AFCEA Hosts 21st IT Leadership Roundtable in partnership with the IT-AAC. On November 5th, from 1400-1700 AFCEA President Kent Schneider will open Round Table discussions on IT Innovation Enablement. Other confirmed thought leaders include; DHS CIO Richard Spires, DTIC Director Raleigh Durham, IT-AAC Vice Chair Dr. Marv Langston, OSD ATL Jaymie Durnan, Director Assessments OSD CAPE Dr. Scott Comes, DTIC Karen Burrows & Chris Thomas, NGC David Drapkin, ICH John Weiler to name a few. Results will be integrated into the Roadmap for Sustainable IT Acquisition Reform, posted at www.IT-AAC.org.
INSA Hosted IT-AAC’s 20th IT Acquisition Leadership Roundtable for the IT Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-ACC) On Thursday October 7, INSA co-hosted the 20th IT Acquisition Leadership Roundtable for the IT Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-ACC). The discussion focused on important measures of IT acquisition reform that could be helpful to the Department of Defense. Their main objective was to “provide the Deputy Secretary of Defense with an alternative set of resources to guide the establishment of a ‘best practices’ IT Acquisition Process and Governance Structure.”
Approximately 50 senior acquisition experts engaged in the discussion representing most of the services and key industry groups. IT-AAC Chairman (former Secretary of the Air Force) Mike Wynne chaired the session. Following a status update of IT-AAC’s IT Acquisition Reform Roadmap by Honorable Wynne and Vice Chair John Weiler, a series of discussions commenced lead by industry leaders and senior government officials representing the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Department of Army, US AF, Defense Business Board, NSA, Interop. Clearinghouse, Center for American Progress, UofTN, Northrop Grumman, and many more representing the private and public sectors. Among those participating were INSA President Ellen McCarthy and the Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) Task Force Chairman Rich Haver, who spoke about INSA’s work on OCI and the implications it has for IT acquisition. For more information visit www.INSAonline.org
Center for American Progress Hosts 19th IT Leadership Roundtable. CAP and IT-AAC partner to advance the June 28th, the White House’s Director of Management and Budget, directing agency heads to Reform how they manage the acquisition of IT programs and calling for a Root Cause Analysis of IT failures. Over 65 leaders joined this robust workshop. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m_10-25.pdf In support of this initiative, the IT-AAC in partnership with the Center for American Progress, dedicated its August Leadership forum to advancing OMB’s objectives
DISA Taps IT-AAC and ICH for GSM Readiness Assessment: DISA CAE, taps IT-AAC partnership for comprehensive review of DISA’s largest acquisition worth $7Billion to better align with Dr. Carter’s efficiency initiatives. Results of effort offer specific improvements development of Performance Metrics and Service Level Agreements thanks to the combined efforts of PRTM, Octo Consulting, Censeo Consulting and ICH.
PBS FRONTLINE Prepares November Special on National Security Impact arising from Failed IT: PBS partnered with IT-AAC, and will be airing a Frontline Special in November (Jim Gilmore) National Security Impact of Failed IT Acquisitions. This special will outline root cause failures in national security systems. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/
Innovation in Acquisition: The IT-AAC has identified a missing piece of the IT Acquisition Lifecycle called Decision Analytics, a key area of focus of NASCIO. ICH’s Acquisition Assurance Method (AAM), provides a services oriented decision support tool for IT Acquisitions, providing a measurable, repeatable and measurable framework for decision analytics. Agencies seeking to conform to OMB A119 and integrate their “stove pipes of excellence” can do so via a series of FFP offerings on GSA Schedule or the ARL Scientific Service Contract hosted by Battelle. Predictable Outcomes include;
· Address the leading root causes of IT program failure and cost over runs.
· Reduce Requirements over Specification (exposing the Realm of the Possible early in planning.)
· Improve Alignment of the Solution Architecture with the Acquisition Strategy and Execution, by providing traceability, transparency and accountability.
· Improve the speed of capability assessment, while assuring relative Business Value of COTS, GOTS and Open Source,
· Incorporate Value Stream Analysis, and LEAN-6-Sigma, referencing industry standards of practice relating to SOA, and ITIL.
· Assist agencies in compliance with OMB A119, NTTAA, CCA, and OMB A130.
· Reduce Requirements over Specification (exposing the Realm of the Possible early in planning.)
· Improve Alignment of the Solution Architecture with the Acquisition Strategy and Execution, by providing traceability, transparency and accountability.
· Improve the speed of capability assessment, while assuring relative Business Value of COTS, GOTS and Open Source,
· Incorporate Value Stream Analysis, and LEAN-6-Sigma, referencing industry standards of practice relating to SOA, and ITIL.
· Assist agencies in compliance with OMB A119, NTTAA, CCA, and OMB A130.
Agile Development Best Practice: IT-AAC has identified both DISA FORGE and US TRANSCOM as a best practices in Defense. Recent audits of implementation successes demonstrate that current acquisition laws work fine if complemented by an agile development process supported with an experience leadership. http://www.it-aac.org/images/CSV_for_IT_AAC.pdf
2010 Congressional Leadership in Action Spotlight: The House Armed Service Committee, Panel on Acquisition Reform, released its findings on March 23rd, http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/DARFINALREPORT/DARFINALREPORT032310.pdf.
This report outlines some disturbing statistics on Defense IT Acquisition effectiveness;
1. Only 16% of IT projects are completed on time and on budget.
2. 31% are cancelled before completion.
3. The remaining 53% are late and over budget, with typical cost growth exceeding original budget more than 89%.
4. Of the IT projects that are completed, the final product contains only 61% of the originally specified features.
2. 31% are cancelled before completion.
3. The remaining 53% are late and over budget, with typical cost growth exceeding original budget more than 89%.
4. Of the IT projects that are completed, the final product contains only 61% of the originally specified features.