13: Acquisition Professionals

Design and develop a cadre of specialized IT acquisition professionals

Other Information:

Effective IT acquisition requires a combination of thorough knowledge of the Federal acquisition system, including the tools available, a deep understanding of the dynamic commercial IT marketplace, and the unique challenges inherent to successfully delivering large IT programs in a modular time-boxed manner. Agency CIOs and SPEs advised that acquisition professionals who were specialized in IT were more effective. This specialization is also consistent with private sector best practice. To bring these increased capabilities online, we will be creating standardized training and development opportunities to develop a cadre of acquisition professionals with the specialized knowledge and experience required to expedite complex IT acquisitions across the Federal Government. Over the next six months, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and the Federal CIO, with input from agencies, will design a specialized IT acquisition cadre. In doing so, they will need to answer the following questions: * What is the process for acquisition professionals to become specialized in IT? * How do professionals progress within the community (i.e., transition from entry-level through to senior contributor)? * How do you ensure that community members can focus on participating in IT acquisition? * What training, experience, and certification are needed? * What will be the impact on the remaining acquisition workforce and non-IT acquisitions if some of the staff are dedicated to IT acquisition? A number of agencies have already developed IT acquisition specialists who can serve as a means to expedite IT programs. Useful lessons can be learned from drawing on the experience of the GWACs and the staff that support them at GSA, NASA, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In the case of smaller agencies, where IT-only acquisition groups may be impractical, leveraging GWACs or using specialized cadres at larger agencies through Economy Act transactions may be the best solution (e.g., the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Technology Acquisition Center and Treasury Department’s BPD Acquisition Resource Center). In addition, both the GWACs and these other agencies can potentially provide cross-functional support through experienced IT program management and technical staff. Access to these resources will, of course, not be limited to smaller agencies, as they can often provide an efficient alternative to in-house IT acquisition even for larger agencies. Particularly within the current budgetary constraints, agencies may have only a limited capability to hire new staff as candidates for the IT cadre, so drawing on other agencies’ resources may be vital to success.

Stakeholder(s):

• Acquisition Professionals

Indicator(s):

Indicator:1

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