Post-FTS politics?
The feverish intensity of the battles surrounding the post-FTS 2000 contracts are a sure sign of how big the stakes really are. A new monkey wrench has been thrown into the works. Rep. William Clinger (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, is calling for three-to-five-year contracts for post-FTS 2000 instead of the planned 10-year deals. His letter was also signed by Rep. Steve Horn (R-Calif.), chairman of the Government Management, Information
For the money, CorelVideo is clever conferencing system
It arrived months behind schedule, it's still quirky and the collaborative tools are slow. But CorelVideo desktop videoconferencing is so much fun that you can overlook some of its shortcomings. If your agency has teams of people spread out over several floors or buildings, CorelVideo could be the most affordable way to collaborate with high-quality video. It's when you jump to long-haul connections that signal quality degrades and costs jump significantly.
Oral presentations won't necessarily make buying easier
There is nothing inherently evil in oral presentations--but there may be some troublesome aspects. Oral presentations are so named to distinguish them from oral discussions. If oral dialogue is called a "presentation," the hope is that it automatically becomes something other than a "discussion." Generally, discussions with vendors are taboo, unless they are held with all bidders and all are given the same opportunity to revise their bid based on those powwows.
How to survive a criminal contract investigation
Last month, I described some excessive criminal investigations and tactics relating to federal contracts. Now I would like to give some practical suggestions for avoiding such problems and for surviving an investigation. These suggestions do not substitute for legal advice, of course. A good rule of thumb is to review any e-mail on a sensitive business subject and ask yourself how an FBI agent who thinks the worst of you might read that message--or how
Ready or not, agency data centers face cuts
Although most agencies failed to meet last week's deadline for submitting data center consolidation plans to the Office and Management and Budget, OMB will move forward and set systems budgets for 1997 based on fewer centers. Agencies will not receive formal penalties for tardy submissions. But OMB officials said they are ""serious about consolidation'' and will begin making decisions about fiscal 1997 data center budgets and staffs regardless of whether they have every agency plan.
Buried treasure in your office can make a dazzling Web drive
Agencies, struggling to drag their public information onto the Internet, are learning there's more to it than just designing pretty home pages. Every agency collects valuable data that resides on individual desktops or departmental servers--documents, spreadsheets, contact lists and small-scale databases--that add value to the government's raw data mother lode.
Our hero discovers a surefire antidote for help desk abuse
The calm before the storm of summer trade shows has given the Rat a chance to catch up on actual network work. Or perhaps it's just that the noise from the tech support desk finally grew loud enough to penetrate his concrete cubicle and spur him to action. Putting aside work on his Nietzsche Web page, the Rat rose to quiet the techs' murmuring. Chief among their gripes was a rash of stupid user tricks,
SEC eliminates paper financial filings-at last
The final and largest group of companies began transmitting financial records live this month for the Securities and Exchange Commission's electronic filing system. The addition of what SEC calls the corporate finance group, or CF-10 for short, increased by almost one-quarter the number of companies using Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system. This month's ramp-up was the tenth and largest since SEC began bringing users onto EDGAR in 1993.
Action for provacy can force cookies to crumble
In my last column I discussed the Internet cookie phenomenon. A cookie is a device that allows an Internet server to store information on your computer about your Net activities and to retrieve that information in a later session. This record of your activities is created usually without your knowledge or approval. The data collected can be saved, used and even sold without any restrictions.
Mastering PowerBuilder 5.0 is tough but worth the effort
PowerBuilder, the premier environment for rapid development of database front ends and standalone applications, has a steep learning curve for novices. But important new features in Version 5.0 for Microsoft Windows, set for release early next month, make the scholarship worthwhile. PowerBuilder 5.0's visual tools deliver power and flexibility not found anywhere else. There's a source-code control system, a rich text format editor, an object repository and comprehensive support for Object Linking and Embedding 2.0
If you aim to win protests, time could be an invaluable ally
Timing of events is a major subject of controversy in contract awards and protests. The Air Force was involved recently in two protests that show how timeliness problems can injure the innocent and protect the guilty. A multiple-award contract drew attention when a court overturned a decision by the General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals. In its ruling on the protest, the board had agreed with the protester that the Air Force had misapplied
Obstacles continue to hinder dispute-resolution process
In an era of procurement streamlining, one area with a spotty record is disputes resolution. The slow but steady growth of alternative dispute-resolution techniques may be a bright spot, but it is too early to tell. Why? This area has been and continues to be plagued by procedural obstacles.
Computer-simulated war games still can't replace the real thing
FORT BRAGG, N.C.--Why did the Pentagon host a training exercise last month that launched the largest military parachute assault since World War II? Simple, explained Lt. Gen. John M. Keane. "We can't do it all by simulation." The commander of the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps told reporters at Pope Air Force Base, just outside Fort Bragg, "We can't rely on computers to always tell us what to do. We have to practice our capabilities in
Phase-change drives can the way you back up data
Although it hasn't exactly made a big splash yet, there's an alternative to CD-recordable technology that just might suit your agency better. It's called phase-change recording. Phase-change drives originally were supposed to be cheaper than CD-R drives, but lately magneto-optical and CD-R products have come down so much in price that the difference isn't as great as anticipated.
Is DSS dead?
It didn't take long for somebody to exit the back door of the Digital Signature Standard. This standard has been around for nearly three years, yet almost no government agencies use it. Last year, the Commerce Department, in a concession to market realities, said agencies could get waivers from using DSS as long as they notified Commerce, congressional overseers and the public via the Federal Register.
GSA to kick off public-key pilot with 250 users
After earlier failed starts, the General Services Administration this month expects to get a public-key infrastructure pilot project off the ground with tests involving about 250 federal employees and a few citizens. The participants in the Paperless Transactions for the Public pilot all will receive a special World Wide Web browser and a public-key encryption card that fits into the floppy drive of any PC. The encryption cards will be issued by the Postal Service.
One takes the FWTS call, but the other sends busy signals
As federal telecom procurments go, the Federal Wireless Telecommunications Services buy is puny. The General Services Administration has guaranteed the winning bidder a measly $3 million for the governmentwide indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. When the much-extended deadline finally arrived April 25, I understand there were only two bidders--AT&T Corp. and GTE Corp. One congressman blasted off a letter charging GSA with layering too many government requirements on what should have been a straightforward commercial cellular purchase.
Don't get stuck up Novell's Green River without
The Rat has been busy sniffing out the goings-on at Novell Inc. Having gnawed down his milk teeth on NetWare IPX packets, he has something of a sentimental streak for Ray Noorda's old company. But the Rat keeps thinking of an old hymn that goes, ""He's not dead, he's only sleeping.
Lawmakers pump up DOD systems budgets
If the House and Senate Defense oversight committees have their way, the Army's information technology budget would get a $260 million boost next year. Lawmakers want to fatten Navy and Air Force IT budgets, too. In separate versions of the fiscal 1997 Defense authorization bill released early this month, the House National Security Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee also recommended modest additions to the Navy and Air Force IT budgets.
Your compter may fall prey to the midnight requisition
An insidious form of thievery has appeared to take advantage of the unique features of personal computers. Within moments, a thief can steal your random access memory and you may not detect the loss right away. Or the felon can replace your 66-MHz 486DX chip with a 33-MHz 486SX worth half as much, and you might not be the wiser.
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