Marketplace

Buying Better All The Time

December 1, 2001

e've come a long way in making the government's acquisition system more responsive and effective. One of the remarkable achievements of Operation Desert Storm, just a decade ago, was the resourcefulness of federal employees. Telecommunications gear, for example, was acquired in weeks, not months, as officials sought special relief from procurement rules to make things happen quickly. It was a triumph of individuals overcoming the limitations of a flawed acquisition process. After the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, able and committed civil servants once again showed great strength in rising to the occasion. But this time, they didn't have to overcome the acquisition process. As David Drabkin, senior procurement executive at the General Services Administration says, "Unlike Desert Shield/Desert Storm, where we responded to the emergency in many cases in spite of the system, in the aftermath of [Sept. 11], we used the system to meet the requirements of the people responding to the emergency." Let's hope the skeptics who worry that the reforms of the 1990s may have been at the expense of competition and openness don't ignore these pluses as they draw their conclusions. In other words, HUD is asking contractors for their advice on how to make the procurement more effective. But the agency has gone one step further. In the section of the draft request that ordinarily outlines the work to be performed, bidders are asked to develop their own strategy for achieving the project's objectives. This approach is another step toward encouraging contractors to provide innovative, commercial solutions to satisfy government needs.

Here's a sample of what GSA purchased for New York and Pentagon relief efforts within hours and days of the attacks-all using existing contracting processes:

65,000 protective suits
5,000 face masks
3,000 respirators
400 vehicles
250 cell phones
More than 2,000 computers
1,200 pieces of office furniture and equipment
300 fax machines and photocopiers

Perhaps former NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin's mantra of "faster, better, cheaper" best characterizes the forces driving acquisition reform in the last decade. Simplification, speed, a willingness to look to others for good ideas, and a focus on performance are all part of this transformation. Today you see these innovations almost wherever you look.

At the Energy Department, the Web-based Industry Interactive Procurement System quickly informs a potential bidder of a new contract solicitation. A company can register online with the department by providing some basic information about its business. Once registered, the contractor can receive e-mail notifications about new Energy solicitations and guidance on where to find more information. A recent Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management notification, for example, seeks a firm with engineering and scientific skills relating to the design of a geologic repository for nuclear materials. The information includes when the proposal is due, contact information for the contracting officer and the type of competition.

Not only is the all information electronic, but the bidders email their responses as well. It's simple, fast and paperless. In another move to smooth the procurement process, the Housing and Urban Development Department has released draft requests for proposal for its projected Information Technology Service solicitation that potential bidders can review. This multimillion-dollar procurement requires a full range of integrated IT services, including data processing and management, data recovery, local area network communications and Web site administration.

By putting out these drafts, the department hopes to get feedback from companies on:

Features of the request for proposal that are unclear.
Recommendations for improvement.
Omissions or inconsistencies.
The overall procurement approach.

Defense's Special Operations Command in Florida also is seeking advice from its industry partners on "comprehensive end-to-end communications services through a common computing and communications environment." The Defense Department's expectation is that contractors will propose a performance-based approach for conducting the work.

The draft request for proposal outlines how a contractor could extend the five-year contract to a more lucrative nine years with solid performance. This type of incentive reinforces the concept that results really matter.

As American philosopher and educator John Dewey said, "what works is good." This new acquisition system certainly seems to be working. And staff are no longer forced to use their ingenuity to circumvent the system. Rather, they're challenged to bring in innovations to make it even better.

Allan V. Burman, a former Office of Federal Procurement Policy administrator, is president of Jefferson Solutions in Washington. Contact him at aburman@govexec.com.

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