Recently, however, more and more jobs are mentioned as outsourcing candidates. Vendors are running public schools and doing other novel things. The innovative spirit also works the other way. Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration awarded the Agriculture Department a contract, the Integrated Computing Environment-Mainframe and Networking contract. Some industry bidders, however, complained that the ICE-MAN competition was unfair.
Competition can be a powerful tool for maximizing the value of tax dollars.
But comparing proposals from the public and private sectors brings forth its own set of issues and problems. In reviewing them, agencies should separate the differences that must be weighted against one another from those that are the unique strengths of each type of bidder. Some government advantages are the result of hidden costs. For instance, some personnel functions are performed for federal agencies by the Office of Personnel Management. A bidding vendor has to shoulder these functions, too.