Intermediate Systems Acquisitions Course. Planning the Acquisition

Transcription

1 Planning the Acquisition The effort to move from recognizing a new mission requirement to fielding a new capability requires careful and comprehensive planning by the acquisition team. This planning process starts very early in an acquisition program and supports program execution through every phase of the Acquisition Lifecycle Framework (ALF). A key document in this process is the acquisition plan (AP). The AP serves as a roadmap for carrying out the entire program. In this document the program office identifies the life cycle acquisition strategy, and explains how it intends to obtain and support a new capability. In this lesson you will learn about the AP and the role it plays in acquisition planning. You may print the Planning the Acquisition lesson or save it for future reference. Page 1 of 17

2 Objective Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to: Identify all parties involved in the development and review of the AP Identify the required components of an AP Page 2 of 17

3 What is an AP? An AP is a comprehensive plan that covers all phases of an acquisition program. It also provides the background necessary to understand how each individual acquisition, or contractual action, will support the program. An AP documents the overarching strategy for managing the separate acquisitions that make up the overall program. It identifies the points at which key decisions will be made during the program's life cycle. Since a program typically involves the efforts of many people, and usually results in one or more contractual actions, an AP will guide the work of those people and integrate their efforts towards a common goal. D Page 3 of 17 A diagram showing three arrows pointing from the program AP to three separate contract APs, indicating how individual plans for program contracts flow from the main program AP.

4 What Does an AP Do? An AP: Addresses the business, technical, management, and other significant considerations that will affect the acquisition strategy and execution of each contractual action Serves as a mechanism to review, approve, and document acquisition decisions and create a road map for implementing those decisions Provides direction for the execution of each contractual action Documents a program's plan for meeting a portion of the DHS mission through one or more acquisitions Documents the plan for any stand-alone acquisition that is separate from an identified program. For example, if a Component planned to replace all laptops with newer models, it might not be part of a larger program but would still require an AP Contains individual contract APs (as required by FAR Part 7) for contracts needed to accomplish the program Page 4 of 17

5 Who Prepares an AP? The acquisition planner/technical official is responsible for developing and executing an AP. The planner integrates the efforts of all personnel responsible for significant aspects of the acquisition. At a minimum, the PM should ensure the planning team includes the contracting officer (CO) and a small business specialist. The team should also include the following types of personnel when the circumstances of the acquisition warrant (see the Homeland Security Acquisition Manual (HSAM) (b) and (a)): Information security Personnel security Budget Environmental Privacy Legal Energy Safety Earned value management (EVM) Logistics End users The CO, as the developer of the procurement strategy, plays a key role in the planning process. Working together, the PM and the integrated product team (IPT) prepare and execute the AP. Contractors may provide acquisition planning support, but they are prohibited from making any acquisition planning decisions in order to avoid any potential personal, or organizational, conflicts of interest. Appropriate conflict-of-interest provisions must be included in the contract under which a contractor's acquisition planning support services have been obtained, and nondisclosure agreements must be executed to cover acquisition planning-related information. Page 5 of 17 According to HSAM (a) the acquisition planner shall be a Government employee who works for the requiring agency (if outside of DHS), or within the requiring Component (if within DHS). They can be the requisitioner, technical official, program manager, or end user. The acquisition planner is responsible for developing the AP, and updating it annually. They are responsible for ensuring timely development and completion of components of the AP such as the history, requirements, quality, quantity, delivery, budget, and cost estimates. In general, within DHS, the primary acquisition planner is the program manager (PM) or his or her representative. The acquisition planner/technical representative may sometimes be the contracting officer (CO). For the remainder of this lesson, we will use the phrase "acquisition planner" or "planner" to refer to the person with the role of acquisition planner/technical representative. Planners shall ensure APs are coordinated with the appropriate small business specialist in accordance with the threshold set forth at FAR 7.104(d)(2). For DHS, the requirement is that the planner shall coordinate the acquisition plan or strategy with the cognizant small business specialist when the strategy contemplates an acquisition of $2.5 million or more. The HSAM is issued by the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO). It establishes for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uniform department-wide acquisition procedures, which implement or supplement the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Homeland Security Acquisition Regulation (HSAR), and other agency regulations and statutory requirements.

