IT Buyers Training & Support
The ITVMO offers a mix of accredited and general session forums for educational training and upskilling our IT and acquisition workforce.
IT Buyers Training & Support
Overview
The ITVMO provides a one-stop-shop for IT acquisition intelligence to inform smarter, faster IT buying decisions. We do this through:
Continue reading to understand more on our services and solutions available to aid IT Buyers.
Training
The Administration has emphasized the need to continuously invest and modernize our acquisition workforce. The acquisition workforce performs a vital role in evolving our Federal IT Marketplace. As such, we recognize the importance of providing opportunities for IT acquisition professionals to maintain a current knowledge base, develop critical thinking abilities, and have an awareness of innovations and leading-edge technologies to achieve successful acquisition outcomes.
The ITVMO has partnered with the Federal Acquisition Institute to leverage their CornerStone onDemand (CSOD) Program to accreditate many of the training webinars and events offered on our Events page and through our domain experts and partners. Depending on the topics, information presented, and duration 1 to 4+ continuing learning points (CLP) may be awarded for participation in one of our training opportunities.
Don’t see a training offering that you would like to attend? Contact Us to share your training topic interests and areas for improvement.
Agency Knowledge Sharing
As a broker of IT acquisition intelligence requests, the ITVMO works across the community and fellow agency IT Buyers to gather and increase the availability of standards, best practices, and guides. To further support the growing increase in agency specific requests, the ITVMO provides an agency knowledge sharing forum on OMB MAX 
.
On the site you will find instructions for reviewing current questions or information requests, how to submit a response to a current request and how to submit requests on behalf of your agency. Questions are available in individual excel spreadsheets, titled by subject matter so that it is easy to find your areas of knowledge, expertise or even interest.
ITVMO Agency Knowledge Sharing Form
As questions are answered and closed, the file will be marked “Closed” but will still be available for review by current and new acquisition professionals so that if an agency has a similar question in the future, the previously collected information is available for their use as well as the original submitters.
This process allows agency representatives, contracting officers, contracting officer representatives, program managers, and domain experts to come in and review requests and submit information they think would be useful for the requesting agency. It also allows the requesting agency to monitor their open requests for updates from others and engage with those agencies who they think can best support their ongoing requests.
This knowledge forum is expected to continue to grow and we hope you find it useful. Contact Us for more information or log in to the OMB MAX Agency Knowledge Sharing Portal today!
Additional IT Buyers Support
To further field, consult, and support agency IT buyers on their IT acquisition strategies and upcoming procurements, we provide roadside assistance. This means we are available to take on ad hoc agency requests and agency-specific IT buying questions
We have also launched the ITVMO’s Contract Review Service (CRS) which offers subject matter expertise and guidance via targeted, agency-specific software contract reviews to better prepare agencies for their next renewal.
We work across our community and network to get the information needed to address your needs. Contact Us if you are seeking further assistance and IT buying help for your next purchase or agency acquisition planning.
IT Buyers Toolkit
Overview
The IT Buyers Toolkit is maintained and updated through the IT Buyers Community of Practice within the ITVMO. This toolkit produces and increases use of ITVMO, IT Buyers CoP, and partner IT acquisition knowledge and best practices to include federal procurement data, standard terms and conditions, and technology strategies.
-
Periodic Table of Acquisition Innovations
The governmentwide acquisition knowledge management portal for innovative business practices and technologies.
-
Contracting Officers Toolkit
The Contracting Officer Toolkit is a knowledge based, ready reference guide, developed by the Fall 2020 LEAP team in partnership with FAI. Some of the links provided may require you to register and login in order to access the material.
-
Contracting Officer Representative Toolkit
The Contracting Officer Representative Toolkit is a knowledge base tool, developed by a Spring 2020 LEAP team in partnership with FAI. Some of the links provided require an additional user ID and password to access the material.
-
Contracting Professionals Smart Guide
The Contracting Professionals Smart Guide is organized into two sections: Contract Formation and Contract Administration. The tables below link to the Activities and their corresponding flow charts.
This training resource provides an 8-part information series on OEM operating practices to educate agency IT buyers and help them achieve a stronger negotiating position.
-
Module-1 -Overview
This topic is about OEMs in general as each OEM may at any time restructure their sales team approach which would impact the information provided here. Additionally, not every OEM adheres to the structure or information outlined within the original paper on this topic. This should be used as a tool to increase your knowledge of how typical OEMs are structured and how they operate.
-
Module-2 - Structure
Understanding the various teams and support functions within the OEM organization helps customers be better prepared for acquisitions and be better positioned to maintain a beneficial relationship with the OEM over the course of the contract.
