Duke Energy is the nation’s largest electric power holding company with 7 million electric customers and 500,000 gas customers. The company is headquartered in North Carolina and employs about 30,000 employees and has approximately $14.5 in annual revenues.

The pilot program for RFP-EZ has shown to have many advantages for the federal government. Not only did RFP-EZ make it faster and easier for federal agencies to acquire technology, but it also has the potential to create substantial savings for taxpayers. The Small Business Administration (SBA) analysis of four common IT projects showed that bids received on RFP-EZ came in 30% lower than similar bids received on the FedBizOpps procurement portal.

In recent months the General Services Administration (GSA) has placed significance on the importance of having a digital certificate. In fact, some GSA Schedules already require a digital certificate to access the applications GSA’s eOffer/eMod system. With the increased prominence and use of digital certificates it is important to be informed on what they are, why they are important and how to obtain them. A digital certificate is essentially a way of verifying an individual’s identity and securing internet transmissions. It is reassures the parties involved in the transmission, as it creates verifiable digital signatures and enables secure transmissions of data through encryption and decryption. It is for these added security and verification benefits that the GSA desires its contractors to have these digital certificates.

The General Services Administration (GSA), in partnership with a federal cybersecurity interagency working group (comprised of members of the DoD, GSA, DHS, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)), released an RFI for stakeholders’ input to improve the governments’ cybersecurity acquisition and implementation.

On May 20, 2013 the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the third company to become FedRAMP certified as Amazon Web Services. As part of the program, Amazon has been granted two Agency Authorities to Operate (ATOs) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CGI Federal and Autonomic Resources are the other two FedRAMP-certified providers.

Leasing office space is a huge cost for Federal Agencies, so in this age of shrinking budgets we are experiencing the phenomenon of the shrinking office spaces, if not disappearing ones, to meet budgetary needs. The Feds have taken a cue from the likes of American Express, GlaxoSmithKline, and other private industry giants who have long embraced downsized communal office spaces in order to save on real estate costs.