THE VIRTUAL CONTRACTING ENTERPRISE Mr. Michael Thompson ACC Business Systems April 10, 2012
AGENDA VCE Overview Modules and Capabilities Background Implementation Strategy Deployment Status AMC and DASA(P) Partnership Dashboard Sample and Reporting Architecture Next Steps Back-up Slides: VCE History and Current Organization VCE Business Case Cost/Benefit Detailed Functional Descriptions of VCE Modules VCE Technical Architecture 2
VCE OVERVIEW The Virtual Contracting Enterprise (VCE) is a set of knowledge-based applications that fill the capability gap between what is found in existing Contract Writing Systems and what is expected holistically of the Army Contracting Mission The VCE modules: Streamline business processes Automate the capture and management of data Provide oversight of contracting activities Ensure the 1102 workforce is properly trained, qualified, and has the necessary tools to succeed in supporting the contracting mission 3
VCE MODULES BI: Business Intelligence Data Warehouse & Reporting Tools Supporting Metrics & Dashboards TDA: Manpower and Strategic Human Capital Tool DCPDS Integrated, PII Certified COR: Contracting Officer Representative COR Nomination and Tracking ASSIST: Army Source Selection Interactive Support Tool CM: Contract Management Tracks contracting milestones PCF: Paperless Contract File Records and Document Management & Workflow RM: Requirements Manager Records & Document Management for Requirements Packages Automated J&A Module PMR: Procurement Management Review Requirements from DASA(P) RA: Reverse Auction ASFI: Army Single Face to Industry Solicitations and secure proposals; includes IDIQ Ordering 4
VCE CAPABILITIES 5
VCE BACKGROUND Gansler commission finds Army contracting lacking in resources, career development, training, information technology, tools, and legislative support to enable contracting effectiveness Guidance from ASA(ALT) and AMC Commanding General in late 2008: Standardize tools and business processes across the enterprise Get control over our data Ensure tools address the needs of the contracting workforce AMC stands up the VCE Project Office as a cadre of contracting professionals to directly manage and sustain the VCE modules The modules directly support the communities existing business processes Facilitates more streamlined approach to training and encourages increased user adoption of tools throughout enterprise 6
VCE IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY The VCE Project Office handles enterprise fielding and training through webinars and workshops Over 13,000 folks trained to date on one or more VCE tools Train-the-Trainer sessions allow individual organizations to conduct tool training at the local level Commander/PARC organizations provide local application administration and support, and serves as first line help desk VCE Project Office provides all technical administration functions and level two help desk support Currently, AMC provides framework for configuration control and change management initiatives between the VCE Project Office and the user community 7
VCE DEPLOYMENT STATUS COMMAND/DRU # Sites COR BI TDA PCF CM ASSIST PMR ACC 110 80% 70% ACC/Centers 46 80% 75% ACC/MICC 42 Planning ACC/ECC 22 45% Planning USACE 60 Sept 2012 Planning Sept 2012 50% TBD TBD TBD PEO STRI 1 TBD TBD TBD TBD INSCOM 2 TBD TBD TBD TBD MEDCOM/HCAA 10 Planning June 2012 TBD MRMC 1 TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD NGB 58 In Progress TBD In Progress TBD TBD TBD TBD DASA(P) 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A = Deployment Complete 8
AMC AND DASA(P) PARTNERSHIP AMC has successfully developed and deployed a set of tools for the contracting workforce by standing up the VCE Project Office The tools are designed with the 1102 in mind which facilitates a rapid user adoption rate within the contracting community Contracting organizations outside of AMC continue to inquire how they can implement the tools within their environment Building on the grass-roots proliferation of VCE across the Army, DASA(P) has begun to officially leverage the VCE tools across the enterprise A formal partnership between the two organizations can: Consolidate the functional proponency of the VCE Modules at the Army level Provide the framework for a scalable service model 9
VCE DASHBOARD 10
NEXT STEPS Continue to deploy the complete set of VCE capabilities to the Army contracting enterprise Establish a VCE rollout plan and communicate to stakeholders Continue to provide VCE development, fielding, training, administration, and end-user support to the existing community Implement a Procurement Governance Structure at DASA(P) Charter a board to address IT portfolio management and configuration control for Army-wide contracting capabilities, including VCE Include provisions for policy governance to ensure tools accurately reflect changing regulations and enforce compliance Formalize a service model for Army contracting applications Establish a long-term VCE support strategy that covers infrastructure, hosting, centralized administration, and help desk management 11
Back-Up Slides
VCE BI ARCHITECTURE 13
VCE - HISTORY Briefed VCE Concept to ASA(ALT) PMILDEP mid FY08 Approved as Army-wide initiative to expand existing tools, Funding promised LTG Thompson wanted Functionals to provide oversight/management DASA PP&R provided $2.15M to expand VCE hardware platform AMC provided maintenance AMC funded FY09 and FY10 VCE team focused attention on ACC sites beginning FY10 One Year (Mar FY09 to Mar FY10) dedicated to ATO and building hardware/network infrastructure 852 funds in FY11 and FY12; VCE in ACC/AMC POM FY13 14
VCE ORGANIZATION 15
