Buying Cloud Services vs. Buying Dinner - What's the difference?

Today, a couple walked into a restaurant (SERVICE PROVIDER) for dinner, the door greeter (BUSINESS DEVELOPER) was kind and polite as he walked them to their table (FACILITY).  The waiter then presented the couple with menus (SERVICE CATALOG) so they can buy what they want (CONSUMER).  Each member of the party ordered from the menus with an expectation that the food (PRODUCT/SERVICE) will be on-time and delicious (SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS) and because of the restaurants (BROKER) reputation – the food must be great (PAST PERFORMANCE).  The Agency Director ordered chicken and the CIO said “I’ll have chicken also” to the waiter (BROKER’S REPRESENTATIVE).  They both engaged in a conversation about cloud computing and supply chain logistics.  Ten minutes later, the waiter brought out chicken for the CIO and the Director.  As they began to eat (CONSUME THE PRODUCT/SERVICE), the CIO said “my chicken is outstanding” and the Agency Director replied, “My chicken taste different from what I was expecting (REQUIREMENTS) and I’m starting to feel sick.”  The waiter commented that “he did not know why there was an issue with the way the meat tasted” because you got exactly what you ordered (STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE).  I can deduct the price of the meal (SERVICE MANAGEMENT) or I can call the poison control (INDEPENDENT AUDITOR) if you believe you have food poising.  While they were waiting, the waiter asks if they were paying by cash or check (CONTRACT VEHICLE) and for them to ensure payment is made to the restaurant via the cashier (CONTRACTING OFFICER) for the service provided. 

The fact is that the chicken came from farms, both were cooked in the same kitchen, and both served by the same waiter.  So, how could there be such a drastic difference in taste?

Some Possible answers:

- A problem with the ingredients (CARRIER, FACILITY, INFRASTRUCTURE, PLATFORM, OR SOFTWARE)

- The chickens came from different farms (PROVIDERS) - one inspected recently by the FDA and the other was not (STANDARDS)

- One was fed hormones - the other was not (SERVICE INTERMEDIATION)

- One had freezer burn - the other was fresh (AUDITS)

- One was cooked by the chef (PRIME CONTRACTOR) and the other by the apprentice (SUB-CONTRACTOR) but who cooked what!

Comment: For any number of reasons, buying products or services without an Enterprise Architecture and some level of understanding of the supply chain logistics can be risky

Small Business Set Aside for Simplified Acquisitions Takes Priority Over FSS

Companies should be aware that http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/L_Field%2001_21_12-%20attch%202.pdf small business set asides are mandatory for acquisitions valued from $3,000 to $150,000 and take priority over GSA Schedule contracts, although a contracting officer can set-aside an order for small businesses

The simplified acquisition and subcontracting thresholds are among several acquisition ceilings that will increase on Oct. 1, 2010.  The Federal Acquisition Councils issued a final rule today detailing several changes, including increasing the simplified acquisition threshold to $150,000 from $100,000.
The simplified acquisition threshold governs when agencies can buy products or services more quickly, more economically and with a focus on small businesses.
In another significant change, prime vendors will have to submit subcontracting plan on all contracts worth more than $650,000 instead of $500,000.
The FAR Councils state that the final rule doesn't change from the proposed rule issued in February.
Other changes in the final rule include:

• The FedBizOpps pre-award and post-award notices remain at $25,000 because of trade agreements.
• Commercial items test program ceiling is raised from to $6.5 million from $5.5 million.
• The cost or pricing data threshold is raised to $700,000 from $650,000.
• The Miller Act threshold is raised by this rule to $150,000 from $100,000. The Miller Act requires payment and performance bonds when agencies acquire construction services at rates higher than the threshold.

Companies should be aware that http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/L_Field%2001_21_12-%20attch%202.pdf small business set asides are mandatory for acquisitions valued from $3,000 to $150,000 and take priority over GSA Schedule contracts, although a contracting officer can set-aside an order for small businesses..

Insights from Steven VanRoekel, the United States CIO

I had the privilege of attending the January 13, 2012 “Fireside Chat: Insight from Steven VanRoekel” and it was an outstanding discussion.  Darren Ash (NRC’s CIO) interviewed Steve in what could be described as one of the most straight-forward conversations I’ve seen in a while with a senior executive.
 

Below are my notes from the event (they are not word for word but captured so that I could frame the conversation based on my mental model)

 

Consumer Electronic Show - What did you see that would impact government?
- 3d visualization, telework, warfighting, connecting people to people, ***Spectrum Challenge - policy need changing, impact on mobility, & spectrum needs to be optimized

 Announcement of the Mobility Roadmap @ Consumer Electronic Show - impact on government
- Think about how to economically acquire (via streamline acquisition) and use mobile devices
- Government should foster applications and not necessarily build applications - Nitin at FAA is a great example

 How will be mobility strategy impact agencies that are ahead of the mobility strategy?
- In 12 months the government should be addressing the applications for mobility
- Apps need to be device agnostic
- Collaboration between agencies is the objective

What can industry do to help government? - Participate in the national dialogue - support AFFIRM & IAC/ACT forums.
- April 2012 - CIO will be kicking off industry activity and getting feedback for the mobility roadmap - gov need help flushing out implementation
- Standards are important- need help to establish standards and drive open standards development (e.g. api)
- Authentication on desktop, mobile devices and BYOD using standard access means needs to be standardized

 What was the White House announcement for today? - Program to streamline government interaction with industry ( have an outside in looking perspective)
- Call on Congress to act (1 new agency and the SBA administrator will be on the cabinet also) to support a consolidation of commerce agencies
- A call center (1800-FED-INFO) for information rather than 20 agencies
- Meta-tagging information is important as a way of doing business
- Focus on the growth of small business

 Talk about the 2 day Federal CIO Offsite - Focus on the perspective on the CIO council & its priorities - Offsite was focused on 2012 and what needs to be accomplished
- Cloud, cyber security, mobile, application development, shared first strategy across government

 Discussion on the 25 Point Plan - The plan has too many #1 priorities; however, each agency is at a different stage of maturity
- Focus on government should be on "continuous improvement"
- Priorities should be focused on the mission of the agency - this is where prioritization starts
- Acquisition strategy and competition should be focused on the strategic objectives of the government and not necessarily price

What's the #1 thing that surprise you as the FED CIO? - technology plays a role in every budget issue and consideration - personal attendance at each budget discussion
- difference between politics and government - focus on making America great

How can industry help the Federal CIO? - Help the government shift to being a platform provider
- Critical areas are: cyber, FedRAMP, mobility, enabling the shared first strategy

 Any key messages for the audience? - Agile development relies on industry and industry should push the government to the next level
- Pressure congress on technology issues

- Q&A Session - Government CIO should form strategic relationship with key vendors that understand their performance requirement and objectives
- Focus on analytics to justify changes in the government and support actionable strategies
- Transparency is critical to letting business leaders understand what IT do for them
- Focus on Semantic web capabilities when developing website - don't use the org chart - focus on data and meta relationships