 Mentor Session with BDO

Public sector entities are facing challenging times. Achieving agency missions has become increasingly difficult, population dynamics and constituencies are changing dramatically, the workforce is undergoing unprecedented transition, and government leaders need to accomplish more with significantly reduced budgets. Adding to the challenge, in an environment of 24-7 media coverage, even the most difficult decisions made in good faith can be immediately broadcast to a global audience, making even the most seasoned government executives uncertain about how to successfully lead their organizations to accomplish multiple objectives.

Having led government departments and agencies, BDO’s Public Sector practice leaders understand this unique environment. They bring to bear this experience, combined with commercial best practices, to help you address a wide range of challenges. At a time when government leaders need independent, objective support, BDO stands ready with proactive guidance and perspective. We assist government leaders and program managers in navigating what can be a tumultuous landscape by developing strategies to improve program efficiency and effectiveness, identifying organizational risk, ensuring efficient use of resources, and mapping and implementing plans for linking organizational policies with program and contract requirements.

Beyond traditional audit, tax and consulting work, BDO helps our government clients with a comprehensive array of services including organizational strategies, fraud detection and prevention, program evaluation and litigation support. Wherever government entities operate, our professionals provide swift resolution of technical issues and questions through partner-led client service teams, direct access to technical leaders, and the resources of our global network in more than 100 countries.

REGISTER

About our speaker:

 Chuck Wolverton, Director, Federal Practive, BDO
A management consultant and certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and a Top Secret clearance, with broad experience in the areas of strategic planning, operations, transformation and change, communications, executive facilitation, and program management.  Mr. Wolverton will join GTSC to discuss BDO, one of the largest professional services firms in the country.  Mr. Wolverton will discuss the firm’s Federal practice, their strategy in the market, how they add value to the mission of their Federal partners and opportunities they see in the near future.  Mr. Wolverton will also discuss partnership with small business, their small business goals and what they look for in small business partners.

 

About GTSC’s Mentor Companies

The Government Technology & Services Coalition’s (GTSC) Mentor companies understand how critical a robust, successful homeland and national security market is to our nation’s security.  Together with our members, these firms are committed to bringing the innovation, ideas and agility of small business to the experience, infrastructure and resources of large companies.  GTSC mentors join us to provide advice and counsel to small and mid-sized companies, find new and innovative teaming partners, address challenges in the prime/subcontractor relationship in a neutral environment and improve mentor/protégé communication and success.  Both our large and small companies recognize that the best security for our citizens – both physically and economically — is derived from the ability of our markets to meet the challenges posed by terrorism, natural disasters, and criminal activity.

Essential Steps to Prioritizing IT expenditures

More and more Federal CIOs (and their staffs) are realizing a need to get their arms around their in-house IT requirements vetting.  Since joining ISS in 2013, we have expanded our IT/Data requirements support at NOAA (National Ocean Service and National Weather Service) and Defense Logistics Agency (built and automated the “IT Front Door”).  We’ve been able to support various levels of requirements automation and sophistication.  Bottom line – we’ve had to serve the client’s mission to get a handle on what’s in their enterprise, and how to efficiently fill new requirements.

We’ve seen our clients realize that when a small agency becomes an enterprise, tools become capability suites and discussions become corporate communications.  It happens when the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) realizes they’ve lost visibility over new IT spending for tools, technologies or capabilities, or when the integration and sustainment costs are growing out of control.  CIOs need a structured, disciplined review and analysis of new and existing IT investments and capabilities, and they long for standard, repeatable processes.  But where do you start?

There are several essential steps when trying to manage your “approval life cycle” and better prioritize IT expenditures:

  • Provide a single face to the internal customer concerning new capabilities and requirements. That person or office receives reviews, coordinates and tracks requests through a matrixed team of subject matter experts across the organization.
  • Define the roles and responsibilities of each party in the process, and clarify the rules and policies that make the IT requirements vetting process mandatory.
  • Establish evaluation and approval criteria, business rules, quality checks and feedback reporting for requirement submissions (business case and life cycle analysis).
  • Build a knowledge base of existing tools and licenses. Accelerate the approval process when the desired capability exists within current IT solutions or systems.
  • Check requests against Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) strategies, ensuring correct vetting, and documenting approvals.
  • Advertise capabilities and approvals to leadership, internal customers, and stakeholders.
  • Document architecture/configuration changes.
  • Establish linkages to the budget process where business cases can be vetted.

A skeleton view of a requirements review process has three essential phases, which we have seen broken into more, but rarely fewer steps:

Coherent Requirement Documentation – Every internal request for IT capability (resource dedication) should be approved by a business process owner before submittal.  This will help ensure both the clarity and completeness of the request.  Once a request is submitted, it should be reviewed by the requirements process owner to ensure it makes sense to the IT subject matter experts (SMEs) who can help translate the request from business process to technology/tool/process definition.  Once the analysts and the customers agree that they have accurately captured the essence of the need, the request moves forward to internal vetting and analysis.

