Acquisition and the ICM

CSSE ARR, March 2008Bruce Amato, Barry Boehm, Les DeLong, Gary Hafen, Adrian Pitman, Don Reifer, Peter Suk, Denton Tarbet, Rich Turner

Team Activities• Seeded discussion with initial candidate issues• Established a context as a guide for thoughts• Brainstormed (and discussed) issues and

possible solution strategies• Rich tried to make sense of it all and created a

set of research areas based on issues• Team scored the issues as to value and

difficulty

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Memo from John Young, USD (AT&L)

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Contracting• Progress payments• Award protests• Flexibility

– Changing requirements– Changing schedules

• Too many contract actions due to iterations, fly-offs, etc.– IDIQ as possibility

• Non-recurring cost risks with developers (tooling/technology)– Government can share risk

• Time-certain delivery scheduling– SAIV vs. CAIV vs. PAIV

• Rethink profit incentives for software/systems – Value-based award fees (part for core, remainder for special

desirements)– Penalty fees

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Program Management• Risk-averse culture• Vocabulary (iteration vs. increment vs. spiral vs. delivery cycle)• Deployment/Sustainment/Logistics

– Short release cycle causes serious issues– CM of multiple releases in use– Recertification/rapid release minimum schedules– Delay recertification until last moment

• Satisficing mechanisms– JCIDS process needs better adjudication of joint requirements– Stakeholders involved earlier and more consistently

• Need tight communication within deep acq/dev/supplier chain– Evolution of documentation more dynamic

• Feasibility rationale development and validation• Consortia/open source/domain-specific open source distribute risk• Three-layer technical team structure (agile/execute/V&V)

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Life Cycle• Merging of development and sustainment lifecycles• Elimination of traditional SE reviews (PDR/CDR)– Construction phase is ICM anchor points writ small

• Long-lead items• Need guidelines for fly-offs• Funding of failed anchor point milestones• Awarding construction to team other than concept

creator; need continuity • Concept and practice of acquisition baseline

management may need to be redefined• No skipping of phases for developmental acquisitions

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Earned value• Determining value of systems– Software value vs. software cost (VBSE)– ICE looks at cost, not value

• Allocating progress• Defining WBS in ICM; sufficient visibility of

software– “Rolling wave” WBS: Long-term WBS for planning;

Short-term WBS (per phase/increment) for execution– Separate entry bookkeeping for software to highlight

software work (alternate view of WBS)

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Budgeting• POM Cycle is serious concern• Congressional constraints/oversight/control

issues• Funding Profiles• Requires better intra-service prioritization of

pre-program funding– Gov’t prototyping and competition plan and funds

(PEO/PM/SAE)– Fewer programs can be initiated in a given POM

cycle

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Necessary Competency Upgrades• Government/Acquirer– Service Acquisition Executive/Program Executive

Office/Program Manager– Program staff members/contractor support– Contracting Officer/Independent cost estimate

developers– GAO, Inspectors General– Development T&E, Independent Operational T&E

• Developer– Executives/PM– COs/Subcontract managers– Oversight offices

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Research Opportunities -1 (I,D)• Strategies for RW WBS development for ICM

(H,L) • Identification of changes required in government

and developer workforce (H,L)– Study workload and competency changes and their

effect across full acquisition organization• Acquisition strategy development guidance (H,M) • Enhanced communication mechanisms for timely

synchronization of acquirers, developers and supplier chain (H,H)– Impact of ICM on Lead System Integrator/Prime

Contractor role – Models for analysis of organizational strategies 10

Research Opportunities -2 (I,D)• Value estimation techniques (e.g. value vs. cost

of software) (H,H)• Model impact of software-related risks to overall

system cost and schedule (H,H)• Mechanisms for managing large numbers of

fielded and development system versions (H,H)• Satisficing mechanisms beyond win-win for large

number of stakeholders (H,H)• New approaches to baseline establishment and

management to support ICM (M,L)11

Research Opportunities -3 (I,D)• Continue VBSE work with special focus on

implementation of concepts within ICM (M,L)• Review of profit model for system developers in

view of ICM principles (M,M)• Guidelines/pilots for three-tiered technical team

implementation (roles, responsibilities, etc.) (M,M)

• Review of Federal Acquisition Regulations and other legal references for impediments (M,H)

• Expedited re-certification/validation approaches (M, H)

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