Portfolio Systems Acquisition (PSA)

Abstract

The Department's 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) laid out the need for an institutional reorientation or shift in emphasis from organization-specific to enterprise-wide approaches which meant: (1) horizontal integration within the Department and unity of effort through greater interagency collaboration; (2) engaging in a coordinated and portfolio-based approach to planning, programming, budgeting and execution; and (3) significant reforms at the governance, management and execution levels. The Department’s 2010 QDR report further addressed reforming how we buy, noting that the conventional acquisition process is too long and too cumbersome to fit the needs of the many systems that require continuous changes and upgrades - a challenge that will become only more pressing over time. Better Buying Power (BBP) is the implementation of best practices to strengthen the Defense Department's buying power, improve industry productivity, and provide an affordable, value-added military capability to the Warfighter. Launched in 2010, BBP encompasses a set of fundamental acquisition principles to achieve greater efficiencies through affordability, cost control, elimination of unproductive processes and bureaucracy, and promotion of competition. BBP initiatives also incentivize productivity and innovation in industry and Government, and improve tradecraft in the acquisition of services. The Department will improve how it matches requirements with mature technologies, maintains disciplined systems engineering approaches. To accomplish this direction, there needed to be a focused goal and concerted emphasis on shifting from acquisition of individual systems to portfolio management (or portfolio systems acquisition). This program enables collaborative efforts to implement the QDR direction outlined above and advance BBP initiatives to achieve portfolio systems acquisition goals and to develop and implement acquisition reform initiatives.

Document Details

• Document Type: Project
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2021
• Source ID: 875_0604875D8Z_6_0400_PB_2021

Tags

Readers

• Defense Acquisition Program Management