This concludes a five year root cause study by the nations leading standards bodies, universities and think tanks seeking to help Mr. Frank Kendall, OSD ATL and the major IT programs he oversees overcome barriers to innovations by enabling unfettered access to innovations and standards of practice that drive the global $3.8Trillion IT market. This briefing is married with a proposal and letter of support signed by four of the past Undersecretaries of Defense and other notables who see DoD's continued failures as a national security threat per both Defense Science Board and Defense Business Board reports.
Apidays New York 2024 - The value of a flexible API Management solution for O...
IT-AAC Roadmap for Sustainable Defense IT Reforms
1. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
IT Acquisition Advisory Council
“A public/private partnership operating as an honest broker for IT Innovations, Standards of Practice,
Agile Methods, and just-in-time expertise outside the reach of the Defense Industrial Base”
“If confirmed, I would review the implementation of Section 804 and make any necessary recommendations for improvement. …If
confirmed, I would work to identify the root causes of the Department’s software development problems, identify solutions and
implement appropriate corrective action.” Honorable Frank Kendall Senate Confirmation Statement, OSD ATL 2012
Gen Ted Bowlds, former AF ESC CMDR
Kevin Carroll, former Army PEO EIS
Dennis Nadler, CTO, IT-AAC
John Weiler, Managing Director, ICH
www.IT-AAC.org
703 768 0400
Agile IT Acquisition – Leveraging the Best of
the Commercial Industry….. when you need IT
2. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
IT Acquisition Advisory Council
“A public/private consortia of thought leaders, Innovations, Standards Bodies
and Academia working together to usher in commercial innovations and
associated standards of practice”
Value Proposition:
Involving IT-AAC expertise early in the life cycle, during
requirements formulation, allows better leveraging of
commercial best practices and products
Eliminates the “design to spec” mentality in favor of a
“what is needed” approach (capability vice spec)
Reduced high risk, low value unique developments
3. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
IT-AAC Study Approach
Establish consortia of SMEs, IT communities of practice, standards bodies and universities who
are free of interests in the status quo
Identify application IT laws/policies and assess compliance; CCA, NDAA Sec804/933, NTTAA,
OMB A119, FAR,
Conducted over 50 leadership workshops kicked off by DEPSEC Lynn.
Compiled 40 past studies & body of knowledge already available; GAO, DSB, DBB, BENS,
TechAmerica, CRS,…..
Conducted 200 interviews with past program managers and fortune 500 companies to identify
common success and failure patterns.
Identify and validate alternative IT mgt processes that were tuned for the fast paced IT market;
value stream, capability specification, tech assessment, architectures, business case analysis
Capture evidence from early adopters of Agile Acquisition Process
4. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
OSD ATL view on IT Reform
2009 DSB Re-Enforced By Many
Acquisition
• Long acquisition cycle-times
• Successive layers … built over years
• Limited flexibility and agility
Requirements
• Understanding and prioritizing requirements
• Ineffective role and comm in acquisitions
Test/Evaluation
• Testing is integrated too late and serially
• Lack of automated testing
Funding & Governance
• Program-centric, not capability-centric
• Overlapping decision layers
(e.g., multiple review processes)
• Lack of customer-driven metrics
• Funding inflexibility & negative incentives
“The inability to effectively acquire information technology systems is critical to
national security. Thus, the many challenges surrounding information technology
must be addressed if DOD is to remain a military leader in the future. The
development of a new acquisition process, coupled with clear roles and
responsibilities of key decision makers, and an experienced leadership and
workforce, are important elements of the solution.” Defense Science Board
Report to Congress
5. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
Root Cause Analysis
findings
wasting billions and undermining NSS missions
Leadership Resolve is the Critical Success Factor:
1. Inefficient IT Acquisition Ecosystem: top down processes, upside-down incentives, redundant
oversight, missing metrics (MOE, SLA) puts focus on compliance vs outcomes. Programs spending
up to 35% on compliance paperwork and still fail 84% of time. DODAF, JCIDS, NESI, LISI were
designed for 20 year lifecycles and conflict with Clinger Cohen Act, NDAA Section 804 and
Commercial Best Practices.
