Acquisitions Planning: Opportunities to Build Strong Foundations for Better Services Contracts

Abstract

Civilian agencies obligated over $135 billion in fiscal year 2010 for services - 80 percent of total civilian spending on contracts. Services acquisitions have suffered from inadequate planning, which can put budget, schedule, and quality at risk. GAO was asked to examine how civilian agencies conduct acquisition planning for services contracts and assessed (1) the extent to which agencies have developed policies and procedures for acquisition planning, (2) how agencies have carried out acquisition planning, and (3) the extent to which agencies' guidance identifies when to begin and how long acquisition planning should take. GAO reviewed acquisition planning at the four civilian agencies with the most spending on professional, administrative, and management support services. GAO also reviewed Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provisions; agency regulations and guidance; and 24 selected contracts; and interviewed agency officials.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 09, 2011
Accession Number
AD1172536

Entities

People

  • Alexandra D. Silva
  • Alyssa Weir
  • Amy M. Lowe
  • Ann M. Udale
  • Anne Mcdonough-hughes
  • Guisseli Reyes-turnell
  • John P. Hutton
  • Julia Kennon
  • Kenneth Patton
  • Meghan Hardy
  • Morgan D. Ramaker
  • Penny Berrier
  • Ramzi Nemo
  • Roxanna Sun

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accountability
  • Acquisition
  • Business Administration
  • Commerce
  • Congress
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Cost Estimates
  • Costs
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Disasters
  • Electronic Mail
  • Emergency Response
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Homeland Security
  • Humanitarian Assistance
  • Law
  • Lessons Learned
  • Management Personnel
  • National Governments
  • Procurement
  • Standards
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Government Contracting/Procurement.