Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memorandum M-19-13 entitled, “Category Management: Making Smarter Use of Common Contract Solutions and Practices” defines category management as the “business practice of buying common goods and services as an enterprise to eliminate redundancies, increase efficiency, and deliver more value and savings from the Government’s acquisition programs.”

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Ernest Reed, Director of VA’s Category Management Support Office within the Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics, Mr. Randy Padal, Acting Executive Director of Acquisition and Category Management within the Office of Information and Technology’s Office of Strategic Sourcing and Ms. Lateefah Parker, Director of IT Services Category Management within the Office of Information and Technology’s Office of Strategic Sourcing. Our panel discusses the steps VA has taken to implement category management, as well as the achievements and challenges faced along the way.

This episode’s panel includes:

• Dr. Ernest Reed, Director, Category Management Support Office, Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics
• Randy Padal, Acting Executive Director, Acquisition and Category Management, Office of Information and Technology, Office of Strategic Sourcing
• Lateefah Parker, Director, IT Services Category Management, Office of Information and Technology, Office of Strategic Sourcing