Vendor-Lock In The Government’s Software Estate.

How Vendor-Lock has allowed software vendors to use their dominant position to impose a number of harmful, anticompetitive practices on the government.

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Recent Appearances

Michael Garland believes government needs to get serious about IT modernization.

Michael Garland, principal at Garland LLC, and Gaurav "GP" Pal, CEO and founder of stackArmor, discuss their article about IT Modernization, and why the current methods are outdated.

Michael Garland believes Federal Acquisition Regulation is too narrow to support new technology business models.

Michael Garland, principal at Garland LLC, explains the recent Section 809 Panel recommendation that “consumption-based solutions” are important for the future of cloud acquisition.

Mike Garland doesn’t just advise. He produces positive business results for both government and commercial IT companies.

Results For Government

Supporting all governmentwide IT category management initiatives due to FITARA, including OMB IT directives, with a special emphasis on best practices for software acquisition and management.

Results for Industry

Supporting your efforts to design the most efficient and legally sound market approach to the largest IT buying customer in the world.

Garland operates at the wonderful intersection of hugely pragmatic and wildly innovative. He consistently finds a fresh angle through which to view old problems. It is been my pleasure to share ideas for improvement with him over the past several years.: Kevin Youel Page Former Deputy Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, GSA
I’ve worked with Garland on and off for over ten years. Few people understand the business of commercial IT and the regulations and issues of the Federal Gov’t like Garland. He has a very deep and unique understanding.: J. (Jay) Richard Jones Division Vice President
General Dynamics Information Technology(GDIT)
When FITARA legislation passed and OMB asked GSA for help to better align the Government’s massive software portfolio, we got Garland on-board as an advisor. His strong background in IT sales combined with his legal knowledge was invaluable. He was a key contributor to our initiatives.: Mark Day Retired: Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Information Technology Services, GSA
We engaged Garland as an expert witness in litigation where expertise of the federal government contracting industry was critical. Garland’s responsiveness and deep knowledge of all facets of this industry were immensely helpful to our case.: Partner, AmLaw 50 Firm
Garland is one of the real thought leaders in public-sector procurement, and his years of practical experience in the business of Information Technology bring a deep understanding of the complexities involved in IT acquisition. He gets both what’s needed and what’s possible; we always look forward to his contributions to FCW.: Troy Schneider Editor
Federal Computer Week
Garland is like a unicorn. He’s a government procurement lawyer who has actually carried a revenue quota for IT companies. He has rare insight into the business of government IT from both the government and industry side.: Kevin Shelly Vice President, Public Sector
Mark Logic
Mike is a pleasure to work with: bold, insightful, articulate, multidisciplinary, thorough, knowledgeable, responsive.: Joe Weinman ICT Industry executive and author Cloudonomics and Digital Disciplines

About Garland

Garland Management Consulting brings years of IT business expertise and Government Procurement knowledge to broker better results for both Government buyers and commercial sellers of IT.

Mike Garland has been in the business of IT his entire career. In addition to being an attorney, Garland has had significant business and revenue responsibility. Some highlights include:

Selling Windows and OS/2 source code to IBM that replaced the IBM Personal Assistant Series in Europe
Completing a law degree with a focus on issues relevant for IT companies
Running Europe/Middle East/Africa for Primavera software, prior to sale to Oracle
Building a Federal IT product reselling business for PricewaterhouseCooper’s Washington Consulting Practice
Running the global Technology Procurement Service for BearingPoint
As a Senior Vice President, driving all North American IT product distribution for Siemens Enterprise Communications through multi-tiered sales channels
Completing Master of Laws Degree in Government Procurement from George Washington University School of Law

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Garland Expert Witness

Garland is available as a consulting or testifying expert witness.

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Mike Garland with Ralph C. Nash Jr., the godfather of Government Contracts Law and Professor Emeritus of Law at George Washington University

With Ralph C. Nash Jr., the godfather of Government Contracts Law and Professor Emeritus of Law at George Washington University

Garland brings years of IT business expertise and Government Procurement knowledge to broker better results for both Government buyers and commercial sellers of IT.

Thought Leadership

Mike Garland teaching at the George Washington University School of Business

Mike Garland was an adjunct Professor at the George Washington University School of Business where he taught Federal IT Procurement in the Government Contracts Master’s Program.

Garland created this 3-credit course at the request of George Washington University where it was offered in spring semesters.

The theme of the class was how to bridge the gap between commercial IT practices and the unique requirements of government contracting. Specific topics included:

Introduction to Government IT
Explosion of Distributed Computing
Foundational FAR Clauses
GWAC’s and the GSA Schedule 70
Contracting for Cloud Products

Software Licensing and Data Rights
Cyber-Security
Large Scale IT Services Procurements
FITARA and Category Management

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Business Leadership

Mike Garland has held senior level executive positions in virtually every revenue-generating position possible in the Information Technology industry:

Sr. Vice President Channel Sales - Siemens Enterprise Communications (IP Telephony)
Vice President BearingPoint - Technology Procurement Services (IT Consulting)
Vice President Avaya Government Services (IP Telephony)
Vice President Arrow Electronics North America (Value Added Distribution)
IT Product Federal Sales Leader – PricewaterhouseCoopers Washington Consulting Practice
General Manager – GTSI (IBM Product Line)

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Having years of quotas and sales management responsibilities, Mike Garland has always focused on the fastest paths to revenue or cost savings.

Government Advisory Services

The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and Category Management for Federal IT have created fundamental changes for IT procurement.

Garland’s consulting work for the Government has supported the establishment of new $100M plus contracts to meet the objectives of Section 837 of FITARA. In addition, Garland has been intimately involved in:

Rewriting the Schedule 70 solicitation to update the terms and conditions for software
Supporting the Software Asset Management System (SLMS) through the business case and prototype development
Strategizing with the Enterprise Software Category Team on the development of its charter, implementation plans and "best in class "criteria.
Providing leadership and content on a number of complicated topics like
- Remote software support
- Open Source software
- Software Asset Management
- Business Intelligence and Visualization software
- Best Practices for Enterprise License Agreements

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Mike Garland with Anne Rung - Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy at Whte House Office of Management and Budget

With Anne Rung - Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy at Whte House Office of Management and Budget

Contact

Whether you represent Government interests and seek more innovative IT products and services for a better value, or your IT company feels stonewalled by the maze of procurement regulations, contact Garland Management Consulting today. Take the first step toward a better outcome.

Select Current & Past Clients

Agencies

Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
General Services Administration (GSA)
Treasury Department (USDT)
Department of Justice (DOJ)
King County, Washington State

Companies

Alphabet
Accenture Federal
Alliance for Digital Innovation
Gartner
Grant Thornton
Octo
Pluralsight
Form.io
SIE Consulting
stackArmor
SDM Consulting
Zygos Consulting

Law Firms

Winston & Strawn
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy
Joseph, Greenwald & Laake
Parr, Brown, Gee & Loveless

Garland LLC provides legal and business advice about government contracting and information technology.

Vendor-Lock In The Government’s Software Estate.

Recent Appearances

Michael Garland believes government needs to get serious about IT modernization.

Michael Garland believes Federal Acquisition Regulation is too narrow to support new technology business models.

More Articles Latest Article

Mike Garland doesn’t just advise. He produces positive business results for both government and commercial IT companies.

Results For Government

Results for Industry

About Garland

Garland Expert Witness

Thought Leadership

Authorship

Business Leadership

Government Advisory Services

Contact

Select Current & Past Clients

Agencies

Companies

Law Firms