Learn Skills and Best Practices
Six Ways for Public Procurement Buyers to Get the Best Price
May 31, 2017
Competitive pricing is predicated on a keen understanding of a number of factors, including a market and its suppliers, internal user requirements and their demand patterns, and alignment with the user community. Several sophisticated techniques can and should be explored to determine their...
Three Top Qualities Every Public Procurement Professional Must Have
May 8, 2017
At Public Spend Forum, we’re interested in identifying the qualities that every procurement pro needs to succeed—not just in her career, but in fulfilling the agency’s mission.
One thing we discovered as we talked with experts in the field, no matter how much job descriptions change and the...
A $400 Billion Opportunity: 10 Strategies to Improve Federal Procurement
Apr 28, 2017
This timeless research paper lays out the 10 key, very practical strategies for managing total cost, cutting across the 3 phases of the acquisition/procurement life cycle (Pre-Award, Award, and Post-Award). When applied systematically and critically against all acquisitions / procurements,...
Procurement of Professional Services – Three Reasons Why the Public Sector Uses Consultants
Apr 3, 2017
We threatened recently to run a series on buying professional services in the context of public sector organisations and buyers. That came about in part through a report that identified spend by central government in the UK on consultants was rising again after some years of decline.
Let’s make a...
What Public Procurement Can Learn From the Private Sector and Strategic Sourcing
Apr 3, 2017
Within private sector procurement, there are a number of advanced technologies that are beginning to reshape how we think about the role of “buying.” Perhaps the best place to start is in the world of sourcing itself. When I first started in the profession, top performing private sector...
The Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) Job Description: An Overview
Mar 30, 2017
While every job description is different, when it comes to a senior leadership role, such as that of a Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), there are many similarities. Regardless of the organization size, sector or target market of the organization, there are certain basic requirements for a CPO. For...
The Four Value Levers of Public Procurement: The Keys to Value and Success
Mar 29, 2017
The Keys to Value and Success in the Public Sector
Working within the public sector has its challenges. All too often, the entire public sector market—buyers and suppliers alike—is subjected to arbitrary policies drafted by groups that have little understanding of how to generate value or...
Shaping an RFP: Steps to Successfully Sell to the Federal Government
Mar 4, 2017
To satisfy the market research needs of federal buyers, many IT firms in the federal sector create marketing materials and presentations that are often nothing more than introductions to the firm, the firm’s capabilities, and little else that fail to discuss the one thing that is important to...
Building Post-Award Trust Between Industry and Government
Feb 14, 2017
Note: This post is co-authored by Tim Cooke, CEO of ASI Government, and Dan Chenok, executive director of the IBM Center for the Business of Government.
Recently, the Professional Services Council’s Outcomes-Oriented Acquisition Working Group Chair Tim Cooke joined with me, IBM Center for the...
Small-Business Definitions Put Hurt on Midsize Contractors
Jan 24, 2017
This article was originally published in Washington Technology on June 28, 2010, and written by Matthew Weigelt.
For a long time, Kim Nguyen has felt a growing pressure in the federal information technology marketplace, and there’s been no let-up.
Pragmatics Inc., where Nguyen is vice president...
Public Procurement Best Practices Exchange Hits London and the United Kingdom
Sep 21, 2016
Last week, we held the kick-off meeting for the Public Spend Forum Best Practices Exchange in the UK. The Exchange has been a feature of the Public Spend Forum program in the USA for a year or more now, one of the elements of the PSF initiative launched by Raj Sharma and his team. Nancy Clinton and...
Five Minutes for Better Communication with Industry
Dec 15, 2016
Late last month, the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council proposed an unusual rule, one that specifically stated that agencies are encouraged to engage in “responsible and constructive exchanges with industry, so long as those exchanges are consistent with existing laws and regulations, and...