6 AP Preparation requirements for IAAs Select each button below to review the AP preparation requirements for inter- and/or intra-agency acquisitions (IAAs). Page 6 of 17 An assisted acquisition is a type of inter- or intra-agency acquisition (IAA) where a servicing agency performs acquisition activities on a requesting agency's behalf, such as awarding and administering a contract, task order, or delivery order. The requesting agency (DHS or other agency) may delegate preparation of an AP to the servicing agency (DHS or other agency), but the requesting agency provides support and assistance as needed. Either the requesting or the servicing agency may prepare and approve the AP in accordance with the applicable interagency agreement (IA). If the IA states that DHS shall prepare the AP, the AP is completed in accordance with HSAM Chapter (See HSAM for the policy if an agency other than DHS prepares the AP.) For a direct acquisition, the requesting agency (DHS or other agency) prepares the AP for the IAA.

7 When is an AP Prepared? Planning is one of the first steps in any acquisition, and it should start as early as possible. Preparation of the AP can begin as early as acquisition decision event 0 (ADE-0), but its initial review does not occur until ADE-2A. The AP is then reviewed prior to each subsequent ADE, and updated following each review to reflect any major program change, or other significant changes. D Select the D-link to read a detailed explanation of the graphic Page 7 of 17 A significant change is a change in the acquisition strategy, including the contract type or method of procurement; a change in the nature or scope of work to be performed; and/or a significant change in the dollar value of the procurement. A significant increase in the dollar value is defined as follows: Value of Most Recently Approved Plan Dollar Increase of Revised Plan Less Than or Equal to $500 Million $100 Million or greater Between $500 Million and $3 Billion 20% of the value of the most recently approved plan $3 Billion or Greater $300 Million or greater

8 Graphic depicting the relationship between the AP and the ALF. A block labeled acquisition plan is above the ALF graphic, and spans from ADE-0 to ADE-3, indicating that preparation of the AP may start as early as ADE-0. An arrow points from AP to ADE-2A indicating that ADE-2A is when the initial AP review occurs. Additional arrows point from the AP to each subsequent ADE indicating that the AP is updated and reviewed at each subsequent ADE. The ALF graphic shows that ADE-0 is at the beginning of the Need Phase, ADE-1 is at the end of the Need Phase, ADE-2A is at the end of the Analyze/Select Phase, ADE-2B is soon after ADE-2A, ADE-2C is just before ADE-3, and ADE-3 at the end of the Obtain Phase, just before the Produce/Deploy/Support/Dispose Phase.

9 When is an AP Required? HSAM (3) states that APs for supplies and services shall be prepared in accordance with the following AP Matrix: Threshold Contract Type Type of AP > SAT to < $10M FFP No written AP requirement (See HSAM (e)(2) $10M for non-major System Acquisitions FFP Streamlined > SAT for non-major System Acquisitions up to designation as a Major System Acquisition OTFFP Streamlined All Major System Acquisitions (Level 1,2 or as designated by the Deputy Secretary, Chief Acquisition Officer, or ADA and when Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) approval is required see HSAM (J)(2) (II)(a) ALL Formal Page 8 of 17 According to FAR 2.101, simplified acquisition threshold (SAT) means $150,000, except: (1) For acquisitions of supplies or services that, as determined by the head of the agency, are to be used to support a contingency operation or to facilitate defense against or recovery from nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attack, the term means: (i) $750,000 for any contract to be awarded and performed, or purchase to be made, inside the United States (ii) $1.5 million for any contract to be awarded and performed, or purchase to be made, outside the United States (2) For acquisitions of supplies or services that, as determined by the head of the agency, are to be used to support a humanitarian or peacekeeping operation, the term means $300,000 for any contract to be awarded and performed, or purchase to be made, outside the United States. FFP Firm-fixed-price

