Few understand the managerial pressures that government executives face quite like Guy Torres. And few know how to overcome them quite like Torres, either. For 26 years, Torres served in the federal government, most notably as a leader within the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection. There, Torres ran what was then the largest IT acquisition portfolio within DHS – about $1 billion a year – to help defend America’s borders.
Through that work, Torres saw first-hand the challenges that many agencies face in trying to meet mission success in an increasingly austere budget environment. It’s a reality that, as Torres sees it, will only continue to grow in difficulty, particularly amid the likelihood of future resolutions and sequestrations. The result will be greater difficulty to contract for IT services to support critical mission needs while keeping pace with technology. This becomes more challenging when it takes 18 to 24 months to procure new IT services. By then, a technology runs the risk of becoming, or already being, obsolete — all of which elevates rapid yet legal contractual decision-making to become paramount.
Leaner Acquisition Strategies
In his experience, Torres has found a solution in promoting leaner acquisition strategies in an agile environment. “Agile is not just a buzzword that we are seeing across the federal government, it is a proven best practice,” says Torres, who recently transitioned to the private sector, where he serves as vice president of strategic initiatives for Salient CRGT.
For Torres, the primary benefit of procuring agile software in today’s austere business environment is a stakeholder’s commitment to making changes up front and early in order to avoid cost and schedule overruns . This business process change also includes a consistent monitoring of a process in real time, versus the tail-end of a project when hundreds of millions of dollars may already have been spent.
“We need to be quicker – and more flexible in our approach to acquiring agile software – not only to keep pace with technology but to stay ahead of the bad guys,” says Torres.
But just how can both government executives, and their industry partners, work to ensure the successful procurement of agile practices? Having worked on both sides of the aisle, Torres offers his insights into ways both parties can and should collaborate while enabling the contracting officer to serve as a trusted advisor throughout the acquisition process.
Benefits of Hybrid Contracting Arrangement
First, it’s essential for procurement leaders to be flexible in how they select contract types, says Torres. While the government tends to procure services and commodities in a firm, fixed-price environment, an uncertain business environment complicates the ability to define new technology needs. Torres advises the use of a hybrid contracting type arrangement, which really is a blend of firm fix-priced defined requirements coupled with time and materials line item contract type; thus, allowing industry flexibility in how they price and meet performance metrics, says Torres.
Actively Leveraging CIO Leadership
Consistent communication with industry and government program managers is key. “We don’t want to wait a year or two of a project being in place, only to realize that it is not going in the right direction – that’s not a wise approach to us being good stewards of the tax payer’s money,” says Torres.
At CBP, Torres worked closely with CIO leadership to build a positive working relationship between the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and the CBP contracts group to rapidly procure IT services in an agile environment.
“Breaking down silos and working across the CIO enterprise by actively engaging the CIO leadership, helping the CIO leadership define their needs, and offering to help instead of saying, “We can’t do that,” allowed me to be looked upon as a trusted advisor as opposed to a roadblock in the supply chain,” says Torres.
Today, Torres fosters communication on the contractor side through leadership participation in Government Technology Services Coalition (GTSC) as the co-chair for GTSC’s Acquisition and Procurement Initiative.
Adjusting to Uncertainty
In the move toward a more agile environment, “We need to realize there is a level of uncertainty that comes with the procurement of agile practices,” says Torres.
In the past, the government tended to have well-defined projects. Part of the current trade-off, says Torres, is understanding there is a level of uncertainty to adapt to. “In addition,” he says, “there will be consistent monitoring of milestones – a cultural shift to verifying while moving forward.”
