Acquisition Activities

Manage the acquisition of custom or commercially available products or services that assist with the deployment.

Introduction Activities Roles and Responsibilities Artifacts Additional Resources

- IT Products and Data - Contracting Strategy Document - Project or Product Requirements - Contractor Management Plan - Contractor Status Reports Perform Make or Buy Analysis Solicit and Select Supplier Agree to Terms Manage the Relationship Accept the Product or Service Prepare for the Transition - IT Products and    Data - Contracting    Strategy Document - Contractor   Management Plan - Contractor   Procurement   Documentation - Status - Acquisition Team - Supplier - Support    Organization - User    Representatives - IT Decision    Makers - Other Key    Stakeholders

Introduction

These acquisition activities can be performed within the context of each deployment project, or as a single project providing acquisition services to many other projects. These activities establish and manage a formal agreement to obtain IT products (and services) from suppliers external to the HS Agency. These products or services will be used by the deployment projects (i.e., the customer). Although any type of technology element can be obtained, these activities generally address deployment services, such as qualified individuals to support the Pilot Team. See the acquisition activities performed on the technology fabrication projects for additional information.

TANF Example: The development and implementation lifecycle for TANF applications and systems may be long. Significant schedule delays could affect a procurement. The original detailed purchasing requirements for specific versions of software, hardware, or services may no longer be applicable, at the time the purchase should occur. The items to be purchased may no longer be available or supported by the vendors. For a long procurement cycle, newer and more cost effective alternatives may become available. The procurement process must therefore be flexible to allow for these changes. Technical requirements for the procurement should be derived from vendor and product neutral specifications. These should be derived from the Agency Technical Architecture and TANF system design documents. If vendor products change then new products can be reevaluated against the requirements and substituted if compliant and cost effective. Since State TANF eligibility systems may interface with other Human Service activities, a joint approach to procurement practices must be coordinated. Other HS programs may have additional constraints, such as following the Advance Planning Document (APD) process from the Federal Program Office. These constraints would have to be accommodated in planning and executing the procurement.

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Activities

The basic fabrication acquisition activities also apply to deployment projects. You may refer to those activities for additional detail. Actions applicable to deployment projects are described below:

• Perform Make or Buy Analysis. The Acquisition Team should participate in decisions to purchase tools, equipment, or services needed to deploy or pilot released IT products. This includes setting up a Pilot Team. The deployment project may augment the Pilot Team with contractor personnel.
• Solicit and Select a Supplier. The Acquisition Team should participate in selecting the best candidates to support a deployment, based on state regulations and competitive considerations for overall best value. To reduce deployment risks, the supplier of any purchased products or developed systems may be available to aid in its deployment.
• Agree to Terms. The Acquisition Team will consider the best terms and conditions necessary to provide the expected level of support for deploying the IT products or systems (e.g., maximum time to respond to user problems, 24-7 response coverage). The appropriate type of contract should be determined based on the acquisition risks (e.g., firm fixed price, task order, cost plus).
• Manage the Relationship. The Acquisition Team should actively manage any service-based agreements. This may include oversight of contracted staff providing support as part of an integrated deployment or Pilot Team.
• Accept the Product or Service. The Acquisition Team should formally review and accept delivery of deployment products and services (e.g., ensuring that contracted individuals on the Pilot Team have prerequisite skills and knowledge).
• Prepare for Transition. The Acquisition Team should coordinate with the deployment project when they initially use the acquired products or services (e.g., noting that the delivered products continue to work as expected, or the level of service provided by the contractors is adequate).

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Roles and Responsibilities

The key roles and their responsibilities are as follows:

• Acquisition Team. The Contracting Officer and the Project Officer have primary responsibility for the acquisition activities.
• Suppliers. These individuals, from outside the HS Agency, provide the IT products and data. They may include contractors, vendors, or other State Agencies or organizations, as necessary. The supplier of deployment products and services may have provided the IT product that is being deployed to the operational environment.
• Support Organizations. These individuals provide oversight of the processes used by the supplier and manage the configuration and quality of the delivered products.
• User Representatives. Individuals that are part of the deployment projects, such as the IT staff or Pilot Team, are the primary recipient of the acquired products and services. User representatives provide deployment needs to the Acquisition Team (staffing skills).
• IT Decision Makers. These individuals have authority to select and enter into agreements with the suppliers. They may include members of the IT Evolution Management Team, the HS IT Division, or other executives ( CIO).
• Other Key Stakeholders. These individuals support the acquisition activities by providing subject matter expertise, as needed. They may include IT staff, Technical Architecture Team members, and IT project staff, among others.

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Artifacts

The following information is used or produced by these activities. Templates, examples, and checklists for identifying and documenting these items are available through the Additional Resources section at the end of this page.

• IT Products and Data. This is the main result of these activities. Products are received from the suppliers and placed under CM.
• Contracting Strategy Document. This document is prepared as the result of a make or buy analysis and used to guide the solicitation, selection, and management of the suppliers. The document may have been prepared for a fabrication project, in which case it will be updated.
• Project or Product Requirements. These are allocated to the acquisition tasks to guide the technical and nontechnical criteria for the acquired products or services. These requirements are communicated in the Deployment Project Plan. This includes the appropriate parts of the A-TARS.
• Contract Management Plan. This document is produced and used to manage the supplier relationship. This document may have been prepared for a fabrication project, in which case it will be updated.
• Contractor and Procurement Documentation. This represents the supplier agreements and obligations specific to the deployment project.
• Contractor Status Reports. The supplier furnishes this information, checking progress and issues against the supplier's plans.
• Status. Status is checked against the Contract Management Plan, and any supplier issues are analyzed, consolidated, and forwarded to the project management activities for review.

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Additional Resources

Resources applicable to this activity are cataloged below. Some items from the fabrication project acquisition resources also may be used to perform the deployment project acquisition activities. Lists of all available resources may be found in the Resources portion of the IT Planning and Management Guides.

Checklist: Deployment
A tailorable checklist to use for identifying items that may affect the deployment. 04-16-02

Template: Contracting Scorecard
Describes background of the contracting scorecard approach and identifies a tailorable list of common factors applied to the contracting scorecard. 02-01-02

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