10 HSAM (e)(2) states: When an AP is not required, acquisition planning is still required by the FAR. The requisitioner shall include the following affirmative statement that acquisition planning was done. "Acquisition planning was coordinated with the contracting officer and appropriate subject matter experts and completed on month/day/year with all parties in agreement." This statement shall be included in the purchase request (PR) package. Acquisition streamlining refers to any effort that results in more efficient and effective use of resources to design, develop, or produce quality systems. This includes ensuring that only necessary and cost-effective requirements are included, at the most appropriate time in the acquisition cycle, in solicitations and resulting contracts for the design, development, and production of new systems, or for modifications to existing systems that involve redesign of systems or subsystems. Other than firm-fixed-price (OTFFP) actions include all other contract types listed under FAR 16 that are not FFP. OTFFP actions include: Fixed-price contracts with economic price adjustment Fixed-price incentive contracts Fixed-price contracts with prospective price redetermination Fixed-price ceiling price contracts with retroactive price determinations Fixed-price level of effort term contracts Cost reimbursement contracts Incentive contracts Time-and-material (T&M) contracts Labor-hour contracts Letter contracts. HSAM (J)(2)(II)(a) states that CPO approval is required for the following: (1) Program acquisitions with a life cycle cost of $300 million or more (2) Service acquisitions with an annual expenditure level of $100 million or more (3) Any other AP designated by the CPO

11 Who Reviews and Approves the AP? All APs shall be reviewed by at least the acquisition planner, small business specialist, and the CO. The head of contracting activity (HCA) may require additional reviews. HSAM (b) states, for all acquisitions for which a contractor will have access to sensitive information and/or where information systems are used to input, store, process, output, and/or transmit sensitive information, the acquisition planner shall ensure the AP is reviewed by the: Component Chief Information Officer (CIO) Chief Security Officer (CSO) Component Privacy Officer TSA Sensitive Security Information (SSI) program office, as applicable NPPD Chemical-Terrorism Vulnerability Information (CVI) program office, as applicable NPPD Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) program office, as applicable Page 9 of 17

12 Who Reviews and Approves the AP? (continued) For Components and offices that do not have a Component level CIO, CSO, or privacy officer, the acquisition planner shall coordinate with the DHS headquarters CIO, CSO, and Chief Privacy Officer. For non-competitive procurements, the procuring activity advocate for competition (PAAC) must review the AP if the value of the non-competitive procurement exceeds $50M (except when the public interest exception at FAR is used). For APs that require CPO approval, in addition to the HCA, the Component Acquisition Executive (CAE) or designee shall review and sign the AP before submitting it to the CPO. For acquisitions that include information technology, the DHS CIO shall also review and sign the AP before it is submitted to the CPO for approval. Page 10 of 17 Non-competitive procurements are those that require a justification for other than full and open competition, limited sources justification, or fair opportunity exception justification. (See HSAM (j)(1) for information on the review process.)

13 AP Revisions AP revisions are subject to the same review and signature process as the original document. Revisions may be made with change pages or by complete revision of the AP. Each AP version must have a revision number. For each successive AP update, specific changes from the previously approved AP, if any, must be highlighted. For example, an AP that describes procurements supporting ADE-2B would highlight any changes to the plan based on additional information or events that have occurred since the approval of the AP for ADE-2A. Revisions to plans may be tracked using a table such as the one below: Document Version Date Completed Reason for Revision AP for ADE-2A xx/xx/20xx Not applicable ADE-2B xx/xx/20xx New projet life cycle phase/event - Progression from ADE-2A to ADE-2B Page 11 of 17

14 Knowledge Review Which of the following individuals may be allowed to provide acquisition planning support but is prohibited from making any acquisition planning decisions? A. The contracting officer (CO) B. The program manager (PM) C. The small business specialist D. The contractor Correct! Contractors may provide acquisition planning support, but they are prohibited from making any acquisition planning decisions in order to avoid any potential personal, or organizational, conflicts of interest. Page 12 of 17

15 AP Guidance A formal AP is divided into two sections: Section A, Acquisition ground and Objectives Section B, Plan of Action Each section has multiple subsections which may be tailored to a specific requirement, or program. If a section does not apply, it must not be deleted. Instead, planners must insert "N/A", and the basis for non-applicability. Planners must ensure that there is adequate support for each "N/A" response. If there is additional information that needs to be added to the AP based on the requirements, which are not already provided for in the AP template, Components have the flexibility to tailor the templates to add the additional information. The DHS Acquisition Planning Guide, published by the office of Acquisition Policy and Legislation (APL), provides templates and guidance for developing both formal and streamlined acquisition plans. Page 13 of 17

