Turn year-end disappointments into successful pursuits

August 18, 2022 by Leave a comment

By Kevin P. Young, Principal Market Intelligence Analyst

As we come into the last six weeks of the fiscal year, there are high expectations that the deals in your pipeline will come in before the clock strikes midnight on September 30. While many deals will undoubtedly come in – including an occasional bluebird or two — there will be some disappointments as well.

For the deals that did not come in, there’s also going to be a lot of after-the-fact analysis of why you did not win. Here are some of the most common reasons deals DO NOT come in:

  • You did not have a clear understanding of the client’s requirements and issues
  • Your technical solution was not a good fit
  • Your pricing was not competitive
  • You did not have strong relationships with the (1) key decision maker and/or influencer, (2) program office and/or (3) contracting officer
  • You assumed your potential client’s stakeholders were predisposed to YOU as “neutral” or “positive“

What can you do better in the next fiscal year – besides righting the obvious alluded to above?

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Small businesses make headway in government: Are you properly registered?

August 11, 2022 by Leave a comment

By Kevin P. Young, Consulting Market Analyst

There’s good news for small business federal government contractors in the recent announcement from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) that the Biden-Harris Administration exceeded its small business federal contracting goal in 2021. According to the SBA, the administration awarded 27.2 percent, or $154.2 billion, in new contract dollars to small businesses – an increase of $8 billion increase from 2020.

The SBA has a goal of 23 percent to 26 percent of all System for Award Management (SAM)-registered federal procurements be targeted for small businesses – direct, via prime contractors and via procurement vehicles/channels.

Although the news is good and, despite the overall increase in the dollar value of small business awards, the absolute number of small businesses receiving prime contracts with the federal government decreased again in FY21.

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New to federal sales? What you need to know about our GSA MAS contract extension

July 20, 2022 by Leave a comment

By Gina Brown, Federal Contracts Manager

EC America was recently awarded a GSA contract extension for GS-35F-0511T. The award grants five additional years on this extremely valuable procurement contract, which now expires June 26, 2027.

The GSA MAS contract is one of the largest and most widely used government procurement vehicles, generating over $19 billion for the Information Technology “large” category every year. The contract is open to all federal agencies as well as to state and local government agencies.

What is GSA MAS?

The GSA MAS is an IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quality) government-wide, 20-year-long contract that provides government buyers access to commercial products, services and solutions at pre-negotiated pricing. Many state and local agencies look to GSA MAS as their vehicle of choice or as a base contract to govern their own vehicles. Federal agencies may also use the GSA MAS as a foundation to establish Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) for repetitive requirements for supplies or services.

Why is this important to our channel partners and suppliers?

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The Fed’s EDR focus will unlock opportunities in cyber defense

January 26, 2022 by Leave a comment

By Amanda Mull, Contract Specialist

The cybersecurity of the federal government is constantly under attack.  A recent FISMA report from the Office of Management and Budget noted that in FY2020, agencies reported 30,819 cybersecurity incidents to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team. The variety of attack vectors continues to evolve, creating a dynamic threat landscape.

The government is addressing this challenge by mandating Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools. Companies that can offer these tools and capabilities will be well-positioned to build their federal customer portfolio.

EDR is an integrated security solution that detects threats by combining real-time continuous monitoring and collection of endpoint data with rules-based automated responses and analysis capabilities. The data collected helps determine system security. Evaluation and machine analysis of the data provides coordinated detection of threats and conditions that elicit programmed responses, including follow up via human notifications and further actions to mitigate any potential or actual threats. 

EDR initiatives and Approved Product listing

On January 10, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced an expanded and revised EDR technical capability definition and new requirements for adding EDR items to the Department of Homeland Security’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation Program’s Approved Product List.

The federal EDR initiative includes a CISA dashboard to record data collected from all federal executive agency and department information systems. The dashboard metrics are intended to provide an overall federal cyber threat analysis. OMB and other federal actors plan to use the dashboard metrics to evaluate vulnerabilities and make budgetary decisions to fund cybersecurity improvements.

Agency EDR responsibilities and FISMA updating

Expectations for agency engagement are high. EDR implementation is mandated, and agencies must continue to develop and mature their EDR solutions – along with continued reporting of endpoint data to the coordinated CISA federal dashboard.

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GSA planning government-wide cloud BPA: What you need to know

November 23, 2021 by Leave a comment

By Adam Hyman, Director, Government Programs

Over the past couple years, immixGroup has tracked discussion about the General Services Administration putting together yet a new acquisition vehicle — this time around for cloud solutions. That initial chatter may now become reality.

In 2019, GSA released an RFI seeking industry input on providing cloud products and services in creative solution bundles, to better help customers with their business/technology needs and to save the government money.