Internal Vetting and Analysis – This is the most extensive step because it involves due diligence – ensuring the request improves either business operations or customer interface.  Analysts will first check the existing library of technologies and tools to ensure this need can’t be covered by an existing (or planned) capability.  If the need can be met with an existing technology or tool, the approval process can be accelerated.

Next the analysts work with the Chief Technology Officer to check for existing commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) or government-off-the-shelf (GOTS) tools to fill the need.  If there are no existing tools, the CTO may need to help draft documentation to guide a developmental effort, which can reflect a significant time and resource commitment for the organization.

Finally, the analysts assess the relevance to the CIO/CTO strategies, compatibility with existing architectures, and the time/money required to move forward.  Once these issues are assessed, the request may be returned to the customer for adjustment/re-work, or forwarded for approval and funding.

Approval and Funding – When the team decides there is sufficient information and analysis to merit a decision, they recommend an approval level (based on resource commitment authorities).  For inexpensive efforts, this could mean an approval notice which authorizes the customer to buy the COTS/GOTS tool using office funds.  For more complex and expensive efforts, it may mean assigning a priority for resource competition at budget deliberation time.

The complexity of the mission, organization and supported processes will drive the complexity of the requirements approval process.  But once it’s in place, a structured, disciplined review and analysis of new and existing IT investments and capabilities using standard and repeatable processes will help prevent redundancy, prioritize investments, ensure architectural integrity and reduce life cycle costs.

Implementation – Integrated Systems Solutions has been developing a variety of requirements management systems for federal customers since 2008. Whether it’s IT requirements, IT modernization, environmental observation requirements, ocean observation requirements, or data/metadata requirements, we have experts who can guide you to a user-friendly, enduring solution.  We can match the sophistication and automation of your process (from hands-on committee-based discussions to end-to-end web-based solutions) based on your organizational needs, culture, time and fiscal resources.

Bob Ranck_picBrigadier General Bob Ranck (ret.) is Vice President of Integrated Systems Solutions (ISS), a Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) possessing a Top Secret Facility clearance and ISO 9001:2008 certification.   General Ranck served as Director, Warfighter Systems Integration, Office of Information Dominance and Chief Information Officer, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Happy Days Are Here Again, For a Few

The year 2013 presented its share of challenges to the federal government, IT federal contracting community as well as, Congress and its budget process. Going into 2014 the sequestration as we have come to know it has taken a back seat to more forward thinking leadership from our political leaders.

Even though the sequestration didn’t last for a long time, it lasted long enough to cause crippling damage to both small and large business alike. The New Year has arrived and with it comes an end to the Continuing Resolution (CR) and a new approved two year congressional budget has been passed. The New Year also brings with it a couple of pieces of new legislation that are designed to make the government more efficient in its ability to do IT acquisitions….. The legislation purposes to provide a single point of responsibility and maybe… budget authority at the CIO level of each agency with the possibilities of establishing an Acquisition Center of Excellence to assist agencies with complex acquisitions and keep them apprised of lessons learned in acquiring technology. There is also consideration being given to establishing a Federal Infrastructure and Common Application Collaboration Center. Both could have significant impact on the contracting community and the way they pursue business opportunities.

Pending Legislation:

The House Oversight and Government Reform committee: “The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act” which they tried to pass through the National Defense Authorization Act via an amendment but did not sneak through.

The Senate Appropriations Committee/Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013…”The Federal Information Technology Savings, Accountability, and Transparency Act” which is still pending

Boy, isn’t this music to the ear? Does this bring about a sigh of relief to the IT contracting community? Are happy days really here again? Well, as the title of this article says “but only for a few” and here is why.

The budget struggle that the federal government faces is not going to go away anytime soon. Consolidation of resources, technology and staff will continue to be its focus for years to come. The vendor community must recognize this and adjust accordingly. Shrinking budgets means project consolidations, contract consolidation, staff reduction and yes, long-term vendor collaboration.

The vendor community must become more serious and aggressive in its abilities to form long-term strategic alliances. Many are still operating in the “old school” mode of simple teaming arrangements for subcontracting opportunities. I refer to this as the “meal or deal of the day” model. The landscape has changed in two very dynamic ways. 1.) Budgets require users to do more with less and 2.) The idea of optimal efficiencies is at the top of the organizational pyramid due to budget cuts.

From a vendor perspective responding to these dynamics can only be realized through forming long-term strategic alliances. The traditional teaming/subbing does not fulfill long- term growth, especially if your team isn’t winning. And, if it is winning, your success is only good for a couple of years.

