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> The hardest part will be understanding the world of contractors This point cannot be emphasized enough. I've dealt with Medicaid bids and the amount of regul

by chime 12y ago

> The hardest part will be understanding the world of contractors This point cannot be emphasized enough. I've dealt with Medicaid bids and the amount of regulation one must adhere to is unfathomable. This unfortunately makes his next point just as difficult: > Hire the best computer scientists and data nerds to improve the government from the outside. Data nerds want to play with data. Comp Sci folks love algorithms and novel implementations. Neither of them like reading 300 page annotated Word documents with multiple revisions about every little thing a system should do, especially when the requirements are not always rational. So the missing requirement in this list is to first hire a bunch of experienced analysts, project managers, and people who can do the paperwork and make them the bridge between the client and the coders. I would love to work on pure tech. for complex Govt. problems but I do not want the headache of HL7 and MITA 3.0 requirements. The moment you have a good business team, you will find willing developers. Without a business team with experience, connections, and negotiation skills, you will have a hard time building the product, let alone sell it.

altoz 12y ago
I cannot emphasize this enough. To bid for a government contract is a MASSIVE undertaking. Just to win the bid is very, very difficult. The RFP, RFQ, ITB are just a small part of the process and the evaluation process of each bid is not merely the lowest price, but also a combination of responsiveness, history of responsibility and the politics of a selection committee.
- rankam 12y ago
  > the politics of a selection committee. Working in government and having to deal with these things on a day to day basis, you couldn't be more right. Also, it doesn't help that people hate when they have to be a part of a selection committee.
  - mgkimsal 12y ago
    I'm in the process of looking at this space, and the approach we're thinking of taking is starting with smaller/local municipalities first, vs larger orgs (and larger contracts). We're in the learning process right now, to see if there's any interest/demand. One of the things that's come up is the RFP review process - even at county levels, I've been surprised at how... paper-based it still is, and even more surprised that people seem willing to change to e-processes. Anyone that has any more info/insight on local gov bid processes and willing to share insight, please hit me up. tia :)
    - Kalium 12y ago
      As a former contracting grunt, my understanding is that the smaller groups tend to have no money and be at least as disorganized as the big ones. I saw several small companies trying to work their way up, and their method of choice seemed to be subcontracting to the big contractors to help meet small business requirements. It helps if you manage the tick the disabled-minority-veteran boxes, because then you have a better shot of getting some of the small business setasides. And hey! If your small business manages to become prime on a contract, you'll find that Raytheon or Lockheed or Boeing will be willing to sub to you...
    - rankam 12y ago
      My email is in my profile - don't know if I'll be able to help but feel free to reach out with any questions and I'll do my best to answer.
      - mgkimsal 12y ago
        actually, I don't see it there - mine is mgkimsal@gmail.com
    - HillRat 12y ago
      Few municipalities and counties do a lot of bespoke software work -- most of their contracting hours go either to configuring and integrating COTS systems that handle specific aspects of their operations, or doing reporting out of those systems. The lion's share of their IT dollars go to licensing the systems themselves, so if you really want to get into the municipal space, find an underserved departmental need and establish yourself as a player in that space. States are more complex, as the agencies are larger and generally have more specific needs; you can do more custom software work, but your best bet is to get embedded in an agency and learn their processes and systems extensively. I don't recommend trying to break out of a governmental "level" (local to state, state to fed) -- totally different contracting environments, and your time is best spent learning your given market very well. After that, it's a lot of sales efforts and searching for/responding to RFPs. Your best bet is to get onto state purchasing lists (similar to GSA, but generally with a lot less red tape), as most states will let cities and agencies skip the bid process if they're buying off an approved vendor list. If you have to go through bid, the very best thing you can do is get a champion with purchasing authority and let them know exactly what your product does that the competitors don't -- it's very common to write bids so that they end up targeting a single vendor, but you have to have valid and meaningful differentiators (not always technical -- don't forget that bids encompass not only software but also support and consulting!) for the bids to pass muster. If you're looking for competitive intelligence, you can generally get access to city and state contracts under sunshine laws -- these will tell you not only what the pricing is in your market, but also what cities and agencies are looking for in their bids. This may or may not apply, but female-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses (so-called "historically underutilized businesses," or HUBs) are usually a plus when bidding, as are small disadvantaged businesses. I strongly recommend checking out getting SDB or HUBZone certification from the US Small Business Administration if you think you qualify -- it'll open some doors for you.
dragontamer 12y ago
However, the _SUB_contractor space is very open to competition. And once you get your foot in the door, the government has all sorts of incentives for "small businesses" who want to act as prime. Understanding the contracting world begins at step one: understanding the bureaucracy. And due to "small business incentives", small businesses have legal advantages that no "big company" are ever given. https://www.sba.gov/content/register-government-contracting https://www.sba.gov/content/register-government-contracting Not saying that it is easy, but seriously. SBA.gov should have been the _first_ link on that page. Navigate the bureaucracy, define your business as a small business, and start bidding on some subcontractor deals to get your foot in the door and build up a history.