-
Module-3 - Sales Roles
The forward-facing part of product companies is in their sales organization. The OEM’s salespeople approach all parts of your IT organization to explain their value proposition for their products. They are also instrumental in approaching your acquisition personnel on how to purchase their products.
-
Module-4 - Partners
The OEM has a partner network to expand its reach to all potential customers. Often referred to as the channel, these partners are an extension of the sales arm of the OEM.
-
Module-5 - Sales Support
OEMs have several different functions to support the sales arm of its operations. Many of these functions may be in the background hidden from your organization, but others are front and center when executing a purchase. This overview focuses on the sales support areas that your team will likely encounter during the sales process.
-
Module-6 - Sales Support (continued)
The OEM has a partner network to expand its reach to all potential customers. Often referred to as the channel, these partners are an extension of the sales arm of the OEM.
-
Module-7 - Sales Cadence
Understanding the OEM sales processes requires a better understanding of two complementary concepts: account planning and customer relationship management (CRM).
-
Module-8 - Module Recap
Recap of understanding how OEMs are organized and operate.
Doing Business with Government: OEM Product Renewals
New 8-part module coming soon......
Cloud Acquisition Strategies & Guides
-
Cloud Information Center (CIC)
The CIC is designed to educate on all aspects of the acquisition lifecycle, including business, technical, and contractual aspects of cloud solutions.
-
Cloud and Infrastructure Community Guides & Resources
Provides resources for federal agencies to consolidate and modernize their IT infrastructure.
-
Cloud Acquisitions Guide
This manual is tailored for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and aims to assist acquisition specialists who possess beginner to intermediate familiarity with procuring IaaS from Cloud Service Providers (CSPs). Its purpose is to enhance understanding of the subtleties involved in infrastructure procurement and to serve as an adjunct to additional cloud procurement resources.
-
Tactical Cloud Contracting Guide
Coming October 2023
-
Agency Case Studies & Training Materials
Coming October 2023
Revolutionizing Procurement with AI: Agency Use Cases
Coming soon…
Leading Edge Technologies Report (with agency use cases)
(FY2024 Leading Edge Technologies Report Coming soon...)
-
FY2023 Leading Edge Technologies Report
Areas of Focus:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Blockchain
- Computer Vision
- Cloud Computing
- Cyber Security
- Machine Learning
- Robotic Process Automation
- 6G
-
FY2022 Leading Edge Technologies Report
Areas of Focus:
- Cyber Security
- Cloud Computing
- Robotic Process Automation
- Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning
- Network Performance Management
- Big Data and Advanced Analytics
- Blockchain
Cyber and Information Security
ZeroTrust Buying Tools
-
Federal ZeroTrust Strategy
Sets forth a Federal zero trust architecture (ZTA) strategy, requiring agencies to meet specific cybersecurity standards and objectives by the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 in order to reinforce the Government’s defenses against increasingly sophisticated and persistent threat campaigns. Those campaigns target Federal technology infrastructure, threatening public safety and privacy, damaging the American economy, and weakening trust in Government.
-
GSA ZeroTrust Buyers Guide
Your agency's roadmap to designing and deploying ZTA, and maps the components defined by NIST to the GSA solutions that help meet them. We offer a variety of ZTA solutions across contract vehicles.
-
Advanced Persistent Threat Buyer's Guide
Helps organizations evaluate potential products and solutions that detect, respond to, and recover from APTs. It provides guidance on engaging capable, proven industry partners to minimize APTs and enhance the overall resilience of the nation's cybersecurity.
ZeroTrust: Agency Use Cases
Coming soon…
IT Buyers Community of Practice
Overview
The IT Buyers Community of Practice (ITB CoP) is chartered under the CIO Council’s Enterprise Operations Committee (E-ops), The purpose of the ITB CoP is to create a community of federal IT buyers to share their experience and scale expertise across government. The ITB CoP brings together the acquisition programs at agencies, contract vehicle programs, and procurement specialists from across government to solve common challenges.
The IT Buyers Community maintains a
CoP MAX
page with additional resources available to government users.
Interested in the latest updates related to federal IT acquisitions? Learn about upcoming events, training opportunities, updates, and connect with fellow IT acquisitions professional by joining the ITB CoP Listserv.
IT Buyers Government Portal
What We Do
The ITB CoP helps agencies procure IT faster and smarter by creating a shared space where IT buyers throughout the government can help each other solve problems and leverage the buying power of the entire federal government.
We take a whole-of-government approach – we’re agency, vendor, vehicle neutral– helping us to unify the Federal IT Community for the greater good. This includes
- IT marketplace buyers -- the agency contracting officers, program managers, specialists, and end users. Answering what we need to meet our federal agency mission ne eds and continue to transform our federal government.
