Groundhog Day Acquisition Reform

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2 Groundhog Day Acquisition Reform Breakout Session #: G07 Presented by: Iris Cooper Tracy Marcinowski Michele Sharpe Date: July 26,2017 Time: 9:45am 11:00am 1

3 Acquisition Reform to Date 2

4 Acquisition Reform to Date According to GAO (2011), 60+ years of acquisition reform has yielded a procurement system that requires more reform Commission after Commission has studied reform options and while we keep tweaking the system, improvements are hard to come by In the 80s fraud, waste and abuse scandals in the procurement system prompted President Reagan to create the Packard Commission The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 drove major restructuring in DoD, consolidating acquisition functions within the offices of the Service Secretaries The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) of 1990 established formal career paths and standard for education and training for the acquisition workforce The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994 exempted procurement of commercial items from existing laws The Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 eliminated cost accounting standards to encourage commercial companies to do business with the Government 3

5 Acquisition Reform to Date More than 150 major studies on acquisition reform since World War II President Obama sought to improve IT Acquisitions by championing the standing up of the Digital Services and GSA s 18F The new Administration is joining the call for reform by advocating that Government Buy as a Business, and reduce, realign or eliminate entire functions 4

6 Acquisition Reform to Date 5

7 Acquisition Reform Now Section 809 Panel 2016 NDAA set up the Section 809 Panel to identify acquisition reform ideas focused on six areas Examining statutes and regulations to enable a more efficient acquisition process Simplified buying Commercial items Why commercial companies don t do business with DOD Key factors in successful acquisitions, and A framework for success Panel has 2 years to come up with a report 6

8 Acquisition Reform Now Category Management Identifying core areas of spend; Collectively developing heightened levels of expertise; Leveraging shared best practices; and Providing acquisition, supply and demand management solutions OMB and GSA leading the initiative Best in Class (BIC) acquisition vehicle designations Soliciting Ideas from Public 7

9 Acquisition Reform Now OMB Memo 17-22, Comprehensive Plan for Reforming the Federal Government and Reducing the Federal Civilian Workforce While not acquisition specific, it presents a great opportunity to Streamline and eliminate processes Shift to alternative service delivery models Streamline mission-support functions Leverage Existing solutions for common requirements Crisitunity Every great crisis presents a great opportunity 8

10 Why Is This So Hard? 9

11 Why Is This So Hard? Since 2009, the Government has added 86 Executive Orders, OMB/OFPP Policy Memos, OMB/OFPP Workforce Memos and OMB Circulars that impact the acquisition process and/or the acquisition workforce While we have called for more agility and innovation, the additional burden have made this virtually impossible The general public is highly suspicious of Federal Acquisition and believes (over 75%) that there is some to a lot of fraud waste and abuse in the system The transparency push won t change this as transparency without context is meaningless Fundamentally the stakeholders in the process have different and often conflicting interests Mandating Acquisition Reform will provide some short-term results, but leadership and culture change are required for long-term effective changes 10

12 Why Is This So Hard? Why did previous efforts fail? Failure to understand the market in which we operate Only ever tackle part of the process It is all about getting to award not managing the lifecycle Focus is on procurement only Effectiveness of training & development Budget constraints Buying as a Business Initiative (B.A.B.I) What is success? How do we measure it? Lack of consistency due to the political process 11

13 The Market & our Business Partners Failure to Understand the Market in Which We Operate Short term solutions to long term problems Solutions without clear understanding of the problem Who, what and why are we buying goods and services? Evolving technologies drive the market but not the acquisition process 12

14 Limited Views Only ever tackle part of the process Acquisition is a Team Sport Guiding Principles as true now as they were then Previous efforts have only focused on procurement Poor requirements make poor contracts 13

15 Training the Workforce Is there a better way to train? Extensive training available to the workforce but are we getting any better? Certification vs. Qualification Classroom/Online training vs. On-the-job Focusing on technical knowledge/skills at the expense of professional and leadership skills Critical Thinking, Risk Management, Communication Multi-functional training (i.e., training as a team) Keeping pace with new regulations, Executive Orders, OMB/OFPP policy memos How do we train the workforce to more quickly adapt? 14

16 Training the Workforce How do we become more innovative? Understanding the fundamentals is essential to being able to innovate Is innovation an innate skill? Can we teach people to think differently? Integrate into training curriculum the teaching of the tools and techniques that facilitate innovation Diversity of thought and experience can create a more innovative environment 15

17 Buying As a Business The Government s customer is driven by performance not financial outcomes Government operates with public funds which are held to a different standard Funding is sporadic, made more difficult by frequent Continuing Resolutions, Sequestrations und uncertain future funding streams Decision-making power is often decentralized; decisions and operations are subject to public scrutiny The pressure to acquire the latest technology is hindered by inflexible regulations and rules Risk adversity inhibits innovation and agility the tradeoff between risk and abuse drives an intricate level of regulations and oversight Fairness in the process requires us to buy in an open process with all decisions thoroughly documented Socio-economic goals impact how we can acquire goods and services 16

18 Part of the Process 17

19 Acquisition Reform- Results Created the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Established the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) to improve the performance of the acquisition workforce, Implemented a milestone decision process to improve oversight Enabled use of multi-year procurement to promote cost efficiency (with Congressional approval), Required independent cost estimates to improve budgeting forecasting, Moving away from military standards and specification to promote the use of commercial technologies Established commercial item acquisitions 18

20 Old or New? Break into teams of 4-5 individuals Choose a team spokesperson Each team will be given an acquisition reform scenarios Take 5 minutes to review the scenarios and decide is it a new idea or an old one? 19

21 What is Success Agencies and individuals don t know how to define success How can you ask a contractor to succeed if you don t know what you re trying to achieve Be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely Success needs to be tied to the agency mission Training Top to bottom and bottom to top training on the importance of acquisition to the organizations mission Focusing on developing the right skills 20

22 What is Success 21

23 How to Make This Work Is it adding value? Can you see the edges of the box? Accountability Time to change the model and embrace the technology Still buying the way we did in

24 Where to Next 23

25 Contact Information Iris Cooper Department of Treasury Tracy Marcinowski General Services Administration Michele Sharpe Department of Treasury 24