Insourcing and Outsourcing for U.S. Department of Defense IT Projects: A Model

Abstract

A vigorous public debate is occurring over the definition of "inherently governmental" and whether it is more effective and efficient for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to outsource Information Technology (IT) efforts to contracting organizations or insource work into the DoD civilian workforce, i.e., perform these efforts in-house. Questions often arise over how the DoD can best provide an environment that fosters innovation and maintain a healthy Defense Industrial Base (DIB), ensuring force readiness and a competitive U.S. position in the global marketplace, from both a military/defense standpoint as well as an economic one. Too often today, the DoD is insourcing work without enough forethought and planning, and as an unintended consequence, the United States could suffer from poorer global economic positioning or reduced force readiness. This paper provides an introduction to the insourcing and outsourcing dilemma in today's fiscally challenged environment. It discusses past mistakes and lessons learned, the history of contracting within DoD, best practices for outsourcing, and the misconceptions in cost comparisons between insourcing and outsourcing. It then presents a model for determining when to insource and when to outsource based on the type of technology being implemented, its maturity, and the stage in the development life cycle that the effort covers. This model can be used by DoD to assist in deciding which roles are most effectively outsourced over the life cycle of an IT program and which roles are better kept in-house. Using this model can potentially lead to improved decision making, helping the government identify where to allocate its constrained budget to return the best value for both U.S. taxpayers and soldiers.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA549027

Entities

People

  • Karla Marquis

Organizations

  • Computer Sciences Corporation

Tags

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  • Cyber
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

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  • Best Practices
  • Business Administration
  • Commerce
  • Defense Systems
  • Employment
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Knowledge Management
  • Lessons Learned
  • Management Personnel
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Procurement
  • Security
  • Systems Engineering
  • Systems Management

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  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
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