The White House launches a contractor initiative centered on better data and performance
Summary
Dubbed the Better Contracting Initiative, the policy from the Office of Management and Budget continues the White House’s push for agencies to gain value from enterprise acquisition practices. • Offering better value for sole-source or high-risk acquisitions OMB said it will help deploy special tools to assist agencies in more difficult procurements with fewer vendor options. Agencies may also use hybrid acquisition strategies where they mitigate their risk by deploying cost-reimbursement, labor-hour or fixed-price contracts. The Biden administration has made small business-friendly policies central to its acquisition approach and noted in Wednesday’s statement that the BCI strategy would include features like centralized product pricing data as part of its OMB tool to help “advance equity by enabling buyers to focus their searches on information” on potential set-aside contracts. And while agencies will pursue common enterprise-wide contracts for goods and services, OMB said they will do so “consistent with practices that grow small business participation in the federal marketplace and strengthen diversity and resilience.”