Small businesses have been awarded nearly 27% of the contracting dollars under the Recovery Act, according to the market research firm Input. The analysis covered spending through early October.

The vast majority of contract dollars have been awarded competitively, but Input says 70% of the money has been funneled through existing contracts as task or delivery orders, reducing opportunities for new players to share in Recover Act spending.

While the latest estimates show 640,000 jobs created or saved by Recovery Act spending, Input cautions that “accurate reporting of job creation is ultimately unknowable because of the number of recipients reporting, the complexity of the reports, the definition of a saved job, and recipients were allowed to use a calculation when they were unable to provide actual data.”

A former top Defense acquisition official sounded a warning against a “global war on contractors.” Jacques Gansler, who was deputy undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said the Obama administration’s drive to insource jobs should go beyond a numbers game.

Speaking at the National Contract Management Association conference in Bethesda, MD, Gansler said, “If hiring is treated as a quota, it’s not going to satisfy the need.” His remarks were reported by Government Executive magazine.

President Obama’s chief performance officer, Jeffery Zients, says outdated IT systems are the biggest obstacle to improving government performance.

“IT is the largest gap that I’ve seen in my first hundred days,” Zients told the American Society for Public administration’s annual conference in Washington. “IT has been the major driver of the productivity gains and the service quality improvements in the private sector over the last decade. And from what I’ve seen, the government has missed out.” His speech was reported by Federal Times.