When it comes to writing government proposals, everyone who has responded to a government RFP (request for proposal) knows they are often limited to “page count:” the number of pages that the response is limited to. Government entities often limit the pages to the minimum number they believe a contractor needs to explain their solution. As a reader, you can't blame them; they are often reviewing many responses and don’t want to have to sit and read through hundreds of pages of text. And as writing the government RFP response, you don’t want to write hundreds of pages of text. Having read through several responses personally, and coming across pages of just text -- just looking at it is exhausting. How many times have you tried to explain something verbally in a meeting, only to revert to drawing it on a white board to explain it to your audience? The same applies to responding to government RFPs. Sometimes, just writing an explanation is not enough to ensure your audience understands what is being said. You need to illustrate it.

Two of the oldest GSA eTools are also two of its most powerful when examining competition on the GSA Schedule Program - Schedule Sales Query (SSQ) and GSA Advantage!

Although most of your government clients are probably very good about paying their invoices on time – or even early to take advantage of a prompt payment discount – every so often you may get that one agency that is difficult to collect from. If it happens once or twice, it might not be that big of a deal. But what if it is every month, or on a significantly large invoice?

With the ever growing accessibility of personal devices to organizational networks, identity management has never been of higher importance in both the public and private sector. Organizations’ IT networks contain an endless amount of sensitive data, and without proper authentication protocols, this data is at constant risk of breach. In the commercial space, the retailer Target’s breach in late 2013 was a difficult reminder that not addressing cyber risks on every level of your organization can lead to severe ramifications and security compromises.

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, dated April 15, concluded that federal agencies reported incorrect information to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for fiscal year 2013. The SBA’s ability to completely conclude compliance with spending requirements for the SBIR and STTR programs for fiscal year 2013 is incomplete, because most agencies submitted budget numbers, but not their spending obligations. Spending obligations are the foundation for calculating an agency’s spending requirements for SBIR and STTR.

The 8(a) Business Development Program is one of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) business assistance programs, which targets small disadvantaged businesses (SDB's). The 8(a) Program is designed to promote firms that are at least 51 % owned/controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. The program is divided into two phases: A four-year developmental stage and a five-year transition stage, for a total of nine years in the program.