Field surveys landscape as chief

Several years after an adventurous ski trip, Lesley Field still wonders which one of her friends led them to the Mer de Glace (“Sea of Ice”), a glacier in the French Alps at an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet, without a map or a guide.

“I don’t think I fully realized what we’d done until we got to the bottom,” said Field, who comes from a family of daring skiers. “But honestly, it was probably the best skiing experience I’ve ever had.”

The Sea of Ice is nearly 700 feet deep and more than 4 miles long. “It was wide open,” she said.

In her first interview since she took over as acting administrator at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, Field used skiing metaphors to describe her role.

While skiing, “you can see the topography, you can see the people, you can see where you’re going,” she said. “You see very far out into the future.”

Field has recently had to refocus her long-range view of procurement policy. In mid-July, she was studying the acquisition workforce and strategic sourcing as one of several OFPP policy analysts. Little more than a month later, she was whisked to the top of the governmentwide policy office to replace Deputy Administrator Robert Burton, who retired in July. When Administrator Paul Denett left Sept. 2, Field was appointed to the acting role.

She had arrived at OFPP on assignment from the Transportation Department in 2000. Kenneth Oscar, the office’s acting administrator at the time, said Field arrived with enthusiasm and a desire to see the big picture.

To help frame that picture, Field has dealt with federal procurement from several angles. She began her career with a summer internship at the National Academy of Sciences, where she worked in its contracting and grants office. In 1990, she entered a yearlong internship at DOT. Her managers noticed the procurement experience on her résumé and guided her toward acquisition.

Listen to Field discuss the acquisition field as a career.

Field worked at DOT for 10 years, rising from a contract specialist to a contracting officer to a management analyst to a procurement policy analyst. She also took assignments at the Federal Aviation Administration and Coast Guard before landing at OFPP.

Field has worked in acquisition for 18 years. From the time she was an intern, she enjoyed seeing how acquisitions she was involved in led to real benefits for agencies, she said. DOT officials allowed her and other interns to see the results of their work, so after she worked on a contract for sign-language interpreters, she was able to watch those interpreters help people in need. She has long been an advocate for requiring agencies to buy information technology that is accessible for people with disabilities.

And while on detail at FAA, she visited an air traffic control center in Leesburg, Va., and listened to controllers and pilots talk as they guided aircraft from one sector to another.

“I don’t think I ever realized there’s a giant highway” in the sky, she said.

Through those experiences, she began to understand the connection between the papers she was signing as a contracting officer and the daily work of agencies, Field said.

“It made all the difference in the world in someone’s ability to do their job,” she said.

Based on her experiences in taking temporary assignments at other agencies, Field said she is convinced that such rotations are important to keeping the acquisition workforce engaged. People can grow tired of a job, and rotating employees among agencies can keep them motivated, she said.

“We are in a very good position to offer that where we can,” she said. “Retention becomes just as important as recruitment and development.”

Listen to Field discuss job rotations.

“She’s passionate about improving the acquisition workforce,” said Burton, who’s now a partner at the law firm Venable.

Because of her varied assignments, Field was able to develop in-depth knowledge of how departments run their operations and incorporate that knowledge into governmentwide policy.

“When I got here, I realized you can really take the operational experience and really start to discover why the policy role is so interesting,” she said.

OFPP’s long-range view of procurement requires its analysts to connect the dots between agencies, considering what each of them does and how. OFPP finds best practices wherever they might be and spreads the word about them throughout agencies.

“We have a very unique position here in the world,” she said.

OFPP also has to deal with competing interests and agendas, Burton said. The administrator has to interact effectively with numerous groups that have their own priorities, including Congress and industry advocacy organizations.

“The art of negotiation becomes essential in that position,” he said.

Field said she recognizes those difficulties and likens them to skiing, where some terrain is easier to cross than other stretches. But the skier must traverse it all to reach the destination.

Oscar and Burton agreed that Field has a way with people that will ultimately help her as OFPP’s acting and deputy administrator.

Oscar has seen Field’s ability to draw people with contradictory views and ideas into a unified group. “She was able to get things done,” he said.

She needs to use that ingenuity to her advantage, he added. To leave her mark on OFPP, she must push forward her agenda, goals and objectives, and not merely fill the position of acting administrator, Oscar said.

“She’s got to act like she’s ‘it,’ go as if she’s the administrator,” he said. Even in an acting capacity, Field could be in charge for as long as a year.

Burton agreed, saying Field must be aggressive in her leadership. He was OFPP’s acting administrator twice and said the office deals with nonpartisan issues, so having the political backing of the presidential administration is less important than it is for other agency leaders.

