Government Contracting Blog

Contractors in the IT space, especially those offering cloud services, may be familiar with the Federal Risk and Authorization Management program, also known as FedRAMP. FedRAMP underwent a major change recently as the Emerging Technology Prioritization Framework was eliminated as part of an executive action from the Trump Administration. In this blog, we’ll go over what the framework was, why it was eliminated, and what this means for contractors going forward.

There are a lot of burning questions surrounding the buyout Trump offered to the federal workforce, like: how many employees will accept, or will we see major dips in retention? While there’s still more change to come, let’s focus on what we’ve seen with federal workforce attrition rates in the past, and what it looks like so far under the Trump Administration.

While the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) acquisition process can be a long and drawn out process, the work doesn’t end once your Schedule has been awarded. GSA Schedules have a potential life span of 20 years (four 5-year option periods), so it’s rare that a contractor’s GSA Schedule offerings, Special Item Number (SIN) selections, administrative information, etc. remains the same throughout the life of the contract. GSA Schedule contract holders can update or change essentially every part of their contract throughout its existence through a modification. In this blog, we will discuss the types of modifications, and why they are an integral part of GSA Schedule compliance.

The push to favor domestic items over foreign materials and products dates back to the early 1930s when the Buy American Act (BAA) was established. Since then, presidential administrations from both parties have worked to strengthen and revise the act. The BAA is an important piece of legislation for GSA contractors because it impacts the purchasing habits of federal agencies.

The rapid evolution of information technology has shaped virtually everything in today’s world, including how the federal government functions. For years, the government has lagged behind industry advancements for various reasons. As the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) puts it:

A change in the presidential administration can bring shifts in federal priorities, policies, and budgets—all of which can impact federal government contractors. If you are keeping up with the news, you have seen articles cropping up every day about a new Executive Order (EO) and a change in spending or initiatives. Although it can seem overwhelming right now, this isn’t necessarily new. Every time an administration switches over, there will inevitably be a lot of updates as they work to modify the landscape to fit their vision. The question is: what are you doing to adapt to these changes and maximize your success as a contractor in this new administration?