When it comes to the government’s procurement tab, the General Services Administration is one of the most influential agencies. It manages many of the contracts from which all agencies buy. And it’s one of the agencies that helps decide governmentwide procurement policy. So what should happen in the Trump administration at the GSA? The Federal Drive with Tom Temin got some ideas from long-time GSA watcher and federal sales expert Larry Allen.
One of the highlights of the interview is the prospect of expanding the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) requirement to civilian agencies. Allen believes this is inevitable and advocates for a unified framework to avoid different standards across agencies, which would lead to high costs for businesses. The Department of Homeland Security is already adopting its own version of CMMC, similar but not identical to the Department of Defense’s standard. A consistent cybersecurity standard would benefit innovative businesses and new market entries. A single agency, like the GSA, should oversee this standard to ensure uniformity.
At this point, there is no GSA nominee so it may be premature to speculate, but cybersecurity is a high priority in Congress and will likely continue so for the new Administration.