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Making noise for small business

Small-business advocates seek to change the government’s contracting culture from within

The Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization sounds more bureaucratic than practical — especially when referred to by its acronym OSDBU or “oz-duh-boo.”

Although the Defense Department has changed the name of its organization to the Office of Small Business Programs, the term OSDBU has stuck at many agencies. And if the offices’ directors have their way, the term will become increasingly familiar to their agencies’ program managers and contracting officers.

The goal is to change the way procurement leaders think about the role of small businesses. In one case, at least, that involves handing out statues of ducks.

“The OSDBUs are a very vocal group,” said Robert Burton, former deputy administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. That’s a necessary trait for them to fulfill their role of advocating for small businesses, he added.

Their challenge is to go beyond reminding people about contracting rules and regulations and instill new attitudes in an entrenched government culture.

Contracting officers typically understand regulations about small-business set-aside contracts and might be aware of contracting goals, said Teresa Lewis, director of the Treasury Department’s OSDBU. But program managers — who are central players in acquisitions — are accustomed to a certain way of working, she said.

The way they often see it, their existing contractors understand their needs and expectations, so they question why they should give that up for a small-business contract, Lewis said. But the OSDBU directors try to convince them of the value of giving work to small businesses and, if needed, remind them that regulations require it.

“The job certainly has it challenges,” said Kevin Boshears, OSDBU director at the Homeland Security Department.

One problem is that OSDBUs often get little support within their agencies, said Theresa Alvillar-Speake, OSDBU director at the Energy Department.

That’s where the OSDBU Directors Interagency Council comes in.

OSDBU directors and small-business specialists started the council on their own initiative. Although it can’t make policy, it has become a forum for sharing ideas and talking about new ways of working with small businesses.

“It’s the good old OSDBU network,” Alvillar-Speake said. “We get together and commiserate and share.”

Signs of progress
Small-business contracting still doesn’t receive the same amount of attention that other initiatives do, but agency leaders are recognizing its importance, observers say.

In 2007, the Small Business Administration published its first Small Business Procurement Score Card, which graded agencies on how many of their contracting dollars went to small businesses in various socioeconomic classes. Half of the 24 agencies graded earned the lowest score because they didn’t award enough dollars to small companies.

After SBA announced the scores, agency executives began asking about the contracting goals. Several OSDBU directors — including Lewis and Jeanette Brown, director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s OSDBU — now report directly to the agency’s secretary as the chief adviser on small-business matters.

“Typically, if it flows down from the top, it’s going to have a more positive impact,” said Anthony Martoccia, director of the Office of Small Business Programs at DOD. He reports to the Defense secretary.

Brown said she gained support from her agency’s leaders when Marcus Peacock, EPA’s deputy administrator, added small-business procurement goals to program managers’ performance measures. She even began giving regional offices and program managers who meet their goals an award in the form of a crystal duck.

As the small-business goals become more prominent for acquisition planners, OSDBU directors have offered their expertise to contracting officers and program managers.

“They don’t live it and breathe it every day so they don’t understand the intricacies,” said Debbie Ridgely, OSDBU director at the Health and Human Services Department.

In part because of the growing interest in regulatory changes related to small businesses, OSDBU directors have been included in discussions in which the acquisition officers and program managers are planning future contracts. And more than one agency requires that the OSDBU be part of early discussions.

For example, DOE’s regulations stipulate that acquisition-planning teams give the OSDBU director an opportunity to review upcoming programs to determine whether any of the work could go to small businesses. The director must sign off on the strategy for it to move to the next stage of the process.
“We back them in,” Alvillar-Speake said. “They kind of listen then.”

Officials who issue governmentwide procurement policies have also given more authority to OSDBUs. Burton said one of the most prominent efforts on behalf of small businesses was OFPP’s policy to require an agency to get its OSDBU to approve strategic sourcing plans.

“You must ensure that the OSDBU had input into it,” he said. It puts small-business considerations at the top of procurement officials’ agendas as they enter into long-term contracts with vendors.

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Ruling clouds future for buyers

Experts debate the potential impact of a GAO decision on small-business contracting

The Government Accountability Office’s recent ruling that agencies must set aside some task orders for small businesses could give those firms a new advantage, some observers say. But others say it remains unclear how much the ruling will change how agencies do business.

GAO sustained a protest by Delex Systems, which argued that the Navy should have limited competition for an aviation training products delivery order to small businesses because at least two small firms could have offered bids.

The Navy solicited bids through its Training Systems Contract II, a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, which features two small businesses and six large businesses.

Under the rule of two, the Federal Acquisition Regulation requires agencies to set aside any order of more than $100,000 if the agency finds that at least two qualified small businesses could enter bids. In the Delex case, the Navy argued that the rule applies to contracts, not task orders. GAO’s ruling marks the first time the rule of two has been interpreted to apply to task and delivery orders.

