FEDERAL SECTOR REPORT

This is part of a series on acquisition reform based on my 1999 work in developing IT requirements, contract performance standards, and procurement documents for the White House and other agencies of the Executive Office of the President. This article is about Statements of Objectives.

Statements of Objectives

Federal acquisition reform is reshaping contract competitions, and one of the emerging procurement vehicles is the Statement of Objectives (SOO). A SOO is normally 2 to 4 pages in length, unlike Statements of Work (SOWs) that may encompass 30 pages plus voluminous specifications for a large contract. But the brevity is deceiving.

Greater Contractor Flexibility and Risk

While SOWs often focus on contract process, SOOs emphasize the Government’s bottom-line: What are the performance results (achieved objectives) that the federal customer expects from the contractor?

The contractor has greater flexibility in deciding how to achieve the objectives, because the "how to do it" directions of Statements of Work have been eliminated. The contractor must propose the SOW. When competing for a contract based on a SOO, a prospective contractor is responsible for determining the best solution for achieving the Government’s objectives, developing a Technical Approach, and proposing a Statement of Work that describes in detail the tasks, procedures, management plan, and deliverables.

In responding to SOWs of past years, prospective contractors tended to salute the Request for Proposals, say "Aye, Aye Sir," and demonstrate compliance. But SOOs change the rules and the old approach no longer is a successful formula for winning contracts.

In many ways, SOOs remind me of federal grants, where the agency announcement simply states priorities and evaluation criteria. When I write a proposal for a grant competition, it is my responsibility to devise a better needs analysis, technical solution, and management plan. Then I must work with my client’s experts to back up the strategy with facts, task processes, schedules, key personnel, budget, and a past performance history to demonstrate that the solution will be credible, reliable, and successful.

Successful proposals in response to SOOs require a higher level of talent, in many cases. Your technical people must define the requirements, best practices, and work processes … as well as propose to do it. Your management team may be required to define project positions and labor categories … and possibly propose a fixed-price level of effort.

Related Issues

A Statement of Objectives is driven by the objectives and performance measures (metrics). Therefore, Part II, Contract Performance Measures, will focus on metrics and performance standards. Examples of performance measures are:

• 99% of project status reports are delivered on schedule. 100% are delivered within a negotiated schedule.
• 99.9% of database records are completely accurate.
• 95% of emergency services are completed within 2 hours of contractor notification. 100% are delivered within a negotiated schedule.

Part III, Increases in Contractor Responsibility and Commercial Practices, discusses the risks and responsibilities of implementing contractor-defined solutions. In a SOO, the buck stops with the contractor, who is responsible for achieving the SOO’s objectives and performance measures … and possibly complying with commercial best practices. Within the limits of reason (and the Federal Acquisition Regulation), the successful contractor must deliver effective results and quality, not just effort. Failure to deliver may be grounds for the Government’s terminating the contract for nonperformance.

SOOs are often linked to newer procurement methods that reflect current trends in acquisition reform. For example, the Government may issue the requirement initially as a Request for Comment, inviting industry to comment on how to make the procurement document more practical, effective, and cost-efficient. In addition to the written proposal (including the contractor’s proposed Statement of Work in response to the SOO), the Government may request oral presentations, where offerors compete orally for the contract. Part IV of the series features Bidder Conferences and Oral Presentations.

Part V looks at Past Performance. In today’s world, an outstanding proposal cannot win the competition unless you can back it up with a reputation for delivering reliability, quality, price realism, and results.

CONSULTING SERVICES

We provide enterprise-level management consulting services for federal agencies and the contractors who support them. Our areas of specialization are Capital Planning and Investment Control, Enterprise Architecture, strategic planning, performance evaluation, and acquisition support including work statements. Our consulting specialty includes experience in many related areas such as CIO program support, earned value management, risk management, the C&A process for security, and customer satisfaction surveys.

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