VCE COST/BENEFIT Total Development Cost: $5.7M $1.7M on separate individual stand-alone tools $4.0M as VCE integrated and expanded ACC/Army-wide solution Defense Business System Management Committee (DBSMC) approved Development scheduled for completion 2 QTR FY12 No additional required development funds anticipated at this time (May 2011) Annual Maintenance/Sustainment Cost: $5.6+M (FY12 Dollars) Business Case Identified Savings (Cost Avoidance): $289.2M FY12 FY17 (FY11 Dollars) Conservative estimate based on ACC-wide deployment only Most significant cost avoidance: Reduced contract cost through use of VCE tools; minimally greater than $40M annually 16
VCE FUNCTIONALITY BI VCE BI: Business Intelligence Metrics & Dashboards The VCE Business Intelligence set of tools include: Benefits: A robust Business Objects COTS Solution Providing an advanced analytics engine and Ad-Hoc query capability Executive Level Dashboards Providing at-a-glance, real-time metrics Procurement Data Warehouse Leveraging data from Army Contract Writing Systems, other VCE modules, and other DoD/Federal sources to produce a one-stop source for data mining and analytics The VCE BI solution provides a comprehensive reporting environment to track: Army-wide adoption of mandated processes and procedures Workforce metrics; including professional training and experience Workload metrics; at the site, team or individual level 17
VCE FUNCTIONALITY - COR COR: Contracting Officer Representative Nomination/Tracking Tracks and manages COR nominees, existing CORs and COR contract management The module provides: Benefits: An interactive web-based self-nomination and approval workflow process for the management of CORs An integrated document management system where users can upload training certificates, appointment letters, reports, and termination letters An automated e-mail notification system to alert CORs of upcoming due dates and Contracting Officers of pending approvals Addresses one of the critical shortcomings identified in Army Contracting the lack of oversight over service contracts worldwide 18
VCE FUNCTIONALITY - TDA TDA: Manpower and Strategic Human Capital Tool Joint effort between ACC G1 and ACC Contract Operations Group to create a single source for managing the workforce within the Army Contracting Command Benefits: Leveraging this tool to replace the spreadsheet method of managing the faces-to-spaces process while also identifying other critical information about the Procurement Workforce Allows Local sites to manage the workforce at the division and team level The VCE TDA Module currently interfaces with a DCPDS feed to minimize the need to re-key data Future interface underway to pull data from CAPMISS to capture IDP and certification information 19
VCE FUNCTIONALITY - PCF PCF: Paperless Contract Files, Records Mgmt & Workflow Records Management PCF is a complete document management, storage and workflow solution DoD 5015 Records Management Certified: PCF can be the official, legal, electronic file of record Workflow Benefits: Models the existing business process in user-friendly interface Tracks the review and approval cycles of each document Provides the Contracting community with a easy way to achieve paperless goals Leverages existing processes and procedures in order to automate the business of Army Contracting 20
VCE FUNCTIONALITY - RM Requirements Manager: Front End customer tool Extends the PCF capabilities to the Requiring Activity Collects all documents that traditionally comprise the Requirements Package, including the SOW/PWS/SOO, J&A, AP, and CDRLs Helps bridge the gap between Logistics, Finance, and Contracting communities and allows the process to be tracked-cradle to grave Future enhancements target training and education of the Requiring Activity to ensure the package is right the first time Benefits: Use of Adobe Smart Forms and wizard-based data collection techniques Standardizes the Pre-Award phase of the Acquisition process - some Contracting activities have a multitude of customers who submit packages using diverse processes Provides Contracting activities with a better tool to anticipate workload 21
VCE FUNCTIONALITY - CM Contract Management (CM) Module The CM Module provides the necessary oversight over all in-process contractual actions through the use of static and dynamic milestone tracking Structured to meet Ad-Hoc reporting requirements and feeds existing ACC Enterprise Pre-award Dashboard Captures protest receipt and resolution information Benefits: The CM Module allows both the local and the enterprise manager better understand the PALT statistics of an organization The CM Module Provides a web based DCAA Audit request capability for complete visibility of all audit requests, timeframes, and assisting DCAA office 22
VCE FUNCTIONALITY - ASSIST ASSIST: Army Source Selection Interactive Support Tool ASSIST is a secure, web-based source selection data management and workflow tool designed to aid Source Selection Evaluation Boards (SSEBs) in conducting source selections SSEB members access the proposals and related documents, and generate Items for Negotiations and Evaluation Reports ASSIST tracks the workflow and approval of created documents and provides a method to conduct a secure and organized negotiation process with offerors in an online environment Benefits: Current re-design effort of the ASSIST tool is part of a holistic approach to stand up a Source Selection Center of Excellence (CoE) at ACC-NJ 23
VCE FUNCTIONALITY - RA RA: Reverse Auction Module The VCE RA tool provides a secure, anonymous pricing capability based on a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) web application Participants (Industry) compete in a real-time reverse auction process thereby driving down the initial available price offered by the government Easy to use interface for both administrators and industry Currently, the VCE RA tool is being used for Materiel (NSN) buys, while the FedBid service is used for Commercial Items Benefits: Since 2000, averaging over 10-30% savings per acquisition Fully deployed across ACC; FedBid expansion underway 24
VCE TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE 25