“GAO tipped the playing field in favor of small-business contract holders,” said Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council. The ruling significantly changes the landscape for agencies’ and contractors’ acquisition strategies, especially for multiple-award contracts with a mix of small and large companies, he added.

As a result of GAO’s decision, program managers and contracting officers will likely give more weight to small-business set-asides in their initial acquisition strategies, said Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president and chief knowledge officer at FedSources.

“Small businesses should capitalize on this opportunity,” said Andy McCann, vice president and geographic sales leader for EDS’ U.S. Government and Public Sector business.

A mixed verdict
However, at this point, many companies are trying to understand how the ruling will affect them. An executive at a major systems integrator said large companies were not happy with the ruling, but the outcome depends heavily on how a contracting officer interprets GAO’s decision. Integrators might need to adopt new bidding and partnership strategies, especially on multiple-award contracts that feature large and small businesses.

Likewise, the ruling could cause small companies to seek new strategies for working with integrators, McCann said.

“This ruling creates an incentive for small businesses to strive to be selected on IDIQ contract vehicles or to team with a large integrator on an IDIQ contract,” McCann said. It might also encourage companies to put a greater emphasis on their mentor/protégé programs.

“Through our small-business program, EDS has established and maintained strong relationships with small businesses and has introduced them to new business opportunities with EDS,” he said.

Other experts say GAO’s decision will not give small companies any new advantages. “On the surface, this may seem to be a benefit to small businesses, but the price may be too high,” said Guy Timberlake, chief visionary and chief executive officer at the American Small Business Coalition. Timberlake said the decision might strain the already tense relationship between agencies and small businesses.

John Howell, a partner at law firm Sullivan and Worcester, said any time GAO or Congress institutes a new requirement, agencies push back, straining their relationships with small businesses.

Officials and experts agree that the ruling could widen the rift between government and industry. Already, agencies and firms are slow to trust one another. Some experts speculated that agencies now might assume that contractors plan to protest losses and even factor the costs of pursuing those protests into their bids, raising the costs to government.

The cost of doing business
Lee Harvey, the Army’s deputy program executive officer for enterprise information systems,, said fewer companies protested award decisions a decade ago because they wanted to avoid making a fuss and preferred to maintain good relationships with the government. However, today’s larger orders make people want to protest, he said. Companies have more at stake.

Companies that don’t file frequent protests might still be tarnished by agencies’ perception that contractors in general do so, Timberlake said.

“The business of doing business with the government today is so overwhelmingly out of focus that, in my opinion, we’re no longer looking at the true picture of industry and government partnering,” Timberlake said.

Earlier this year, Congress gave GAO the authority to hear task-order protests because they have become so complex and widely used that they are now the equivalent of what full contracts are, experts say. Agencies have been using task orders for more than half of their procurements in recent years, compared with 14 percent in 1990. In the 1990s, the government viewed task orders as distinct from contracts and put those orders outside GAO’s jurisdiction.

GAO will keep its new authority to review task-order protests for three years. Legislators plan to evaluate the effects before then and make any necessary changes.

In the meantime, GAO’s recent ruling could change how agencies view orders and contracts.

“More of these multiple-award opportunities might be issued as full-and-open [competitions] with no set-aside components, creating a more prohibitive competition environment for the average small business,” Timberlake said.

Harvey recently predicted that agencies would take that course in the near future. He said agencies, particularly those under pressure to buy what they need quickly, might resort to the Big Bang theory of procurement: one competition for one big contract.

Bjorklund agreed that agencies will likely reassess the use of multiple-award contracts in light of GAO’s Delex ruling. They will probably ask themselves why they should go through the hassle of awarding an IDIQ and then go through another competition for task orders, he said.

However, some experts say GAO’s decision won’t affect multiple-award contracts that separate small and large businesses.

The ruling will have little effect on NASA’s Solutions for Enterprisewide Procurement, a governmentwide acquisition contract, said Joanne Woytek, NASA’s SEWP program manager. SEWP is organized into four groups of multiple-award contracts. Two are for small businesses, with one of the two set-asides for small companies owned by service-disabled veterans. The other two are primarily for large businesses, though a few small businesses are in the mix.

Woytek said the ruling might affect a few orders in the groups that lack set-asides, but the small companies in those groups are generally winning orders when they submit a reasonable bid.

“We have always encouraged contracting officers to provide a small-business preference, and now it will be more targeted if two of the small companies in the open groups can and want to provide a reasonable quote,” she said.

Whether or not the ruling offers an advantage to small businesses, it has left the contracting community in limbo.

“The decision changes the rules of engagement” and leaves new questions unanswered, Chvotkin said. “It changes procurements midstream.”

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