The Professional Services Council (PSC) has given its thumbs up for the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) December 6th guidance, “Improving Acquisition through Strategic Sourcing,” which it says is a positive step in the government’s efforts to buy smarter.
“For the first time, their strategic sourcing guidance directs agencies to do what PSC has long recommended: have agencies sort out their own buying habits first before pushing or pulling them into a government-wide initiative,” said PSC Executive Vice President and Counsel Alan Chvotkin.
Chvotkin went on to say:
“We applaud OMB for recognizing that multi-component agencies and departments, like the Defense Department and the Homeland Security Department, face huge strategic sourcing challenges across their own enterprises, let alone across the government. We believe the ‘Strategic Sourcing Accountable Officials’ each agency must designate will improve the coordination of internal strategic sourcing activities and the participation in government-wide efforts, generating additional savings.
While the strategic sourcing initiative is important, it is also important to recognize that not all goods and services are appropriate for strategic sourcing. Clear definitions of terms like ‘commodity IT’ will be critical to the initiative’s success and will also provide a clear picture to industry of what the government plans to purchase under the strategic sourcing initiative.”
