Is the Obama Administration cutting back on federal contracting? Let's look at the top 20 federal procurements planned for 2010. Washington Technology and Information Week say that the top 20 will exceed $180 billion, up from around $120 billion the year before, so in reality it's business as usual plus some.

Part of the increase for 2010 is due to the increasing emphasis on multi-vendor contracts. Buys under this type of contract go only to the companies that hold the contracts at pre-negotiated prices. They are quick ways to buy with minimal paperwork and are a partial solution to a backlogged, understaffed federal procurement system.

GSA schedules are the most popular of the multi-vendor contracts because they are open to large and small businesses and because the government will accept a proposal for a GSA schedule at any time.