- IT suppliers -- original equipment manufacturers (OEM), value-added resellers (VARs), and small businesses. Helping us understand industry best practices through proven, reliable common IT goods and services as well as emerging technology trends.
- IT Vehicles -- Governmentwide Acquisition Contract Vehicles (GWACs) and Best-in-Class (BIC) solution holders. Aiding to buy common IT products and services consistently and for the best price.
- Federal IT Marketplace leaders -- leadership and programs across government and the providing industry (e.g., private-public partnerships). Informing and influencing the priorities and identifying needs (as well as strategies) to transform the way the Federal IT marketplace is run.
Who We Are
We are a community of diverse federal professionals looking to leverage our respective expertise to collaborate on better IT acquisition strategies and approaches for the benefit of our agencies and all of the government.
The ITB CoP is supported by a partner team made up of the CIO Council’s Enterprise Operations Committee (E-ops), Chief Acquisition Officers Council (CAOC), the IT Vendor Management Office (ITVMO), and the IT Best in Class (BIC) Contract Vehicle from GSA, DOD, NASA, and NIH.
Membership to the ITB CoP is government-only. The IT Buyers CoP will periodically conduct events and working groups with industry and vendor participants. Government-only membership restrictions allow federal IT Buyers to solve potentially vendor-specific or otherwise sensitive issues in a closed environment.
We connect, engage, and partner across the Federal Marketplace -- partnering with other governmentwide programs and communities of practice. Check out our Community page to see our partners and allies.
Leadership
- John Radziszewski, ITVMO Director
- Kyra Stewart, IT Buyers CoP Program Coordinator
- Andrea Brandon, Deputy Assistant Secretary, DOI (sponsor)
- Erin Collard, Associate Deputy Assistant Administration, EPA (sponsor)
- Jenna Mathieson, Deputy Director, FDIC (sponsor)
How to Get Involved
There are many great opportunities to connect, engage, solve, and train within the IT Buyers Community Practice. Subscribe to our IT Buyers listserv and monitor our Events page for upcoming engagement opportunities and announcements.
- Annual Summit -- In-person event bringing both industry and government together to foster collaboration and increase knowledge sharing on IT acquisition contract strategies, Best-in-Class IT vehicle solutions, and federal marketplace opportunities for small businesses. Event is typically held in the second half of the fiscal year.
- Quarterly Community Meetings -- Topics are driven by member interests. We’ll look to subject matter experts and agency representatives to present on their related experiences, offering best practices and lessons learned. Quarterly meetings are the fourth Thursday of every 3-months from 2-3pm EST.
- Monthly IT Buyers Bulletins -- Blog-like articles highlighting latest trends in IT acquisitions and the government contracting sector. These bulletins help to promote available resources, tools, and data available on these up and coming trends to help IT buyers adopt and infuse into their day-to-day. Bulletins are released to the IT Buyers COP subscriber list monthly, on the last Tuesday of every month..
- Office Hours -- Sessions will be interactive, allowing for question-answer and collaboration. May include representatives from key OEMs or ITVMO partners to address specific agency scenarios to include but not limited to: OEM Terms & Conditions; vehicle and small business utilization; data; etc. Office hours are scheduled on an as needed/as requested basis.
- Working Groups -- cross-government teams will be established based on federal and agency priorities to focus on a targeted problem. Working groups are short-term problem solving teams by working collectively across agencies and functions to identify and recommend solutions for govwide impact. Working groups are identified and sponsored by the ITBCOP sponsors and informed through agency surveys and request..
- Cohorts -- cohorts are organized based on ITVMO/IT Buyers customer pathways (e.g., Vehicle Owners/Solution Holders; Agency Buyers; Contracting Officers; IT Program Managers; etc.) to leverage the skills and experience across government. Cohorts are organic and self-sustaining, cohorts help to introduce and connect ITVMO stakeholders and customers. Cohorts will be created on an as needed basis.
- Training Webinars -- Facilitated by ITVMO, these training sessions are designed to address common agency challenges and improve agency understanding and govwide knowledge/capability with key OEM contracts, data, emerging technology, and other high priority IT and acquisition focuses. Training events are ongoing and scheduled as instructors and content is available. Check the Events calendar for upcoming training webinars and available CLPs.
Interested in the latest updates related to federal IT acquisitions? Learn about upcoming events, training opportunities, updates, and connect with fellow IT acquisitions professional by joining the ITB CoP Listserv.
Subscribe
Contact Us
If you have questions, please contact the ITB CoP email at ITVMO@gsa.gov
