Congress first enacted federal appropriations law in 1809. It’s kept lawyers, contractors, and judges busy ever since. A question arising in many sellers’ minds at this time of year is, what money is available for contracts in more than one fiscal year?

If you’re a technology solutions provider, we hope you had a great summer and managed to squeeze in some time off, because the busy season is here, and September has already been a frenzy.

Work is already a top source of stress for many Americans, but right now government procurement teams face enormous pressure as they rush to negotiate and award contracts while ensuring regulatory compliance before the federal fiscal year ends on September 30^th.

The 2018 federal busy season, or FFYE, is upon us. With almost one-third of agency dollars being awarded during the last quarter of the fiscal year, this is peak buying season and the busiest time of year for federal procurement officers.

There’s been a lot of buzz about blockchain in 2017. It was only a few months ago in March 2017 that Betanews predicted that blockchain would be the buzzword that would take 2017 by storm. And it did, expanding beyond the financial community where it’s had a home for several years and breaking into other enterprise sectors.

But few foretold that blockchain would have such a hand in government digital transformation in 2017. In fact, the two go hand in hand.

What is Blockchain?

Federal fiscal year-end (FFYE) is a harried time for the federal procurement system. As agencies hustle to spend their “use-it-or-lose-it” budgets, contracting officers are under peak pressure to obtain maximum value for the money they spend on property and services, ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements in awarding contracts, and so on.

With continued unpredictability about the annual federal appropriations process, the 2016 federal fiscal year-end busy season is likely to be as crazy as usual for federal procurement teams.

In my last blog, I outlined why public sector is an attractive market and draws the attention of many companies, especially when the commercial market is soft.  I also mentioned that only those companies who add real value have a chance to win and the “Johnny Come Lately’s” have a real challenge to try and be successful.  Today, I look at one element of this complex market – the procurement process.