As a government contractor, it’s important to know which sources to turn to when it comes to government requirements and regulations. One rulebook of compliance, especially for contractors in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) is the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), a set of regulations that any contractor doing business with the Department of Defense (DoD) must understand and adhere to. For contractors with GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts who often have the opportunity to expand their business into the DoD sector, comprehending DFARS is not just an advantage—it’s necessity.

The day might finally be here—the Department of Defense (DoD) plans to publish a rule to start implementing Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). After the DoD reshaped the CMMC program to better fit small businesses 2 years ago, industry and contractors alike have been anxiously awaiting a final rule to formally implement CMMC.

This week, Congress passed its $874.2 billion defense policy bill, better known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This highly anticipated bill sets the funding and policy agenda for the Department of Defense (DoD) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. The DoD is currently operating under a stopgap funding bill, barring the agency from starting most new initiatives or moving forward with many acquisitions, so once signed by President Biden, this bill will enact a series of significant changes within the DoD.

It’s important for new and prospective GSA Schedule contract holders to keep in mind a GSA Schedule award is just the beginning of your contract’s life cycle. GSA Schedule contracts are broken out in four 5-year option periods, meaning your GSA Schedule can last for up to 20 years. And while some aspects of your GSA Schedule may not change drastically, a large portion of your offerings will likely look very different by the end of your contract. To help facilitate these changes to your GSA Schedule as easy as possible, GSA allows contractors to make modifications to their Schedule.

Managing catalog and contract data for a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract isn’t easy, but GSA aims to simplify these processes for contract holders through the new FAS Catalog Platform (FCP). Since GSA is unrolling FCP slowly, currently only selected contractors are eligible to transition from using the Schedule Input Program (SIP), the existing program for catalog management, to using FCP.

Recently, the Department of Defense (DoD) proposed to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to permanently authorize and modify the DoD’s Mentor Protégé Program. This program, sometimes referred to as the MPP, helps small businesses get their foot in the door and expand their experience in the defense industrial base.