FEDERAL
SECTOR REPORT
June 1999
(c) P2C2 Group,
Inc.
The
Changing World of Federal Procurement
AN INSIDE LOOK.
I am spending 20 weeks this year as a full-time (consulting)
project
manager
for the Executive Office of the President, drafting about 35 Statements
of
Work for Y2K projects that encompass about 60 systems and the White
House
information technology infrastructure. I will be looking for a new
long-term
consulting assignment (hint, hint) that will begin in August, but in
the
meantime I am having an opportunity to view the federal contracting and
procurement
process through the eyes of the government. I will use this newsletter
to
share a few insights that I have learned.
Statements of Objectives
The most recent
government
contracting officer with whom I am working
is on detail from the Air Force, and she prefers to issue brief
Statements
of Objectives, rather than the traditional, lengthy Statements of
Objectives.
The Y2K manager at the EOP, who is detailed from the Army, hasn't
totally
bought off on this approach, but I have attempted to incorporate some
of
her ideas into our technical specifications.
A Statement of
Objectives (SOO)
simply defines what the customer wants
to accomplish. What are the required outcomes? With a SOO, it is the
responsibility
of the contractor to determine how the work will be carried
out--so long as it achieves the government's defined objectives. In
contrast,
traditional Statements of Work are usually prescriptive, specifying
exactly
how the contractor must execute the work requirements.
Colleges and other
nonprofits
that compete for government grants will
recognize the SOO approach. When I write proposals for grants, the
government
simply states the program goals, a few regulations, and the evaluation
criteria
for rating the proposal. It is the responsibility of the grant writer
to
devise a methodology and management plan that accomplishes the
government's
objectives (reflected in a high score on evaluation criteria).
Contractors working for
commercial customers will also recognize this
approach. Large corporations aren't going to take the time to write a
300-page
Request for Proposals. In several pages, they are likely to state the
problem,
what they want to accomplish, and the standards that the contractor
must
follow. The quality of the solution, the attractiveness of the price,
and
the contractor's reputation (i.e., past performance) may determine
whether
the bid wins.
Standards and Deliverables
Even though we are
producing
Statements of Work, our project is attempting
to take a less wordy and less prescriptive approach. One of our tactics
has
been to cite standards, define deliverables carefully (called CDRLs at
Defense),
and require rigorous testing of the contracted "computer solutions."
Thus,
the tasks are focused on the "bottom line." What is the work supposed
to
accomplish? Does the workmanship meet the agency's or industry's
standards
(such as IEEE standards)? Does the solution work in the real world? The
Y2K
process is also requiring Independent Validation and Verification. The
government
wants results--not just a truckload of equipment or a boatload of
contractor
labor hours.
Tough Customer
During the 1980s, a
friend who
was an agency Information Systems director
lamented that "only the government would pay full price and accept
crap."
Those days are over. The government is becoming a tough and demanding
customer.
Accountability for contract performance is much more stringent than in
the
past, and future proposal competitions require a good record of "past
performance"
including references of former customers.
Vehicles
The government wants to
reduce
the cost of preparing and managing procurements.
IDIQ contracts that permit flexible tasking, GSA schedules, and
government-wide
(GWAC) contracts available through other agencies are attractive
options.
They help cut down on government labor costs for supporting the
acquisition
process.