This past October, GSA released another RFI related to cloud, making its intent clearer: GSA intends to establish a government-wide, Multiple Award Blanket Purchase Agreement using the following Special Item Numbers (SINs):

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CMMC 2.0 streamlines requirements for contractors

November 9, 2021 by Leave a comment

By Hollie Kapos, Corporate Counsel

In September 2020, DoD published an interim rule to implement CMMC, which became effective November 30, 2020. The DoD received over 850 public comments in response, citing concerns with cost, trust in the assessment ecosystem, and alignment to other federal requirements.

Accordingly, it began an internal assessment of CMMC policy and implementation and, as a result, DoD has just announced CMMC 2.0, which makes several substantial changes from the original model.

Levels streamlined in CMMC 2.0

Levels 2 and 4 have been removed, so there are now only three instead of five levels of compliance as follows:

  • CMMC Level 1, Foundational – Requires implementation of the 17 controls from NIST SP 800-171 enumerated in FAR 52.204-21 and submission of an annual self-assessment to the DoD through the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS).  
  • CMMC Level 2, Advanced – Requires implementation of the 110 controls in NIST SP 800-171 and submission of an annual self-assessment or, if required to handle “critical national security information” (currently undefined), a triennial independent assessment performed by a CMMC Third Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO). 
  • CMMC Level 3, Expert – Requires implementation of the 110 controls in NIST SP 800-171 and a subset of controls from NIST SP 800-172 and a triennial government-led assessment. Requirements for level 3 are still being developed.
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Vaccine requirements for federal contractors: The latest Task Force guidance basics

October 7, 2021 by Leave a comment

By Jeff Ellinport, Division Counsel

As anticipated in my last blog, on September 24, 2021, the White House’s Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued its expected guidance implementing the vaccination requirements for federal prime contractors and subcontractors. This action was pursuant to Executive Order 14042 (Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors) that President Biden issued on September 9.

While the guidance directly answered some questions posed in my last blog, it also created others. Here are the basics.

Requirements

The guidance sets out three main requirements:

  1. COVID-19 vaccination of covered contractor employees, except in limited circumstances where an employee is legally entitled to an accommodation
  2. Compliance by individuals, including covered contractor employees and visitors, with the guidance related to masking and physical distancing while in covered contractor workplaces
  3. Designation by covered contractors of a person or persons to coordinate COVID-19 workplace safety efforts at covered contractor workplaces
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CDM Notes: EO 14028 deadline is looming. Is your company ready to help?

October 6, 2021 by Leave a comment

By Amanda Mull, Contract Specialist

Cybersecurity specialists in the federal government are probably feeling the pinch right about now. By October 9, agencies will need to report on their current software systems as part of Executive Order 14028 on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. If you are a vendor of cybersecurity products, you’d be well advised to make sure your business is appropriately listed – sooner, not later.

Following completion of their EO/OMB reports, agencies are to identify areas at high risk for cyberattacks – such as data theft, ransomware, and disturbances or exploitation of email or other communications.  By Identifying these vulnerabilities and whether agencies may be dependent on specific software or system providers, the federal government hopes to gain greater insight into problem areas.

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Vaccine requirements for federal contractors: What we know today

September 16, 2021 by Leave a comment

By Jeff Ellinport, Division Counsel

In the next 10 days, expect specific guidance on how federal contractors will need to respond to the COVID vaccine mandate from the Biden administration.

On September 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order “Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors” (the “EO”). This order will require many federal contractors to have their employees either fully vaccinated or subject to regular COVID-19 testing.

Here is what we know 

The EO leaves some of the details regarding the requirements for federal contractors to others. Specifically, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) in a few weeks, and the recently created Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (the “Task Force”) is to issue specific federal contractor guidance by September 24.

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NASCIO Conference to address SLED technology and spending, and honors immixGroup with Longevity Award

September 2, 2021 by Leave a comment

By Chauncey Kehoe, SLED Contracts Manager

Each year, The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) selects a recipient of its five-year Corporate Membership Longevity Award. At this year’s meeting, which will be held in Seattle, Wash. from October 10-13, that award will be proudly accepted by immixGroup, Inc.

The Corporate Membership Longevity Award is a significant accomplishment for companies in the state, local and education (SLED) market, because of NASCIO’s respected standing in the industry.

NASCIO’s mission is to foster government excellence through leadership of quality business practices, information management and technology. Through NASCIO’s members-only community, immixGroup has had the opportunity to participate in discussion forums, collaborate with government and industry leaders and take away lessons learned from NASCIO events.

The most valuable benefit we have gained through our NASCIO membership is the ability to understand SLED technology needs and spending trends through committees and working groups. These groups usually consist of SLED chief information officers and industry leaders. The topics range from IT trends to post pandemic life. As participants, we are able to relay this information back to our suppliers and resellers to better prepare them for selling into the SLED space.

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