Welcome to Advantage Consulting

Congratulations to those of you whose companies earned a position on the 8(a) STARS II GWAC. STARS II is designed to promote Small Business utilization when purchasing information technology (IT) services or IT service-based solutions for the Federal government; it is reserved exclusively for qualifying certified 8(a) Small Business concerns as the prime contractors per Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.8. The award, which has been made to 599 qualified businesses, may yet expand to another 30 businesses under review. Though the original STARS program was well utilized by acquisition officials, there is concern that relatively few companies holding 8(a) STARS II will achieve prime awards through it.

To secure work for your team through STARS II, your staff will need to inform their contacts of your company's availability through STARS II. In addition, your staff will need to provide prospective customers with compelling reasons to use the vehicle, while presenting how to make the customer successful by having your firm support them. It is often your on-site managers, their team, and your Business Development staff who can make this happen. Your people are a known, trusted resource providing the Government with a low-risk solution.

Advantage Consulting provides Business Development and Capture Management support and training along with SME Proposal Support that can greatly improve your company becoming one of the firms that will win work through STARS II. Our support is provided in the form of workshops, strategic and tactical planning and coaching Please contact us to find out more about our services. Contact Sid Jaffe by e-mail at sjaffe@acibiz.com or call 703-642-5153.

Base Maintenance Services at McChord AFB, WA (Furnishings Mgmt, Medical/Base Custodial, Environmental Svcs, Airport Access Control, & Postal Svcs)

If you want the free full summary of this target go to: http://login.epipeline.com/limitedDisplay?ID=FOMDUSA1699&FLAG=SUMMARY. This target is only available for a short period of time.

If you need help designing and executing your capture program or proposals to win this procurement contact Sid Jaffe, at 703-642-5153.

Why Are They Doing This? Performance-Based Acquisition from the Government's Point of View
By Bill Hamilton, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

Performance-based acquisition (PBA) is popular and appears it will continue to increase in popularity. This form of acquisition describes the government's requirements in terms of what is to be achieved not how it is to be done.

FAR 2-101 defines PBA as, "Performance-based acquisition (PBA)" means an acquisition structured around the results to be achieved as opposed to the manner by which the work is to be performed. The agency benefits from the beginning because they do not have to develop a detailed Statement of Work (SOW). They tell the contractor what is to be achieved and the contractor writes the SOW.

PBA is considered an acquisition process and not a procurement. Its use has been mandated; from this year forward, we can expect at least half, if not more, acquisition opportunities to be performance based. Critics are quick to comment that even the Government has been slow to accept the ideas in PBA. Those who have accepted it are equally quick to tell you how advantageous it is for them.

The Government believes there are other benefits. With the contractor writing the SOW, based on their knowledge and understanding of the problem to be solved, the Government believes the likelihood of meeting mission needs will be increased. Agencies know their mission, but they usually seek contractor support because they do not know how to do something, do not have resources to do something, or want fresh ideas. With the contractor focusing on results and not on process, the government believes the end results will be better and more effective and provide a lower risk of failure.

A SOW is usually very specific. The PBA approach gives the contractor greater latitude in developing a good solution and encourages the contractor to "buy-in" to the solution. The agency-contractor team participation intensifies the buy-in. It is not adversarial, as some traditional forms of contracting can be.

Much of the PBA process is pure classic good program management. It is not something new or foreign; it has been around a long time. A contractor that knows and understands the customer, their mission and what the customer needs to achieve, will do well in PBA. As more opportunities are offered and won, PBA skills in Government and in our industry will continue to improve.

Want to discuss PBA opportunities in your market? Maybe we can help you grow them. Call Bill Hamilton at 703-642-5153 or contact him by e-mail at bhamilton@acibiz.com and let's talk.

Brown Bag Session 13: How Are We Doing? The BD 'Check-up'
By Sid Jaffe, President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

The following is set of questions to discuss with your team to ensure that as a group you are proactively driving in new business:

The discussion surrounding these five questions should highlight areas of the business that need improvement. Let this 'check-up' be your call to arms. If you would like to discuss ways to improve your business tactics for acquiring new business, call Sid Jaffe at 703-642-5153 or e-mail him at sjaffe@acibiz.com

Business Development Pipelines and Opportunity Tracking
By John Bender, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

Everyone knows that the business development process for government contractors is different than commercial processes for selling boxes, widgets or whatever. The problem is more complex with longer sales cycles, more staff involved on both sides, and, probably, more competition. So, why would you think simple sales automation tools like salesforce.com would be effective in keeping track of your government opportunities?

As well, homegrown systems and spreadsheets are not much better and often get in the way rather than assist the BD process. The best of intentions and even training won't help if you make BD too hard. I have found several off-the-shelf systems focused on helping your business development process become more effective in getting and growing new business.

One of these systems (WinAward) adds some unique capabilities to assess your business case and competitive situation - like nothing else I've found. It is one of the least costly ways for small/mid-sized companies to focus their positioning efforts like the big guys. The word-of-mouth on this tool is absolutely terrific as key BD and operations managers move from "haves" to "have-nots." The tool is often seen as the strategic advantage companies can bring to their infrastructure processes.

Contact John Bender at 703-642-5153 or e-mail him at jbender@acibiz.com for details on what is available and what might work best for you and your company.