Practical Approaches to Address Government Contracting Problems

John M. Gilligan

Defense Acquisition UniversityISA 320

2

Common Government Contracting Problems

• Source Selection takes too long and costs too much money– Too many bidders– Too much calendar time and costs too much

• Difficulty in locking down requirements• Fear of protests limits government-industry

interaction and drives up acquisition costs• Failure to get innovative or cost saving ideas once on

contract• Too few and inexperienced acquisition staff

3

Problem: Source Selection takes too long and costs too much money

Best Practices:• Rapid down selection of prospective offerors• Lock down (and publish) contract award date;

scope source selection tasks to fit schedule• Use oral proposals with real time Q&A of

bidding team• Limit emphasis on out-year pricing

Objective of Source Selection is to pick a partner not to get a perfect contract (which will change as soon as it is signed).

4

Problem: Difficulty in locking down requirements

• Best practices:– Promote extensive industry dialogue prior to RFP

using interactive group sessions regarding contract structure, evaluation criteria, general solution approach

– Field evolving solution using “Time Box” approach—requirements scoped to accommodate fixed time and costs

Open dialogue between developer and (real) users and iterative short duration projects

5

Problem: Fear of protests limits government-industry interaction

• Note: Most protests due to poor communication

• Best practice: Improve Communication1. Stick to published process and timing 2. Keep industry informed of any delay or change

realizing that every change has a (big) cost to industry

3. Non Select Debriefs done on contractor site with senior management present

Government has significant control over the potential for protest!

6

Cost growth and failure to get innovative or cost saving ideas once on contract

• Use significant contract incentives (e.g., award fee outside normal fee) to motivate continued innovation

• Understand and manage program momentum as way to reduce overall program cost

Industry only has so many “A” teams; “A” teams are deployed based on ROI.

7

Problem: Too Few & Inexperienced Acquisition Staff

• Best practices: – Use collaboration and on-line support/training to better

leverage limited expertise– Convene government-industry acquisition

strategy/advisory panels early in the process– Don’t try to put all terms/performance parameters in

“concrete” at the start of the contract.

Keep it simple and commit to small increments--reduces risk and increases likelihood of success