16 Components of an AP The table below shows some of the basic differences between a formal AP and a streamlined AP. Formal AP Organized into two sections: Section A, which is further broken down into subsections A1 through A8; and Section B which is further broken down into subsections B1 through B22 Must include an executive summary Does not have to include a signatures section at the beginning of the document Must include a cost section including life cycle cost considerations Does not have to include a contract type discussion section, a procurement value section, an information technology (IT) purchase section, or an additional information section Streamlined AP Not organized into section; sections are generally labeled 1 through 27 Does not require an executive summary Must include a signatures section at the beginning of the document Does not require a cost section Must include a contract type discussion section, a procurement value section, an information technology (IT) purchase section, and an additional information section Click here for an outline of the section that sould be included in each type of AP. Page 14 of 17

17 Section/Subsection Title Formal AP Section Streamlined AP Section Executive Summary At the beginning of the document N/A Signatures Page N/A At the beginning of the document Section A Section A: Acquisition ground Not divided into sections Statement of Need A1 1 Applicable conditions A2 2 Cost A3 N/A Capability or Performance A4 3 Delivery or Period of Performance A5 4 Trade-offs A6 5 Risks A7 6 Acquisition streamlining A8 7 Section/Subsection Title Formal AP Section Streamlined AP Section Section B Section B: Plan of Action Not divided into sections Sources B1 8 Sources and Acquisition Methods Competition B2 Competition and Vendor Engagement Strategy Contract Type selection B3 10 Contract Type Discussion N/A 11 Source Selection Procedures B4 12 Acquisition Considerations B Total Procurement Value Including All Options N/A 14 Budgeting and Funding B6 N/A Product or Service Descriptions B7 N/A Priorities, Allocations, and Allotments B8 N/A Contractor vs Government Performance B9 15 Inherently Governmental Functions B10 16 Management Information Requirements B11 17 Make or Buy B12 N/A Test & Evaluation (T&E) B13 N/A Logistics Considerations B14 N/A Information Technology (IT) Purchases N/A 18 Government Furnished Property (GFP) B15 19 Government Furnished Information (GFI) B16 20

18 Environmental and Energy Conservation Objectives Security Considerations (including privacy considerations) B17 21 B18 22 Contract Administration B19 23 Other Considerations and Additional Requirements B20 24 Milestones for the Acquisition Cycle B21 25 Identification of Participants in AP Preparation B22 26 Additional Information N/A 27

19 Knowledge Review Which of the following is not a required part of both formal and streamlined APs?? A. Security considerations B. Cost, budgeting and funding C. Integrated master schedule (IMS) D. Test and evaluation Correct! All of the items listed are sections of an acquisition plan except an IMS. An IMS is considerably more detailed than the information provided in an acquisition plan. Page 15 of 17

20 Summary The acquisition plan (AP) provides an overarching strategy for managing a program, as well as the individual acquisitions required to support that program. The AP documents how the program team plans to acquire and support the system or systems that will satisfy the user's need throughout the life of the program. The acquisition planner/technical official is responsible for developing and executing an AP. In general, within DHS, the primary acquisition planner is the program manager (PM), or his or her representative. The acquisition planner/technical official integrates the efforts of all personnel responsible for significant aspects of the acquisition. At minimum, the acquisition planning team should include the contracting officer (CO), a small business specialists, and an integrated product team (IPT). When the circumstances of the acquisition warrant, the IPT should include information security, personnel security, budget, environmental, privacy, legal, energy, safety, earned value management (EVM), logistics, and end user personnel. Preparation of the AP can begin as early as ADE-0, but its initial review does not occur until ADE-2A. The AP is then reviewed prior to each subsequent ADE, and updated following each review to reflect the occurrence or need for any major program change, or other significant changes. All APs shall be reviewed by at least the PM, small business specialist, and the CO. The head of the contracting activity (HCA) may require additional reviews. AP revisions are subject to the same review and signature process as the original document. Revisions may be made with change pages or by complete revision of the AP. Page 16 of 17

21 Summary (continued) Within the AP, the program office addresses the business, technical, management, and other significant considerations that affect the acquisition strategy. This includes the effort or efforts that will be placed on contract, the types of contracting methods and anticipated contract vehicles, the ways in which small business and competition policies will be properly addressed, and the methods planned to monitor contractor performance. As such, the AP serves as a mechanism to review, approve, and document important acquisition decisions and creates a road map for implementing those decisions. The AP serves as a guide for the many activities involved in managing an acquisition program. It is one of the most important documents generated by the program office. You may print the Planning the Acquisition lesson or save it for future reference. Page 17 of 17