In this episode of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Technology Acquisition Center’s (TAC) podcast, TAC Talks, we discuss Strategic Sourcing with Ms. Luwanda F. Jones. Ms. Jones is a retired U.S. Army Colonel who served for 28 years in various senior acquisition and information technology positions. Ms. Jones has been serving as the Deputy Chief Information Officer (DCIO) for the Office of Strategic Sourcing in the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) since August 2018.

In this episode of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Technology Acquisition Center’s (TAC) podcast, TAC Talks, we discuss the Enterprise Cloud Fax Service (ECFax), a highly secure Cloud-based electronic faxing service. It is designed to increase efficiency and decrease time from a slow and costly manual/semi-automated faxing process to a more universal electronic faxing service. To address these topics and more, host Chuck Ross is joined by a fantastic panel of VA Office of Information and Technology and TAC Contracting personnel who collectively have decades of experience. This panel includes: Mr. Frank Joy Jr., Sr. Enterprise Infrastructure Architect for the Office of Information and Technology Mr. Robert Kately, VA Technology Acquisition Center, Contracting Officer

Our guest speakers will further describe how viewpoints of Veterans are kept front and center throughout the lifecycle of a product by recruiting Veterans for user experience studies to help the VA make its digital tools more user-friendly.

In our second episode of this season of the VA Technology Acquisition Center’s (TAC) podcast, TAC Talks, host Chuck Ross is joined by Ms. Sharon Ridley to discuss OSDBU’s role in promoting small business efforts within VA.

Host Chuck Ross is joined by a fantastic panel of VA Office of Information and Technology and TAC Contracting personnel who collectively have decades of experience. This panel includes: Mr. Michael Ouslander, Product Line Manager for the Office of Information Technology, Development Security and Operations, Benefits and Memorial Services portfolio Ms. Cara Varricchio, VA Technology Acquisition Center, Contracting Officer

In our final episode of the season we discuss the application of program management best practices within the acquisition framework to increase transparency, empower business owners and stakeholders to drive key decisions, and enhance the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA’s) efforts to efficiently and effectively acquire goods and services within the established cost, schedule, and scope of the procurement. Not only does this support VA in effectively meeting its mission, it enhances the Veteran experience through successful execution and delivery of products and services that support delivery of care and benefits.

In this episode we discuss the Federal Government’s initiative, and the Technology Acquisition Center’s actions, to transform Federal acquisition by driving innovation through various tools, training, and more flexible and innovative acquisition practices.

In this episode we discuss the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) progress towards implementing the Federal Government’s policies relating to the use of category management.

In Series 2, Episode 2, we discuss the role of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Technology Acquisition Center’s (TAC’s) Engineering Service Division in the acquisition process, as well as tips for developing requirements documents and much more valuable, technical insight.

In this episode we break down the techniques and tools the government uses to determine fair and reasonable pricing.

Our experts discuss how the government determines it evaluation factors and provide many tips and suggestions for vendors to consider in their contract proposal.

Our panel dissect the ins and outs of the Multi-Step Advisory Evaluation combined with proposal demonstrations. We’ll offer suggestions to both government and industry and share some data on its effectiveness.

We discuss the varying debrief requirements across sections of the Federal Acquisition Regulations. We get insight from contracting officers and an attorney in how they handle debrief requests and attempt to be as transparent as possible.

We discuss the ins and outs of the VA TAC’s Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology Next Generation Contract (T4NG) vehicle. The TAC obligates over $1B a year on this vehicle for a wide range VA’s of information technology (IT) and health IT needs. Our panel tackles a wide array of topics as we analyze its use.

We kick this series off in no better fashion than a casual conversation with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) Associate Executive Director (AED), Ms. Michele Foster. Join us for our discussion as we reminisce how the TAC went from a small government startup of 10 people to over 150 employees in just over a decade. She’ll share the difficulty and excitement of recruiting and hiring staff for the organization, establishing all new processes, generating sufficient revenue, and building a mature organization that will be effective for years to come. Ms. Foster will discuss some of her favorite moments along the way, as well as some insights for the vendor community and our junior acquisition professionals looking to grow in their career. She will also comment on her vision for the organization for the next five to ten years.

Come for a peak behind the federal acquisition curtain as we gain insights from acquisition professionals at the US Department of Veterans Affairs and dissect varying relevant topics. In this five episode series we will explore topics such as proposal evaluations, innovation, debriefs, and more!