2. Shortage of Qualified IT Experts: Lack organic access to commercial IT standards of practice and
lessons learned that are 5 years ahead of Government IT. Concepts like SOA, Cloud Computing and
Service Level Management cannot be embraced without access to industry lessons learned and
experiential data. OMB Director determined that Federal IT is broken and failing to deliver promised
value.
3. Obscured Commercial Innovations and Standards of Practices: Traditional Defense Industrial
Complex suppliers are structured to support design-to-spec weapon systems approaches (5000.2
approach) and lack organics mechanisms to partner with SDOs, University Labs and non-traditional
suppliers/innovators.
"It is not a great mystery what needs to change, what it takes is the political will and willingness, as Eisenhower possessed, to
make hard choices -- choices that will displease powerful people both inside the Pentagon and out” Defense Secretary Robert
Gates
6. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
IT-AAC’s Agile Acquisition
Enablers
Just-In-Time Commercial IT Expertise critical to overcoming cultural resistance to
change. Hundreds of combined years of lessons learned, invaluable in risk
mitigating experience.
Agile Acquisition & Service Level Management– derived from standards work and
vetted by Global 500 companies. Acquisition Assurance Method is the only GSA
Certified Acquisition Framework tuned for the fast paced IT market.
IT Innovation Research and Architecture Design Patterns – supported by an
expansive network of universities, SDOs, NROs and COPs working together to share
best practices, innovations and lessons learned.
GSA Certified Best Value and Proven ability to mitigate risk at: BTA, Navy CANES, USMC TSOA, and DoD/VA
IPO SOA E.H.R.
“Together, these steps will help to catalyze a fundamental reform of Federal IT, which is essential to improving
the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal Government” Peter Orszag, White House, OMB Director
7. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
IT-AAC Public/Private
Resources
Conflict Free access to Agile IT Methods, Standards of Practices,
and Real World Lessons Learned
IT-AAC
Partners
IT Mgt
Methods
Cloud/IT/IA
Standards
Innovation
Research
Tech
Assess
Best
Practices
Pilots
Prototype
Policy &
Governance
IT Training
Mentoring
AIA
CAP
CSA
CSCC
ICH
ISC2
ISSA
OMG
UofMD
UofTN
JHAPL
TIA
FSTC
8. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
IT-AAC Sample Engagement
1. ID: Agency identifies requirements/capability gap in various formats, provides profile of existing IT portfolio, COTS
product suites and performance metrics if available.
2. INITIATE: IT-AAC assesses scope of situation, IDs critical tech domains needed, and recommends one of several
FFP offerings on GSA targeting opportunity.
3. RESOURCE: IT-AAC assigns PM who sends out capability survey to certified SMEs in the IT-AAC COP. Select
SMEs are presented to customer for acceptance.
4. SCOPE: PM establishes scope of work, time lines, and Just-in-Time SMEs needed to cycle through decision
milestones. PM readies process and decisions tools to be provided the team.
5. BASELINE: Upon award, PM and project team conduct baseline review of existing documentation, systems
configurations and deficiency reports to conduct a Baseline Gap Analysis Strawman.
6. MEASURE: PM and Customer facilitate Value Stream Analysis to validate problem set and target outcome to
develop transformation roadmap and to-be-architecture. Customer feedback validate way forward.
7. OUTREACH: Solution Assessment Surveys are sent out thru standards partners and COPs to gain insights into
potential design patterns and anti-patterns. Standards profiles are used to capture market research.
8. ASSESS: Vendors complete self assessment templates point to real world customer experiences that are then
audited by phone or person.
9. BIZCASE: PM works with team to assemble analysis into assessment tables for next set of customer facilitation
meeting that separates requirements into COTS vs Development categories by solution suite.
