Back to Basics: Help Your Customer Help You By Peter Adler Seneca Creek Consulting Once we have successfully worked with government program and project managers to provide them with the IT-based solutions, do we provide them with the knowledge and the means to suggest to the contracting officials the preferable manner to use in acquiring the solution? Program people rarely have in-depth knowledge of acquisition methods and procurement procedures. Why should they, when the have a contracting shop that already possesses that knowledge? Agency management and contracting officers generally have a keen awareness of socio-economic goals. For example, your client may be required to buy certain types of services through the agency’s governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC). Generally, agency-sponsored GWACs are multi-award requiring competition among the GWAC prime contract holders. However, if you are part of, or aligned with, an 8(a) firm or a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, a speedy sole-source acquisition may benefit all parties. Agency management and contracting operations are always striving to meet their socio-economic goals, so you invariably have “buy-in” by some of the most important constituencies in the agency – always a good thing, but of particular importance when you are attempting to greatly shorten the contracting cycle. Since this “buy-in” exists, there should be little problem in exempting the “buy” from the mandated contracting vehicle, such as a GWAC. Simultaneously serve the interests of your client, agency management and the contracting office by using one of the instruments described above. You can aid your client in obtaining quick, clean contracting methods while serving the goals of all parties to the transaction. All it takes is a little education by you for the client. For more information visit www.SenecaCreekConsulting.com.