While it may be April Fools’ Day, we promise not to play any pranks on you–not that I didn’t think about a headline trumpeting a major change in the 8(a) program, linked to a video of Rick Astley.

Instead of pranks, it’s time for our weekly dose of government contracting news and notes from around the country. In this edition of SmallGovCon Week In Review, you will find articles covering a potential shift in GSA schedules, the State Department’s audit findings on procurement waste,  a billion dollar award is split between 21 vendors to tackle the short and long term needs of the VA’s IT department, the second part of my interview with GovBizConnect, and much more.

• A transformation of GSA Schedules will streamline the process for vendors of all types and sizes in doing business on the FSS. [fedscoop]
• Best practices for debriefing contractors when they lose out on a contract could become standardized according to Anne Rung, administrator in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. [Federal News Radio]
• A recent audit exposes upward of 30 distinct issues with the State Department’s IT acquisition methods, which led to waste and redundant purchases. [Federal Times]
• Establishing GSA order pricing may become more complicated as a new FAR case makes its way through the rulemaking process. [govloop]
• A 10 year $22.3 billion procurement program that awarded contracts to large and small business vendors spans 21 contractors and is set to help meet the VA’s near – and longer term healthcare IT needs. [HealthData Management]
• Guy Timberlake gives his comments on a recent article that looks at the bidding process and customer relationships. [GovConChannel]
• The GSA officially announced FedRAMP Accelerated, a 2.0 version of the government’s process for pre-approving cloud-computing vendors to sell to the federal government.  [FedTech]
• GovBizConnect wraps up Part II of its interview with me on the importance of legal assistance for federal contractors. [GovBizConnect]