10. EXECUTE: Service levels agreements are established with predicable outcomes by option, enabling tradeoff
analysis by customer.
9. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
IT-AAC Operationalizes
BBP2.0
1. Achieve Affordable Programs
IT-AAC’s Rapid Tech Assessment framework exposes the 80% COTS/OS Solutions, eliminating costly ECPs and
Customization.
1. Control Program Lifecycle Costs
IT-AAC’s reuse of industry IT testing, assessment and implementation results reduces cycle times by 80% and
requirements over specification by 23% on average.
1. Incentivize Innovation in Industry and Government
IT-AAC’s virtual Solution Architecture Innovation Lab (SAIL) provides an open and inclusive structure where the
realm of the possible can be defined (OTA like)
1. Eliminate Unproductive Processes and Bureaucracy
IT-AAC’s Acquisition Assurance Method (AAM) replaces “check list” approach with a fact based decision
framework that compliments DOD5000 and BCL.
1. Improve Tradecraft in Acquisition of Services
IT-AAC/DAU partnership established a robust just-in-time training/mentoring program needed to bolster DoD
competencies.
“No one wants a bureaucratic framework wrapped in paper, so to do this right, we need your support,” NSA’s General Keith Alexander
10. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
IT-AAC IT Reform
Compliance
1. Clinger Cohen Act (Paperwork Reduction Act)
IT-AAC’s Acquisition Assurance Method (AAM) is derived from Benchmarked Best Practices and
Maximizes the use of COTS Products.
1. 2010 NDAA Section 804
AAM was tuned for the fast paced IT market and the only Agile Framework to be certified by GSA
and Proven to reduce IT Acquisition Cycles times on a repeatable basis.
1. OMB 25 Point Plan and 2012 NDAA
IT-AAC’s Cloud Standards Partners provide Open Architectures and Design Patterns critical to
legacy migration to Cloud Services
1. Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act 2014 (draft)
IT-AAC’s Provides mentoring and training resources supported by a IT Clearinghouse needed to
improve effectiveness of the IT Acquisition Workforce.
11. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
Past Performance = Assured
Outcomes
Where AAM and IT-AAC have proven: better, faster, cheaper
Navy: Assessment of AFLOAT Program –
CANES SOA & Security Strategy
Contact Value: $350k
Eliminated hi-risk Requirements by
23%, $100Ms in potential savings
USAF: Streamlined COTS Acquisition
Process. Applied to Server Virtualization.
Contract Value: $500k
Established optimal arch with ROI of
450% & $458 million savings
USAF: Full application of AAM Modules
For eFOIA (KM)
Contract Value: $150K
Completed AoA, BCA, AQ Selection
in just 4 months.
USMC: Solution Architecture, AoA and
BBA for Cross Domain, Thin Client
Contract Value: $300k
Greatly Exceeded Forecasted Saving
in both analysis and acquisition
GSA: Financial Mgt System consolidation
using AAM.
Contract Value: $500k
Moved FMS from OMB “red” to
“green”. Eliminated duplicative
investments that saved $200M
BTA: Build out of AAM into BTA IT360,
with two completed Pilots
Contract Value: $300kM
$300 million in potential savings with
minimal investment
BTA: Apply AAM to complete AoA and
BCA for DoD SOA Project
Contract Value: $250k
Reduced pre-acquisition cycle time
and cost of Analysis by 80%
(4 months vs 18)
GPO: Developed Acquisition Strategy for
Future Digital System FDSys
Contract Value: $150k
Led to successful acquisition and
implementation on time, on budget
and 80% cheaper than NARA RMS
JFCOM: MNIS Evaluation of Alternatives
for Cross Domain Solutions
Contract Value: $350k
Evaluated 100’s of Options in 90 days,
enabling stake holder buy in and
source selection.
