Acquisition institute plans share-in-savings training

The General Services Administration is gearing up to provide procurement professionals with training on share-in-savings contracts.

Should Congress extend a section of the 2002 E-Government Act that gives agencies limited authority to use the contract vehicle for technology projects, GSA will offer classes through the Federal Acquisition Institute at no charge to interested government employees, said Ken Buck, director of GSA's share-in-savings program office. The e-government authorities are set to expire at the end of September.

Pending reauthorization, the institute plans to run as many as eight courses across the country in fiscal 2006, Buck said. The Government Accountability Office recently reported (GAO-05-736) that share-in-savings, a contract vehicle that allows agencies to offer contractors a cut of savings from a project in return for a large upfront investment, has been slow to take hold in part because federal employees lack training.

"We are awaiting word from Congress," Buck said. "As soon as that is provided, FAI will release a schedule of the courses."

As of March, only 21 federal acquisition employees had attended share-in-savings training, GAO reported. But federal employees and contractors have shown "significant interest" in such courses, said Ann Marie Bryant, vice president of business solutions at Beacon Associates Inc., a small consulting company based in Bel Air, Md.

Beacon started up share-in-savings classes a year ago and has trained about 50 people, Bryant said. That number includes both private sector and federal employees.

The consulting firm offers customized training, and also has developed a two-day general course that walks employees through the full process of running share-in-savings projects, from evaluating opportunities, assessing risks and making a business case for the project to the Office of Management and Budget, to evaluating proposals, awarding a contract and overseeing performance.

The general courses allow agencies to make sure that a representative from their procurement shop is up to speed on the share-in-savings concept and can identify opportunities to use it, Bryant said. Beacon has decided to suspend those classes, however, until regulations implementing the E-Government Act authorities are finalized and OMB has issued budget guidance.

Customized training will continue as needed, Bryant said, adding that she would like to see agencies send teams of employees to attend classes. "I do think that makes sense," she said. "I see that as being the next step."

Share-in-savings represents a "conceptual and cultural change" for the government, Bryant said. But federal employees leave Beacon's courses with a better idea of where the procurement method might be appropriate, and with an appreciation that "share-in-savings is not the right answer for every question," she said.

There's a very select set of circumstances where share-in-savings is viable, said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group. The contract vehicle should only be used on work where it's possible to measure baseline costs accurately, she said, adding that even in those situations, the "jury is still out" on whether the contracts would save the government any money.

Share-in-savings also is problematic because the technique can be used to circumvent the congressional appropriations process, Brian said. "These are problems that cannot be fixed by training," she added.