Director's Corner

Since NITAAC was founded in 1996 as part of the Clinger-Cohen Act, our federal acquisition program has been focused on reimagining information technology procurements with outstanding customer service. In that time, NITAAC has proudly served nearly every federal agency and department in the United States through multiple iterations of our popular technology contracts.

As Cybersecurity Awareness Month celebrates its 19th year, instituting a robust cyber posture takes on a new meaning for federal agencies. In May 2021, President Biden issued an executive order to strengthen and improve America’s cybersecurity. Known as “Zero Trust” the order called for federal agencies to wall off information technology (IT) systems behind a secure network perimeter. A year later, federal agencies are “on the clock” and actively working to integrate Zero Trust architecture into their existing IT environment.

September 30 marks the end of the federal fiscal year and the beginning of what has become a phenomenon in federal acquisitions known as the end of fiscal year buying season. In a nutshell, at the end of the fiscal year, unspent funds expire, and agencies make plans to spend their allocated dollars to exhaust the “use or lose” funds in their budgets.

Achieve End of Year Fiscal Spending Goals and Help Save the Planet with NITAAC GSS

2022 marks the third consecutive EPEAT Award win for NITAAC.  Globally recognized, EPEAT helps purchasers, manufacturers and resellers buy and sell environmentally preferable electronic products.

The Global Electronics Council, which owns and manages EPEAT, also facilitates the EPEAT Purchaser Awards. The awards recognize excellence in sustainable procurement of EPEAT-registered products.

Initially developed by Carnegie Mellon University for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the National Defense Industrial Association, the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), is a proven, outcome-based performance model and the globally accepted standard for improving capability, optimizing business performance and aligning operations to business goals. CMMI provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance.

Now that you have learned about oral presentations and the multiphase downselect technique, the final article in our three-part series will examine the Comparative Analysis technique. As you learn more about the different techniques for streamlining your acquisition, remember that no matter what technique you use, you should always follow your agency’s policies on procurement.

NITAAC recently announced it obtained 801 certification for fiscal year 2022.  But what exactly is 801 certification and why is it so important? To answer that question, let’s start by looking at the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The NDAA is the name for a series of federal laws that determine the annual budget of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The U.S. Congress oversees the defense budget through two yearly bills: the National Defense Authorization Act and defense appropriations bills.

Now that you have learned about oral presentations, the second article in our three-part series will examine the multiphase downselect technique.  As you learn more about the different techniques for streamlining your acquisition, remember no matter what technique you use, you should always follow your agency policies on procurement.

There are several techniques federal government evaluation teams can use to streamline acquisitions.  In this three-part series, NITAAC will explore the benefits of three common techniques: oral presentations, multiphase downselect and comparative analysis.

We will begin the series with a deep dive into oral presentations.  Please remember that no matter what technique you use, you should always follow your agency’s policy on procurement.

The New Year brings resolutions and a renewed emphasis on change. In fact, data from YouGovAmerica suggests that about a quarter of Americans will make resolutions, and 20% think they'll accomplish them. In the spirit of New Year traditions, I wanted to share with you the NITAAC strategic goals and priorities for FY2022.