“we believe that it is necessary to develop a comprehensive set of metrics to give transparency to program execution, avoid subjective judgment, and avoid
the wasting of time in both executing commands and in oversight offices. This is consistent with the fundamental recommendations of the Packard
Commission and Secretary Robert Gates’s initiative to eliminate inefficiency and waste.” PARCA-RAND Root Cause Analysis of Nunn-McCurdy Breaches
12. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
IT-AAC Biz Case and
Outcomes
How IT-AAC can reduce barriers to innovation and mitigate risks;
Reduce duplicative spending on innovation research and burden on Innovators
Embrace of Open and Agile IT Acquisition frameworks (per DSB report) already proven to meet
challenges of the fast paced IT market (AAM is the only conforming to-date)
Access to evolving commercial innovations, implementation best practices and lessons learned
(CCA), outside the reach of the Defense Industrial Complex
A bottom up view of commercial capabilities that feeds the requirements process, (realm of the
possible) to prevent over specification and costly custom development.
Means of deriving SLAs from both Measures of Effectives and Standards of Practice, critical to
managed services, capability based acquisition and service level management.
Providing PMs and Stake Holders with access to alternative resources, expertise and innovations
14. 14
Backup Slides
in case you are not convinced
"“If confirmed, I would review the implementation of Section 804 and make any necessary recommendations for improvement. …If confirmed, I would work
to identify the root causes of the Department’s software development problems, identify solutions and implement appropriate corrective action.” Honorable
Frank Kendall Senate Confirmation Statement, OSD ATL 2012
15. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
How IT-AAC fills Expertise Gap of
Defense Industrial Base
Partner Type
SDLC
Phase
FFRDC User
Groups,
Communitie
s of
Practice
Standards
development
orgs, trade
associations
Public
Private
Partnerships
(IT-AAC)
Consultants,
IV&V, A&AS
Firms
Innovators,
Tech Mfg,
Open Source
System
Integrators
Requirement,
Gap Analysis
Only when no
other company
can support
(4).
OMB Lines of
Business offers
Critical Role
(6,7)
SDOs = Primary
driver for open
systems. Conflict
free structures
(2,3)
Provide Conflict
free structure
and economies
of scale (2,6)
Limited access
to commercial
innovations, and
Agile Methods.
Great source for
customer use
cases, lessons
learned.
FAR OCI Rules
limit participation
Architecture
and Planning,
Mkt Research
Only when no
other company
can support
(4)
Agency EA’s
lack means of
keeping up w/
fast paced IT
Provide standards
of practice, not
support
Principle source
of expertise
Limited access
to SDOs, best
practices,
lessons learned
FAR OCI rules
limit participation
FAR OCI rules
prohibit direct
support
PMO & IV&V
Support
Only when no
other company
can support
(4)
Not inherently
governmental
Assess to
standards of
practice of
suppliers
Optimized for
this area
Key role FAR OCI rules
prohibit
participation
FAR OCI rules
prohibit
participation
Solution
Engineering,
source
selection
Strong suite if
not also
supporting
above
activities
Not inherently
Governmental
Assess to
potential suppliers
already in market
Support role,
provide process
standards,
lessons learned
Support role Provide
developmental
Primary
partnership area
Solution
development
& integration
Forbidden, (4) Not inherently
Governmental
Potential OCI,
objectivity
Potential OCI,
Lack Resources
& Expertise
Internal IV&V for
Prime contract
reduces risk.
