I suspect all of you who read this blog will boo me worse than a closing pitcher who blows a save in the bottom of the ninth. Contractors always want to see everything competed by the USG. To be honest, if you surveyed most government contracting officers they would prefer sole source in many instances. A sole source negotiation, even with the reams of cost data needed for the bigger deals, is sometimes easier than a competition. Let me explain why.
Many government customers who come to the contracting office looking to fill a requirement are like today’s internet shopper, they are very well informed and know what they want. They have researched and have found either the equipment or people they need online or from previous work and they want to get the item/service as fast as possible. Now as contracting officer, I have to tell them about the FAR Part 6 exceptions and why we have to decide if we go directly to that company or compete. In many cases the customers cannot provide a reason why only that one piece of equipment or company can provide that service. Then you have to explain that we will have to do a competition and I can see their eyes roll back in their heads because they know that is a lot more work for them!
Source selections take time and require the technical evaluation team to spend hours going through the proposals, writing reports and doing briefings. They really want the contracts people to do the “buying” but now they find themselves having to dedicate hours away from their regular job. I have to assign a contract specialist to manage and bring all of the steps in a competition to completion. In some cases, there are 3 or 4 review levels that documents must get through before the RFP can be released and the award can be made.
Then there is the sole source decision! If I and the customer can make a case to buy from one company, I can reduce my time to procure an item in many cases. All I have to do is convince the same review levels that there is only one company that can provide the material or service. Then I issue an RFP to one offeror, evaluate and negotiate and it’s awarded. No evaluation team reports, no debrief and no protests.
It is not easy to get a J&A through the system. Most J&As get approved because the first time the item or service was procured, there was a competition! It is often too costly to go back in and recompete because you want to keep the same equipment. In the case of services, the people who have been supporting a service may have become so involved and experienced that a change in technical personnel may cause a delay in a program.
For example, when the big airplane companies build aircraft they compete many of the components that end up in the aircraft. Once the plane is delivered, spare parts have to be bought from that original manufacturer. So, a J&A is required.
I have participated in many software development programs. Once that initial selection is made, there is no going back and buying a different software packages and support, because it is just too costly to start over.
But to me as the contracting officer I would rather spend my time negotiating with one supplier. To me it’s flat out easier and many a government customer has told me the same thing. Remember, contrary to popular belief, COs are human. Everybody likes quick and easy and contracting officers are no different. It’s not a decision that is treated lightly by the CO, but to me FAR part 6.3 exceptions were sometimes my best friend to get work done for my customer.