Contracting & Outsourcing
Consulting and Training Opportunities Available

“Competitive Sourcing” and “Performance-based Contracting” are emerging as key tools to deliver the best value of performance and cost efficiencies in government. Despite the substantial and documented benefits of both reforms, they also tend to be controversial and difficult to implement in government.

Whether the challenge is converting existing contracts into performance-based vehicles, outsourcing current agency activities through direct conversion or privatization, or holding a public-private competition, the Performance Institute provides a comprehensive suite of services to meet every contracting and sourcing need in government.

1. Performance-Based Contracting (PBC)
Performance-based contracting fundamentally shifts the manner in which an agency procures products and services— placing contractors under clearer and more accountable standards for performance. Using the Logic Model combined with a 7-Step Framework for PBC, PI assists agencies in
developing:
• Statements of Work (SOW)
• Statements of Objective
• Performance Measures for Contracts
• Performance-based Incentives
• Milestone-based Payments
• Contract Performance Monitoring Systems

2. Competitive Sourcing Planning
Competitive sourcing is a methodological process by which agency activities are “studied” for efficiency using a competitive bidding process between the public and private sector. The Institute follows a performance-based model for competitive sourcing consistent with the newly-revised federal OMB Circular A-76 guidance. Through training and consulting services, PI assists agencies with:
• Performance Work Statements (PWS)
• Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans (QASP)
• Linkage to Human Capital Planning
• Cost Estimates (direct and indirect)
• Transition Plans
• Agency Tender/Most Efficient Organization

3. Commercial Activity Inventories
A key step in using competitive sourcing in government is to categorize agency activities as either “inherently governmental” or “commercial” in nature. Using the Federal FAIR Act standards, PI can help agencies take a rational, performance-based approach to activity classification. The result will be an improved categorization of agency staff positions that is accepted by policymakers (OMB) as well as withstand any challenges or appeals by stakeholders.

4. Developing Most Efficient Organizations (MEOs)
Internal business process reengineering and the implementation of best management practices are key ingredients to preparing agency work units to successfully win public-private competitions. PI provides comprehensive training and consulting support to agency MEO teams—assisting them in analyzing workloads, determining FTE needs, implementing industry benchmarks and best practices, and successfully meeting the requirements of the Performance Work Statement through the development of technical performance plans.

5. Direct Conversion and Privatization
Periodically, agencies will determine that a formal publicprivate competition is not warranted and will instead opt for direct conversion outsourcing or wholesale privatization. PI helps agency officials to identify when these two approaches are warranted and how to manage implementation of both.

6. Contract Recovery Auditing
Recent studies have demonstrated that many agency contracting processes are subject to contract payment errors as little as .04% to as great as 2% of every contracted dollar. PI can assist agencies in implementing a contract recovery audit system to collect erroneous payments while complying with privacy and confidentiality requirements for recovered information.

7. DOD 5000 Series
PI provides DOD-specific contracting training designed to provide military offices with detailed understanding of recent changes to the DOD 5000 series—focusing primarily on evolutionary acquisition, spiral development, and other tools to achieve successful DOD acquisitions.