Provider of key
technologies
Primary
partnership area
16. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
How AAM Informs the Acquisition
Ecosystem
Validating requirements, technologies and metrics
Mission
Need:
• MoEs
• Mission
Prioritization
• Constraints
Technology
Fit/Finish:
• Selection
• Certification
• Interop Spec
• Openness
Service
Specification
• Feasibility
• SOA Attributes
• SLAs
• Shared Services
Industry
CxOs
Innovators
Vendors/ISVs
SDOs/Labs/
Universities
Align Proven
Capabilities w/
business needs
Model New
Solution
Solution Architecture
Validation
and Demonstrations
Value
Stream
Analysis
Proven
IT Solutions
Vetted
Solution
Architecture
Knowledge
Exchange
Prioritized Mission
Requirements & Metrics
Y
N
N
Y
Validated Past
Performance
Measurable Outcomes
Business Metrics
Solution Set
Evidenced-Based
Assessment
Normalized
Service
Components
Analysis of
Alternatives
Solution
Exist?
Performance Specs
Risk Metrics and SLAs
COTS Comparative
Analysis, Evidence
Business
Requirements
& Capability
Gaps
Validated Acquisition Strategy, SLAs &
Source Selection Criteria
IT-AAC Communities of Practice
Biz Process
Re-Engineering
InnovationsEvidence
Lessons Learned
Research,
Testing Results
17. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
Case Study: Streamlining the DoD’s IT
Acquisition for Infrastructure
Challenge: Establish OSD BTA’s Agile Acquisition Method for IT Infrastructure
(SOA)
Applied ICH’s Acquisition Assurance Method (AAM) standard
– Developed IT Business Systems lifecycle entry/exit criteria for great transparency
– Established enhanced Clinger Cohen Act process guide for OSD BTA CIO
– Developed Value Chain Capability Assessment Methodology (CAM)
– Established IT Acquisition Advisory Council to overcome cultural impediments.
Outcomes; IT Acquisition Reform we can believe in
– Complemented Business Capability Lifecycle (BCL), providing analytical tools for framing
decisions
– Enabled actionable Clinger Cohen Act compliance that goes beyond check list
– Enabled Component Acquisition Executive with means of judging business value of IT
investments
– Provided OSD BTA with alternative approach to DoD weapons systems style processes
– Used to conduct Pre-milestone B “Hosting” AoA and Business Case Analysis in just 4 months.
Projected Savings = $350M over 5 years.
Office of the Secretary of Defense, DCIO (2001) ”Since the value of the ICH to our programs increases
rapidly through results sharing, we encourage the defense community and IT industry to participate directly
in the public service initiative in terms of sponsorship and lessons learned"
18. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
Challenge: Establish a common and repeatable AF Wide COTS assessment/acquisition process
Case Study:
Streamlining the IT Acquisition process
SAF XC/AQ; AF Solution Assessment Process
(ASAP)
Integrated ICH Architecture Assurance Method into all major AF IT components
– Developed root cause of analysis of current weaknesses and deficiencies
– Identified and integrated both AF and industry best practices into a common framework
– Developed series of templates and input/exist criteria for each stage of the SDLC process
Outcomes: Increased traceability from requirements to acquisition, reducing “thrashing”
– Provided a common, enterprise wide process designed for leveraging COTS
– Augmented architecture process to address legacy and COTS capabilities
– Reduce market research and analysis in a fraction of the cost and time by leveraging existing
expertise and lessons learned of the market
– Provided mechanisms for forcing adoption of 80% solution.
“We have put to practice the AF Solution Assessment Process (ASAP) at the Air Force Communications Agency (AFCA) with some well
documented success. It was developed with Interoperability Clearinghouse (ICH) and provides a structured and measurable IT
assessment process with the agility to provide decision-quality assessments ranging from quick-looks to more in-depth capability-focused
technology assessments and lightweight business case analysis.” General Mike Peterson, AF CIO
19. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
Challenge: Establish a enterprise ship board SOA infrastructure for all
shipboard legacy systems
Validating SOA and Cross Domain
Solutions
Navy PMW 160 Consolidated Afloat Network
Enterprise (CANES)
Establish an actionable solution architecture that leverages SOA & COTS implementation best
practices
– Provide a standardized Solution Assessment Methodology to leverage best practices and mitigate
deployment risk (compliment NESI).
