Acquisition and the ICM
CSSE ARR, March 2008
Bruce 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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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
3
Program Management
• Risk-averse culture
• Vocabulary (iteration vs. increment vs. spiral vs. delivery cycle)
• Deployment/Sustainment/Logistics
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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)
4
Life Cycle
• Merging of development and sustainment lifecycles
• Elimination of traditional SE reviews (PDR/CDR)
– Construction phase is ICM anchor points writ small
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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
5
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
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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)
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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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