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FEDERAL SECTOR REPORT

November 2003

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Federal Partnerships and Cooperation
Links of the Month: Memoranda of Understanding
Consulting Services
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(c) 2004 by the P2C2 Group, Inc.

IT'S DEAL TIME FOR INTERAGENCY COOPERATION

It doesn't make sense to solve the same problem a dozen times ... or to pay for the same function a hundred times, but federal agencies have been doing it for years. Yet, with Fiscal Year 2005 budget planning now in progress, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is blowing the whistle and giving agencies a big nudge to enter into collaborative solutions that involve multiple federal agencies, state and local governments, and/or existing e-business technologies.
Can you imagine divisions of GE or Citicorp spending money on dozens of different network solutions, accounting systems, or customer relationship management applications? Stockholders would think that management had lost its corporate mind. Taxpayers deserve the same efficiency as stockholders. Collaborative government-wide solutions make sense in many cases.
But collaboration won't be practical in all cases because legislative and regulatory constraints may prevent uniform solutions from working. This is because Congress defines the mission, programs, and even some of the processes of agencies in the federal executive branch.
Investments must be collaborative wherever feasible. This is necessary for supporting the President's Management Agenda and justifying the project budget to OMB. Collaboration and cooperation often means a shared initiative involving multiple agencies or other partners, such as state and local governments. Where appropriate, investments must be fully aligned with one or more of the President's E-Gov initiatives.
Developing collaborative solutions that serve citizens better and reduce costs require careful thought, collaboration, and follow-through. While informal cooperation can be very useful, many situations require a formal collaborative relationship and written agreements that document the inter-organizational relationships, commitments and responsibilities.

Putting It in Writing

Any partnership or agreement of importance needs to be in writing to avoid future misunderstanding and provide an orientation for future personnel who may not be involved in the initial deal making. For quite a few partnerships, there are boilerplate forms that you should use. Examples include a standard Memorandum of Understanding, Service Level Agreement, or Cooperative Agreement (usually executed through the procurement office).
Interagency agreements require the signature of a senior agency official, such as the agency head. Check with decision makers early to make sure you don't go off in the wrong direction. Often a discussion with your attorneys (Solicitor's Office or Office of the General Counsel) is also helpful, and they will undoubtedly need to review/approve any non-standard agreements.

Covering Essentials

Interagency agreements are formal documents, just like a contract or corporate charter. Rather than expounding on contents in the abstract, let's move to a specific example that will make the key points.
P2C2 Group, Inc.

An Example

This past year, we drafted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enable a group of agencies to cooperatively develop and maintain a specialized software solution. The participants also wanted to take an Open Source approach to the software, inviting public and private sector participants to contribute to enhancements on a non-proprietary basis. The group also wanted to share costs, which meant collecting and managing funds from multiple budgets--while still maintaining appropriate federal accountability. The initiative was viewed as a long-term initiative.
In this context, we structured the MOU like a corporate charter (Articles of Incorporation), with the details attached as Addenda (functioning as by-laws). The reason for pushing the details to the Addenda was to enable the group to make minor changes in rules without having to go back to agency heads for a new agreement ... provided that they kept within the boundaries of the authorized charter.

The Charter covered:

  • Background
  • Purpose
  • Responsibilities of Governing Board, Subscribing Agencies, Users, Contributors, and the Managing Agency
  • Limitations
  • Acceptance and Approval
The Addenda covered:
  • Funding
  • Expenditures and Acquisitions
  • Guidelines for Subscribing Agencies
  • Authority and Accountability of the Managing Agency
  • Policies
  • Guidelines for Software Contributors
  • Operating Procedures
  • Identification of Initial Governing Board (steering committee)
  • Signatories
We are attaching a sanitized version of our MOU, Memorandum of Understanding for the hypothetical e-INNOVATE Initiative. We have fictionalized the identity of our client group, its purpose, and its name to protect the confidentiality of our client; but otherwise this is the actual structure of the document that we prepared.

LINKS OF THE MONTH

Following are references that point to additional information about topics covered in this newsletter.
MOU between Forest Service and U.S. Geological Service for certain cartographic products and services.
http://www.usgs.gov/mou/doaped.pdf

MOU between the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/210/nttaa/ansimou.htm

NIST Special Publication 800-47, Security Guide for Interconnecting Information Technology Systems. See Appendix B, which outlines MOUs for system interconnection.
http://www.cio.gov/documents/sp800-47.pdf

MOU Between FEMA and the U.S. Geological Survey.
http://www.usgs.gov/mou/fema_impact.html

CONSULTING SUPPORT FOR ENTERPRISE IT MANAGEMENT

The P2C2 Group provides consulting support to senior executives. We are a leader in IT capital planning and investment control (CPIC), including all areas addressed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Exhibit 300 Business Case and e-Government.

Call or e-mail me if you would like more information about our consulting services and contract vehicles.

HOME PAGE

New projects are underway this fall, and it has been a pleasure to work with customers who appreciate professionalism and quality work. We are developing the business case for an enterprise-wide EEO and civil rights system for a large department. In addition, we will be conducting a national survey research project as a means for establishing the performance baseline for a major federal program that serves military personnel returning to civilian life.
This is a beautiful time of year in "Rock Creek Palisades," the stretch of real estate where I live. There are plenty of trails and other places to enjoy the bright colorations of autumn leaves.

Peace and prosperity!

Jim Kendrick, CMC
P2C2 Group, Inc.
4101 Denfeld Avenue
Kensington, MD 20895

kendrick@p2c2group.com
301-942-7985




Copyright 2004