A request to all who read this: Consider how you can personally help improve US Federal Government IT. One way everyone can help is to keep the dialog up on the need to improve and to shed light on some of the best examples of government IT success so those can be seen as exemplars for others. We can all also share the most relevant, actionable context from experts.
To help us all do things like that, CTOvision has been reviewing the work of three key industry alliances:
- The Alliance for Digital Information
- The Alliance for Commercial Technology in Government
- The Silicon Valley Defense Group
These three have slightly different objectives and slightly different make-up, but all have a common purpose of seeking to help the government make better decisions. This is an absolutely critical need.
One activity these three organizations have aligned themselves to support is in signing a letter (along with 44 other technology companies) pressing the White House to make it clear to agencies that they should follow long-held requirements to buy commercial software instead of trying to build their own. We most strongly support this letter.
To add a stronger point that they probably did not want to for diplomatic reasons, when the government decides to create software that does things that commercial software already does, they are choosing to use the incredible power of government to directly compete with industry. This is not only unfair, but wasteful and harmful to the free enterprise system the government is there to protect. On top of that, in almost every case I can think of, the result of government writing its own software (or paying integrators to do so) is sub optimal performance for government missions. So, when the government decides to build instead of buy, in almost all cases, they waste money, get very little functionality, and hurt the free enterprise system they should be seeking to help.
When put that way, the easy question is, why would the government ever want to hire integrators to build code? The answer to that might not be so simple, but it may be in some cases they just don’t know any better. In those cases, it take things like White House or Congressional action to get their attention. This is why I strongly support the work of the industry alliances and companies that created and backed this letter.
The letter is short so I’m pasting the full text below. For a PDF version see: Build vs Buy
May 25, 2021
The Honorable Joseph R. Biden Jr. President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Biden:
As the Administration continues to tackle enormous challenges, from COVID-19 to economic recovery, federal agencies are being asked to do more with less. One way the government can achieve substantial efficiencies and costs savings is by reimagining its approach to government contracting, especially for software and technology.
For too long, the government has prioritized building its own technology solutions over procuring commercial products. These solutions, whether developed directly by a federal agency or with a government contractor, have an incredibly high failure rate – more than 90 percent in some cases. They are almost always more expensive on the front end, difficult and costly to maintain, and quickly become obsolete. That redundancy is an immense cost to the taxpayer and fails to empower civil servants who want to improve and to best serve their agency’s mission.
Federal acquisition rules already require agencies to prioritize and procure commercial items, to the maximum extent practicable, over custom development. But those rules are not always followed. Many federal agencies continue to favor custom-built, more expensive solutions, even when there are proven, widely available commercial solutions that, in many cases, can be modified to meet unique requirements. As a result, many technology companies conclude that it is too difficult to work with the government. Rather than miss out on private sector innovations, the government should consistently enforce laws and policies that give preference to commercial software and technology solutions and support these domestic industries, including startups and small businesses.
Meeting the complex challenges of our time will require the best technology solutions – business as usual when it comes to government contracting is no longer acceptable. As a first step, the Administration should ensure that the preference for commercial items is followed. This includes conducting appropriate market research, as is required by the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA), prior to making any acquisition decisions when considering comparable commercial and custom-built items.
We specifically request that the Office of Management and Budget provide clear guidance to federal agencies to make certain that the existing statutory requirements for commercial preference are followed. We also encourage the Administration require any software or technology acquisition include the opportunity for the private sector to participate in live technology demonstrations alongside any custom-built options. Ultimately, the best solution should always win.
As leading voices in commercial technology, we stand ready to help and look forward to working with your Administration to help America build back better.
Sincerely,
The Alliance for Digital Innovation
Washington, D.C.
www.alliance4digitalinnovation.org
Silicon Valley Defense Group
San Francisco, CA
www.siliconvalleydefense.org
Infor
New York, NY.
www.infor.com
Telos Corporation
Ashburn, VA.
www.telos.com
Anduril Industries
Orange County, CA.
www.anduril.com
NuAxis Innovations
Tysons, VA.
www.nuaxis.com
Saildrone
Alameda, CA.
www.saildrone.com
Maxar Technologies
Westminster, CO.
www.maxar.com
Clarifai
New York, NY.
www.clarifai.com
CrowdAI
San Francisco, CA
www.crowdai.com
Govini
Arlington, VA.
www.govini.com
Ripcord
Hayward, CA.
www.ripcord.com
The Alliance for Commercial Technology in Government
Washington, D.C.
www.the-alliance.io
Palantir Technologies
Denver, CO.
www.palantir.com
Salesforce.com, Inc.
San Francisco, CA.
www.salesforce.com
Splunk Inc.
San Francisco, CA.
www.splunk.com
Tenable
Columbia, MD.
www.tenable.com
DataRobot
Boston, MA.
www.datarobot.com
WalkMe
San Francisco, CA.
www.walkme.com
PayIt
Kansas City, MO.
www.payitgov.com
ID.me
Mclean, VA.
www.id.me
OwnBackup Englewood
Cliffs, NJ.
www.ownbackup.com
Dinocrates Group, LLC.
Rockville, MD.
www.dinocrates.com
Second Front Systems
San Francisco, CA.
www.secondfront.com
BaseConnect
Enid, OK.
www.baseconnect.com
ICON Technology
Austin, TX.
www.iconbuild.com
Zededa
Santa Clara, CA.
www.zededa.com
Long Capture
Colorado Springs, CO.
www.longcapture.com
Prewitt Ridge
Los Angeles, CA.
www.prewittridge.com
RevaComm
Honolulu, HI.
www.revacomm.com
SimpleSense
New York, NY.
www.simplesense.io
Pison
Boston, MA.
www.pisontechnology.com
Allosense
San Antonio, TX.
www.allosense.com
SparkCognition Government Systems
Austin, TX.
www.sparkgov.ai
Snorkel AI
Palo Alto, CA.
www.snorkel.ai
Improbable LLC
Arlington, VA.
www.improbable.io
QTS Reality Trust
Overland Park, KS.
www.qtsdatacenters.com
Armory
San Mateo, CA.
www.armory.io
Primer
San Francisco, CA.
www.primer.ai
Five Forks
Chicago, IL.
www.5forks.com
SICDRONE
Peabody, MA.
www.sicdrone.com
Small Business Consulting Corporation
Bossier City, LA.
www.ccih.tech
Raft
Reston, VA.
www.goraft.com
Lilt
San Francisco, CA.
www.lilt.com
Shield AI
San Diego, CA.
www.shield.ai
Corelight
San Francisco, CA.
www.corelight.com
Copado
Chicago, IL.
www.copado.com
For more see:
Shyam Sankar Provides Context on Make vs Buy in the Federal Ecosystem
Elon Musk Provides Context on Make vs Buy in the Federal Ecosystem
More Proof That The Government Should Always Prefer Commercial Off The Shelf Software
Software Acquisition and Practices in Government: Build or Buy?
How Do Leaders In Government Decide Whether To Buy Or Build? Do They pick GOTS or COTS?