Collaborating with the competition and sometimes with your customer can position you to capitalize on steady long-term growth in the marketplace. In order to do this you we recommend that you;

  1. Change your focus from the short-term teaming/sub-contracting arrangements to mid-range and long-term opportunities. (30%, 25% 45%).
  2. Identify potential partners that you can grow together with for a minimum of 5-7 years of growth and market positioning.
  3. Make sure you perform comprehensive internal and external assessments on all potential partners and integrate as much as possible)
  4. Find and align yourself with 3 long-term strategic partners that match your growth strategy.
  5. Co-market, co-brand your business development and capture plan activities. When feasible you can co-develop technical solutions with your partners to pursue opportunities a minimum of 3 years out.

Doing these five things will definitely help you prepare and position your company for future trends in this changing landscape. You just might find yourself in the (few) category and end up having a prosperous New Year!

Contributing Author:  Earl S. Holland, III

Earl Holland

Earl is President /CEO of Growth Strategy Consultants, LLC and a Strategic Advisor to the Government Technology & Services Coalision (GTSC).  Earl specializes in strategic alliance development and training, business development and capture planning and has worked for large and small companies in government contracting for over 20 years.  Learn more about him here.

GTSC & Government Contracting Weekly Launch “The Mentors”

Washington, D.C. – December 4, 2013 – Government Contracting Weekly, the only television program devoted to winning government contracts, and the Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC) today launched, “The Mentors,” a Special Award Program and Strategic Partnership to recognize companies that mentor and contribute to the success of small businesses.

“Since our inception, the members of GTSC have wanted to recognize and encourage those who are improving the environment, expertise and effectiveness of the private and public sectors to assure that collectively we achieve our mission of protecting the nation,” said Kristina Tanasichuk, CEO and founder of GTSC, “we believe that this award program is long-overdue and highlights that there are many tremendous people and companies working in partnership to provide the latest innovation, professionalism and expertise to our Federal partners.”

The awards program will recognize and salute government contractors for their leadership and concrete actions in assisting small government contracting firms through mentoring, training, inspiration, teaming and cooperation.  “We believe that mentoring is critical to the contracting community.  Large firms that mentor small companies play a critical role in saving their Federal clients money and time, commit to putting action behind the mantra of bringing “innovation and creativity” to the Federal mission and bring a higher level of professionalism to the contracting community.  We are proud to recognize their contributions,” said Richard Nathan, CEO, AOC Key Solutions, owner of the Government Contracting Weekly television program.

Government Contracting Weekly premiered in September, 2013, and has received widespread critical acclaim from the government contracting community. Over 125 senior executives from government and industry have made appearances to provide unique domain knowledge and expertise regarding the keys to winning government contracts. “The alliance between GTSC and Government Contracting Weekly will provided heightened visibility to all of the support provided by large businesses to their small business counterparts,” said Jim McCarthy, owner and technical director of AOC Key Solutions and host/moderator of the program.

The award nominations process will open December 5th and accept nominations from both GTSC members and the broader small business contracting community.  Awardees will be announced weekly starting in early 2014 and recognized at a special awards celebration in the spring.  For more information on the awards, visit:  www.GTSCoalition.com/mentorawards

Nominate now mentor

The Chertoff Group, Dickstein Shapiro, GSIS 360 and the International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM), Linden Resources and the Security Industry Association are GTSC’s other strategic partners. More information on each is available at www.GTSCoalition.com.

 

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The Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC) is a nonprofit, non-partisan 501(c)(6) association of companies that create, develop and implement solutions for the federal homeland and national security sector. Our mission is two-fold: first, to provide exceptional advocacy, capacity building, partnership opportunities and marketing in the Federal security space for small and mid-sized companies. Second, to support and assist our government partners achieve their critical missions with the highest integrity; best and most innovative technologies; and results-based, quality products and services to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from any terrorist attack or natural disaster. For more information on these mentors and the Government Technology & Services Coalition, please visit www.GTSCoalition.com.

Government Contracting Weekly is a TV show devoted to winning government contracts, produced and brought to you by AOC Key Solutions, Inc.. The show airs every Sunday at 7am on the DC Metro CBS affiliate WUSA9.  Learn more about GCW atwww.governmentcontractingweekly.com.  AOC Key Solutions, Inc. (KSI) KSI provides proposal and business development consulting services to federal contractors. Since 1983, KSI has helped its clients win or retain over $122 billion in Government contracts by providing the Key to Winning. KSI employs in-house consulting professionals supplemented by more than 275 associates and subject matter experts. KSI consulting services include marketing assessment, strategic advisory, third party performance assessments, proposal development and technical writing services.  Learn more about their services atwww.aockeysolutions.com.