While full and open competition is often espoused as the ideal, the truth is that it can be very costly (in terms of both dollars and time) to government and also to its industry partners. When CICA and full and open competition held virtually sole dominion over acquisition processes, agencies broadly advertised competitions to elicit responses from "all responsible sources."

Typically, the Government received and evaluated many proposals, many of which offered no chance for award. This

workload could not be moderated, because there were limited means for the government to eliminate proposals or advise contractors that they had little likelihood of award. The rule of thumb was, "when in doubt, leave them in." This process made it difficult for contractors to select and compete for contract opportunities they were likely to win, allowing them to keep bid and proposal costs low ... to the advantage of both industry and government.

Full and open competition for competition's sake is costly. There are many ways to achieve competition under existing law and regulation. The competitive strategy should be crafted to the agency's mission and program needs.