The Department of Defense awards between 35-39% of its commercial item acquisitions to small businesses.  This was among the findings released late last week by the Section 809 DOD Acquisition Reform Panel.  One significant finding is that DOD contracting officers do not use much of the simplified acquisition methods already available to them.  The report went on in some length about the various ways rules already can make commercial item acquisitions faster and simpler.  Panel members speculated, however, that DOD CO’s may not be sure enough of themselves to use available flexibilities and often combine simplified terms with the more formal acquisition rules in FAR 15.  The Panel recommended moving simplified acquisition language to FAR 12, the commercial item acquisition chapter.  Another recommendation was to eliminate the distinction between personal and non-personal services to make it easier for DOD to acquire the personal services they may need to support critical missions.  Here the Panel is essentially giving a nod to reality.  Personal services are needed today, and acquired today, so why not make it easier for that to happen?  One other recommendation may also be of interest to commercial item contractors:  Updating Assignment of Claims processes to reflect current technology and market realities.  This, among other things, would make it easier to manage Contractor Teaming Agreements.  The entire report is 540 pages long.  For those with no meaningful 4^th of July plans, the link to the report is here:  
https://section809panel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Sec809Panel_Vol2-Report_June18.pdf