– Establishes a Solution Architecture standard and public/private research partnership that
maximizes use of commercial trends (COTS/Open Source solutions) via an actionable Open
Architecture (OA)
– Enable Capability Based Acquisitions. Reveal Gaps in both requirement and industry offerings
(define realm of the possible).
– Establish SOA performance metrics and SLAs that reflect real world limitations and hold
suppliers accountable.
Outcomes of ICH engagement (reduced requirements over specification by 23%);
– Proved out as a standardized IT Assessment & Solution Architecture process that will mitigate
deployment risk.
– AAM assessment products used:
Capability Determination and Metrics
Service Component Prioritization and Alignment and
Feasibility/Risk Assessment
– Demonstrated the feasibility and viability of using GOTS/COTS/Open Source products within
the CANES Architecture
– Demonstrated a method and a plan to:
Assess SOA Service Components for CANES
Assess migration to Netcentric “need-to-share” systems
Produced a large body of artifacts that are important for the architecture phase
20. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
Challenge: Defense Agile Acquisition Framework & SOA E.H.R. Best Practices Guidance
Established Section 804 Agile Acquisition Framework for E.H.R Way Forward
– Developed source selection criteria for TMA Program Office
– Benchmarked SOA/Cloud Industry Best Practices and Lessons Learned with support from 10 Fortune 100
companies
– Built out a proven Agile Framework fully vetted by BTA (Acquisition Assurance Method)
Outcomes: Established SOA Roadmap that addressed stake holder needs
– Enabled award based on unambiguous design specs
– Augmented architecture process to address legacy and COTS SOA/ESB capabilities
– Was able to cycle through market research and analysis in a fraction of the cost and time of traditional
efforts.
– Ensured viability of Solution Architecture in terms of; meeting HIPPA, security, and interoperability
requirements
Case Study: World Largest Healthcare
Agency
OSD HA’s Government Wide e-Healthcare program
“The ICH repository data and analysis methodologies was very helpful in supporting a quick turn
around for [Information Assurance] section of COTS security products. Highly detailed ICH
technology domain and product evaluation data comprised over 60% of this urgently needed
[architecture] report”. Northrop Grumman on ICH’s support of their successful GCPR Pilot
21. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
Federal IT Reform Directives
critical to Cloud/C2/ISR execution
Clinger Cohen Act recognizes that government must leverage commercial IT:
(1) Streamline the IT Acquisition Process
(2) Change business processes (BPR), not COTS
(3) Favor COTS/OSS over custom development.
(4) Build business case and acquire based objective assessment criteria
(5) Use architecture for investment decisions
(6) Adopt Commercial Standards and Best Practices
OMB 25 Point Plan Requires: “IT Reform efforts must Align the Acquisition Process with the
Technology Cycle”
Point 13. Design and develop a cadre of specialized IT acquisition professionals .
Point 14. Identify IT acquisition best practices and adopt government-wide.
Point 15. Issue contracting guidance and templates to support modular development
Point 16. Reduce barriers to entry for small innovative technology companies”
“Acquisition of ISR systems presents particular challenges to the intelligence community, the Department of Defense (DOD), and Congress.
Agencies responsible for national systems are usually separate from those that design and acquire tactical systems. The costs and complexity
of individual systems, continuing changes in technologies, and the difficulties involved in linking disparate systems together to serve a variety of
consumers require different acquisition approaches than those often used for ships, tanks, and manned aircraft” Congressional Research
Report to congress 12/2011.
22. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
Congressional IT Reform
Directives
derived from IT-AAC Research
2010 NDAA Sec 804: “The Secretary of Defense shall develop and implement a new acquisition process for
information technology systems. The acquisition process developed and implemented pursuant to this
subsection shall, to the extent determined appropriate by the Secretary--
– be designed to include– 1) early and continual involvement of the user; 2) multiple, rapidly executed
increments or releases of capability; 3) early, successive prototyping to support an evolutionary approach;
and 4) a modular, open-systems approach”
2011 NDAA Sec 933: “The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretaries of the military
departments, shall develop a strategy to provide for the rapid acquisition of tools, applications, and other
capabilities for cyber warfare for the United States Cyber Command and the cyber operations components of
the military departments. The Strategy shall include:”
– Basic elements (1) An orderly process for determining and approving operational requirements. (2) A well-
defined, repeatable, transparent, and disciplined process for developing capabilities to meet such
requirements, in accordance with the information technology acquisition process developed pursuant to
section 804 (3) The allocation of facilities and other resources to thoroughly test such capabilities.
– Establish mechanisms to promote information sharing, cooperative agreements, and collaboration with
international, interagency, academic, and industrial partners in the development of cyber warfare
capabilities
2012 NDAA "Migration of Defense data and government-provided services from Department-owned and
operated data centers to cloud computing services generally available within the private sector that provide a
better capability at a lower cost with the same or greater degree of security.",
23. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
2013 Federal IT Acquisition Reform
Act (FITARA) Issa/Lankford
The Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) squarely addresses the dismal record of Federal IT. The purpose of FITARA
is to enhance the best value to the taxpayer by adapting the cumbersome federal acquisition process to major trends currently
occurring in the IT industry.
FITARA begins by increasing the responsibility, accountability and authority of the Chief Information Officer for each of the
major federal agencies by providing them with budget authority over IT programs. In the past, most CIO’s lacked the ability to
manage their agency IT deployments because they lacked any control over the fashion in which IT budgets were spent.
FITARA also reinvigorates the responsibilities of the Chief Information Officer Council within OMB by requiring it to define
common standards and practices for commodity IT resources in partnership with appropriate non-profits and SDOs (IT-AAC)
FITARA goes to the heart of waste and duplication by transforming the fashion in which the government acquires IT resources.
It does so by (i) establishing a Federal Commodity IT Center to serve as a focal point for coordinated acquisition practices and
the creation and management of an optimal mix of government-wide IT contracts; and (ii) designating Assisted Acquisition
Centers of Excellence (AACEs) to design low cost acquisition practices for specialty or complex IT requirements. AACES would
be the “go to” center for federal agencies by offering uniform practices and streamlined contracts.
To ensure these entities remain effective, FITARA requires OMB to establish these centers of excellence in cooperation with
appropriate non-profits. These Centers would serve as a central government resource to develop and implement best
practices and common standards for the acquisition of commodity IT products and services across the federal government. It
also would serve to mitigate the critical shortage of qualified government IT acquisition staff by centralizing the knowledge of
specialists within one Center.
“To decrease risk in source selections, the DoD will follow proven commercial processes, increasing the emphasis placed on past performance and experience on
prior government and commercial efforts in selecting IT providers.” DepSec Bill Lynn on Agency Responsibilities for Section 804 Implementation
24. ICHnet.org Company Confidential
IT-AAC’s GSA Certified Offerings
“the ounce of prevention in these lean times…”
Repeatable, Measurable, Standardized IT/Cloud Frameworks
Requirements: Acquisition Assurance Method (AAM), an IT investment Decision Analytics Framework
Evidenced Based Research (EBR) repurposes existing testing, assessment and implementation results
SOA and Service Level Management Standards that enable Performance Driven Outcomes
Tech Assessment Framework that puts the onus of proof on industry and reduces risk
A virtual Solution Architecture Innovation Lab
Informs AoA, EoV, BCA (ROI) and Risk Assessments at a fraction of the cost and time
Dynamic Access to Applied Standards, Shared Research, and Emerging Tech
An OTA like shared resource where small/innovative companies can prove out their capabilities
A IT Clearinghouse of reusable Architecture Design Patterns with associated Performance Metrics and SLA
Just-In-Time Mentors and SMEs
Certified By GSA as Best Value
Void of any Conflict of Interests
Access to commercial industry leaders, innovators and world class expertise