Acquisition Reform Toolbox

cquisition reform is all over the World Wide Web, so it's difficult to pick the best sites. We offer here a handful of sites most useful in compiling our 1997 article, "Buying Smarts."

General Acquisition Reform

• The National Performance Review's Acquisition Reform Network hopes "to foster and propagate measurable breakthrough improvements in the way that government obtains goods and services." It contains innumerable reference documents, guidebooks and examples of how agencies have used various reforms to drive better bargains.
• The Defense acquisition revolution has set up its barricades at the home page of the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition Reform). The page was created for anyone interested in the particulars of working in the field of acquisition reform and it's a must bookmark for Defense reformers. In addition to frequent updates, the site offers hot news, links to other acquisition sites, a reference library, and on-line versions of DoD's acquisition reform newsletter.
• The Energy Department Office of Procurement and Assistance Management site is another good source of acquisition reform background material and updates.
• For clear explanations of acquisition policy changes, practical examples of reforms in action and hot news in the acquisition field, it's hard to beat the National Contract Management Association's site. Select articles from the NCMA publications reside there along with hot news items and updates. NCMA is the leading acquisition professionals' association.
• For lessons learned by agencies using various acquisition reforms, try the success stories collected by GSA.

Performance-Based Contracting

• A year ago, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy put out a guide to performance-based service contracting. OFPP also compiled a list of performance-based contracting contact people at a number of agencies. They have sample work statements and other resources to share.
• Best practices guide
• Agency contact people
• To get a better idea of just how to draft a performance-based work statement, the core of a performance-based contract, take a look at the 23 sample performance work statements collected by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. Each includes a user's guide.

Market Research

• The DoD Commercial Advocates Forum may not be the only market research tool on the Web, but it has to be one of the best and most comprehensive. The site's market research tools page is a compendium of helpful resources including links ranging from Commerce Business Daily on line, the Maven, an on-line computer buying guide, and the Thomas Register of American Manufacturers, to the Minority Business and Professional Directory.
• The Navy Acquisition Reform Office has put together a market research tutorial. The tutorial explains what market research is, how to get started and how to document market research to support acquisition decisions.

Past Performance

• The May 1995 Office of Federal Procurement Policy's guide to best practices in using past performance information to select contractors is available on line. OFPP is updating the guide.
• For a more skeptical view of the use of past performance information, check the June 1996 report by Arthur D. Little, Inc. for the Defense Department.

Oral Proposals

• Acquisition reform lets you ditch the truckloads of paper involved in old-fashioned vendors proposals and review oral presentations instead. For a practical guide to using oral presentation techniques in competitive procurements, try this Energy Department site.

Governmentwide Contracts

• Government-wide agency contracts (GWAC) are contracts for various information technology resources owned by one Federal agency but open for other specified Federal agencies to use if they pay an administrative fee. Here's the General Services Administration's GWAC directory.
• NASA's consolidated contracting initiative requires buyers to make sure there isn't an existing NASA or GWAC that would do the job before initiating any new procurements of goods or services. As part of the initiative, NASA produced an on-line guide to GWACs.
• The Energy Department, too, has an on-line directory of multi-use basic ordering agreements open to all Energy components.
• The oldest, largest governmentwide contracts are GSA's Federal Supply Service schedules. They are represented on the Web by GSA Advantage!, an electronic shopping mall that soon will encompass all the items and vendors on the schedules. For general information about the schedules, check the FSS site, to order, visit GSA Advantage.
• Federal Supply Service
• Advantage

Purchase Cards

• Government purchase cards have proven wildly popular and are one of the top acquisition reforms. GSA is preparing to award new contracts to multiple vendors for the purchase cards as well as its travel and fleet cards. You can monitor the contract award process on-line.