During this time of budget constraints, the federal government is seeking low-priced, technically acceptable (LPTA) solutions to keep projects and innovation alive. In other words, agencies need to find ways to keep technological innovation moving forward, albeit with tighter purse strings.
As Lisa Mascolo, CEO of Optimos Inc., pointed out in her recent Washington Technology Op-Ed article on the topic of LPTA contracts, “When I hear ‘acceptable,’ I think adequate, good enough, not great but okay.”
She raises some good points: Do these LPTA projects come at a cost? Is acceptable really the antithesis of innovative, as she questions in her column?
This doesn’t have to be the case. In Market Connections’ 2012 Government Contractor Study, which highlighted the best business development and marketing practices from a national survey of government contractors, the report looked at ways those working in the federal sector can achieve optimal results, even with the threat of sequestration and increased use of LPTA guidelines for procurement of services.
The study pointed out that the rise of LPTA shows increases in the need for experienced contracting officers to write adequate RFPs. Less-seasoned contracting officers may lack skills and experience necessary to adequately write RFPs and evaluate responses.
We’ve taken several approaches [to LPTA] and a lot of it depends on the customer,” said one government contractor we spoke with. “With some, we’ve provided a compliant proposal … and then we have also provided unsolicited material that says, ‘but if you want a more innovative approach, we have an alternative here.’ Generally, we try to do that before the RFP comes out. It’s the nature of our business to have a good, meaningful dialogue with the procuring agency/customer set, before the RFP’s ever released, so we can demonstrate some of our innovative ideas, approaches or solutions in hopes of having them written in as a requirement in the RFP. Sometimes we’re successful, sometimes less so.”
Further, when survey respondents were asked what their companies are doing to position for success in the federal market over the next three to five years, contractors most often mentioned building relationships, more keenly focusing procurement efforts and improving capture strategy.
One of the study’s key takeaways was that more opportunities exist in areas that require innovation, such as cybersecurity (45%), cloud computing (35%) and health IT (33%). With cyber security being the new front line of our national security efforts, merely “acceptable” solutions are clearly not up to a standard suitable to protect national intelligence, sensitive data, infrastructure or borders.
For instance, in a recent New York Times article, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta stated that, “the United States was facing the possibility of a ‘cyber-Pearl Harbor‘ and was increasingly vulnerable to foreign computer hackers who could dismantle the nation’s power grid, transportation system, financial networks and government. Clearly, cyber threats are front and center on the minds of our nation’s military leaders.
Furthermore, the promise of the cloud and the benefits of IT reinforce the need for innovative solutions to increase efficiency, save tax dollars and aid in meeting mission-critical objectives.
But let’s face reality for a moment. Is there no way of getting around the budget issue? According to Mascolo, contractors should focus on “developing, implementing and maintaining smaller, smarter, faster, cheaper services and solutions,” which will position contractors to score well on price and high on innovation. The result is that government and taxpayers both benefit from solutions that are low price and far beyond “technically acceptable.”
In this new era of doing more with less, we all will be challenged with developing innovations that meet government mission requirements within budget. The challenge for both contractors and public servants: How can you apply innovation to overcome both technical and operational challenges within a more austere government environment?
Monica Mayk Parham is director of marketing at Market Connections, Inc , a leading government market research firm and authority on preferences, perceptions and trends among government executives and the contractors who serve them. This article originally appeared on the company’s FedConnects.com site and is reprinted by permission.