"What is a GSA Schedule contract?" This question may seem like it would have a simple answer, but if you’re completely new to the topic, the explanation can become a bit complex. You may already be familiar with the endless acronyms of the Federal Government, and in this language sometimes referred to as “Government speak,” everything has the potential to sound overly advanced, bureaucratic and cumbersome. However, in approaching this question differently, it is not as advanced as it sounds.

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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.