FAR 2.0 and the Rise of Commercialized Government Procurement Strategy

The federal acquisition landscape is undergoing a structural overhaul — and it’s moving faster than many contractors are prepared for. Driven by a series of Executive Orders (included below), the rewrite of the Federal Acquisition Regulation — known as FAR 2.0 — is more than cleanup. It’s a commercial reset.

For industry, the implications are sweeping: commercial solutions are now the default, fixed-price is the norm, and the Government is explicitly stating its intent to procure goods and services quickly, cleanly, and cheaply.

That shift brings with it new expectations — not just for how solutions are delivered, but for how competitors bid and how PTW teams model risk and pricing behavior.

From Compliance-Centric to Commercial by Default

Under FAR 2.0, agencies are expected to award commercial solutions unless a deviation is formally justified. The new language is clear: federal buyers should rely on commercial pricing logic, not cost accounting disclosures.

That means:

• Less cost-plus, more firm fixed price

• Reduced flexibility in cost recoverability

• Greater exposure to execution and pricing risk

Evaluation Trends: Simpler, Faster, More Price-Weighted

The overarching promise of FAR 2.0 is cleaner rules, faster procurements, and more competition. In practice, that’s translating into cut-and-dry evaluation criteria, compressed proposal timelines, and less reliance on Highest Technically Rated Offeror (HTRO) logic.

Especially in commoditized services like helpdesk, NOC/SOC, and basic cloud migration, technical scores are converging — and price is becoming the final discriminator.

PTW teams must now assume that:

• Technical superiority alone won't justify premiums

• Low-risk, fixed-price proposals will dominate scoring

• Agencies are increasingly unwilling to stand behind cost tradeoffs

If your pricing model assumes a premium for nuance, innovation, or elevated staffing, it may need to be recalibrated — fast.

Vehicle Lockouts and the New Pipeline Reality

Beyond price and evaluation, FAR 2.0 is also reshaping the competitive landscape via contract consolidation. The rise of GSA’s OneGov strategy, increased reliance on Best-in-Class vehicles, and expanded use of OTAs are shrinking the number of competitive entry points.

The result? If you’re not already on the vehicle — or not aligned with the OEM — you’re on the outside looking in.

Final Thought

This isn’t a regulatory tune-up — FAR 2.0 is a directional shift in how the Government buys. And for PTW professionals, that requires a fundamental change in approach.

In this new environment, the winners will be the firms that can model fixed-price risk profiles with precision and forecast competitor behavior under faster, simpler, price-first evaluation rules.