Government Contractor News from Pleasant Valley Business Solutions

High-Growth Government Contractor News

February 2008

150+ Leaders of Fast Growing Firms Converge at Microsoft Government Contractor Summit

Keynote Speech Focuses on Trends Facing Federal IT Users and How Service Providers Can Best Support

Microsoft held its first Government Contractor Summit on February 8 at the Microsoft Technology Center in Reston. Over 150 executives at some of the fastest growing companies that provide services or sell products to the Federal Government attended. As an event Gold Sponsor, PVBS was very excited to see how well the industry has adopted the Microsoft Dynamics NAV and CRM product lines. Many C-level executives were enthused to see that there are Microsoft alternatives on the market for ERP, project accounting and financial management.

One of the highlights was the keynote by Curt Kolcun, Vice President of the Microsoft Federal District, which is one of Microsoft's largest sales divisions. Curt said that two of the biggest trends Federal customers are faced with are consolidation and optimization. Consolidation will occur at datacenters and will also bring together desktops, voice, and other solutions. Drivers will include Green IT requirements, large Contracts, and demand for Shared Service Centers.

Curt also discussed how the Government will continue to increase its spending on IT security and cyber issues. FY 2004 IT security spending was near $4.2B and is targeted to increase to $7.3B by FY 2009 - a 73% increase. He said key IT initiatives such as IPv6 and the Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC) spell opportunities for IT service providers. Other trends that open opportunities for government contractors include Application Integration (Service Oriented Architecture) which results in integrated messaging & collaboration, Unified Communications (VOIP) and Business Intelligence for the Information Worker (scorecards, reporting), search, and enterprise content management.

Attendees were intrigued by the value Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers to Government customers. We see this as our Dynamics NAV customers are looking for ways to integrate their accounting solutions with their customer and business development processes. The number of opportunities that include CRM has grown exponentially in the past 12 months. Further expanding the solution, Microsoft has developed strong integration between Dynamics CRM and Windows Server/Active Directory, Office SharePoint Server, Exchange Server, Virtual Earth, SQL Server, and Microsoft Office.

If you'd like a copy of the presentation, please email me at bernard.mustafa@pvbs.net.

Best regards,

Bernard Mustafa
CEO, Pleasant Valley Business Solutions
www.pvbs.net

In This Issue

EVENTS: Convergence, NMCA

Defense Authorization Means Procurement Changes

PREMIER EVENTS UPCOMING: Convergence for Dynamics Customers; NCMA World Congress for Contract Management Professionals

Nearly 4,000 Dynamics users have registered for Convergence. It's the premier Microsoft Dynamics event, bringing customers, partners, Microsoft team members and industry experts together. It's a great chance to discuss solutions, address business needs and development relationships with people in the Dynamics community that can be leveraged throughout the year. It'll be held at the Orange County Convention Center, which is right near the usual Orlando attractions.

This is a great opportunity to participate in an exceptional program featuring a variety of speakers, detailed product demonstrations and hands-on learning sessions. It's a great chance to learn how to enhance your Microsoft investment now and in the future. PVBS will attend and we look forward to attending this year's event. Click here to learn more about Convergence.

The National Contract Management Association (NCMA) will be holding its annual World Congress in mid-April in Cincinnati. A large number of our customers are members of NCMA and have told us its a great event. This premier event focuses on the needs and challenges of the federal and commercial contracting industry. High-profile panelists and speakers, various high-quality educational programs, and unparalleled networking opportunities address the leading issues and requirements that all contract professionals deal with daily.

Set-Aside Alert Says Defense Authorization Act Means Procurement Changes

This article was submitted by Business Research Services Inc. (Bethesda, MD), publishers of Set-Aside Alert. Subscription information can be found at www.setasidealert.com.

President Bush has signed the 2008 Defense Authorization Act, which includes several significant procurement changes that were opposed by industry. When the law is implemented, it will place new restrictions on the use of time-and-materials contracts along with other measures aimed at improving contractor accountability.

Some provisions of the act apply government wide:

All eligible contractors must be given fair opportunity to compete for task and delivery orders above $5 million.
Agencies must provide a clear statement of requirements and disclose the evaluation factors that will be used in making the award.
Protests are permitted on task orders worth more than $10 million. Industry officials have warned that protests would drive up costs, especially for small companies.
Agencies must publicly disclose the justification for sole source contracts.

Other provisions of the law apply only to the Defense Department. Section 805 allows DOD to use T&M contracts for commercial services in support of a commercial item and for emergency repairs. But any other acquisition of commercial services on a T&M contract would have to be approved by the agency head. The restrictions on those contract types are less sweeping than the Senate version of the bill. Contracting officers may ask for pricing information on commercial services if the C.O. believes he does not have enough information to determine price reasonableness.

President Bush signed the bill, H.R. 4986, on Jan. 28. He had returned an earlier version to Congress because he objected to a provision that would have made the Iraqi government liable for lawsuits brought by victims of the Saddam Hussein regime. That provision was removed from the final version passed by Congress last month.