by chime 12y ago

altoz 12y ago

I cannot emphasize this enough. To bid for a government contract is a MASSIVE undertaking. Just to win the bid is very, very difficult. The RFP, RFQ, ITB are just a small part of the process and the evaluation process of each bid is not merely the lowest price, but also a combination of responsiveness, history of responsibility and the politics of a selection committee.

rankam 12y ago
> the politics of a selection committee. Working in government and having to deal with these things on a day to day basis, you couldn't be more right. Also, it doesn't help that people hate when they have to be a part of a selection committee.
- mgkimsal 12y ago
  I'm in the process of looking at this space, and the approach we're thinking of taking is starting with smaller/local municipalities first, vs larger orgs (and larger contracts). We're in the learning process right now, to see if there's any interest/demand. One of the things that's come up is the RFP review process - even at county levels, I've been surprised at how... paper-based it still is, and even more surprised that people seem willing to change to e-processes. Anyone that has any more info/insight on local gov bid processes and willing to share insight, please hit me up. tia :)
  - Kalium 12y ago
    As a former contracting grunt, my understanding is that the smaller groups tend to have no money and be at least as disorganized as the big ones. I saw several small companies trying to work their way up, and their method of choice seemed to be subcontracting to the big contractors to help meet small business requirements. It helps if you manage the tick the disabled-minority-veteran boxes, because then you have a better shot of getting some of the small business setasides. And hey! If your small business manages to become prime on a contract, you'll find that Raytheon or Lockheed or Boeing will be willing to sub to you...
  - rankam 12y ago
    My email is in my profile - don't know if I'll be able to help but feel free to reach out with any questions and I'll do my best to answer.
    - mgkimsal 12y ago
      actually, I don't see it there - mine is mgkimsal@gmail.com
  - HillRat 12y ago
    Few municipalities and counties do a lot of bespoke software work -- most of their contracting hours go either to configuring and integrating COTS systems that handle specific aspects of their operations, or doing reporting out of those systems. The lion's share of their IT dollars go to licensing the systems themselves, so if you really want to get into the municipal space, find an underserved departmental need and establish yourself as a player in that space. States are more complex, as the agencies are larger and generally have more specific needs; you can do more custom software work, but your best bet is to get embedded in an agency and learn their processes and systems extensively. I don't recommend trying to break out of a governmental "level" (local to state, state to fed) -- totally different contracting environments, and your time is best spent learning your given market very well. After that, it's a lot of sales efforts and searching for/responding to RFPs. Your best bet is to get onto state purchasing lists (similar to GSA, but generally with a lot less red tape), as most states will let cities and agencies skip the bid process if they're buying off an approved vendor list. If you have to go through bid, the very best thing you can do is get a champion with purchasing authority and let them know exactly what your product does that the competitors don't -- it's very common to write bids so that they end up targeting a single vendor, but you have to have valid and meaningful differentiators (not always technical -- don't forget that bids encompass not only software but also support and consulting!) for the bids to pass muster. If you're looking for competitive intelligence, you can generally get access to city and state contracts under sunshine laws -- these will tell you not only what the pricing is in your market, but also what cities and agencies are looking for in their bids. This may or may not apply, but female-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses (so-called "historically underutilized businesses," or HUBs) are usually a plus when bidding, as are small disadvantaged businesses. I strongly recommend checking out getting SDB or HUBZone certification from the US Small Business Administration if you think you qualify -- it'll open some doors for you.

dragontamer 12y ago

However, the _SUB_contractor space is very open to competition. And once you get your foot in the door, the government has all sorts of incentives for "small businesses" who want to act as prime. Understanding the contracting world begins at step one: understanding the bureaucracy. And due to "small business incentives", small businesses have legal advantages that no "big company" are ever given. https://www.sba.gov/content/register-government-contracting https://www.sba.gov/content/register-government-contracting Not saying that it is easy, but seriously. SBA.gov should have been the _first_ link on that page. Navigate the bureaucracy, define your business as a small business, and start bidding on some subcontractor deals to get your foot in the door and build up a history.