II.C.1: Process Alignment
Align the Acquisition Process with the Technology Cycle Other Information:
The acquisition process can require program managers to specify the government’s requirements up front, which can be years
in advance of program initiation. Given the pace of technology change, the lag between when the government defines its requirements
and when the contractor begins to deliver is enough time for the technology to fundamentally change, which means that the
program may be outdated on the day it starts. The procurement reforms enacted in the 1990s provided tools to speed up the
acquisition process, but the government has failed to take full advantage of those tools, so we continue to see programs delayed
longer than the life of the technology. In particular, the use of multiple-award indefinitedelivery, indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ)
contracts, called for in the 1994 Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA), was intended to allow quicker issuance of task
orders, to be competed through streamlined “fair opportunity” mini-competitions among the multiple contract holders. The creation
of governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs) for purchasing IT goods and services was also intended to provide a limited
number of specialized vehicles open to the entire government that could quickly respond to individual agency needs. While
the innovations in FASA have produced benefits, too often those tools are not used or not used effectively. IT acquisition,
particularly for large projects, continues to move intolerably slowly. We need to make real change happen, by developing a
cadre of specialized acquisition professionals and by educating the entire team managing IT projects about the tools available
to streamline the acquisition process. In addition, requirements are often developed without adequate input from industry,
and without enough communication between an agency’s IT staff and the program employees who will actually be using the hardware
and software. Moreover, agencies often believe that they need to develop a cost estimate that is low in order to have the
project approved. As a result, requirements are too often unrealistic (as to performance, schedule, and cost estimates), or
the requirements that the IT professionals develop may not provide what the program staff expect – or both. Speeding up the
acquisition timeline and awarding more successful contracts for IT requires a multifaceted set of solutions including increased
communication with industry, high functioning, “cross-trained” program teams, and appropriate project scoping.
Indicator(s):
|
