Department of the Interior

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Department of the Interior

Acquisition Maturity Assessment

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  • Identified six summary root causes against specific BIA-wide recommendations.Identified six summary root causes against specific BIA-wide recommendations.
  • 80% of BIA acquisition processes required improvement recommendations80% of BIA acquisition processes required near/medium/long-term improvement recommendations
  • Streamlined purchasing thresholds from seven down to three.Streamlined purchasing thresholds from seven down to three.

Challenge

The Office of the Chief Information Officer has identified process and operational problems within the acquisition process and identified a need to better understand their current acquisition landscape and assess their maturity against common industry frameworks. To address these concerns, the BIA engaged Octo Consulting Group to provide domain expertise and help them understand the near-term and long-term goals and strategies necessary to streamline their acquisition processes and institutionalize them through the Bureau.

Approach

Octo took a comprehensive approach to soliciting feedback - which included feedback from 49 stakeholders through an online maturity assessment.  Octo conducted a first round of in-person interviews with all identified business and technical stakeholders, and a second round of in-person interviews with select individuals to discuss the root causes of identified issues.

Solutions

  • Collaborated with key stakeholders to develop a methodology for documenting the "As-Is" requisition process.
  • Developed a detailed methodology for conducting an initial assessment to define the BIA's acquisition process maturity and landscape.
Key focus areas included:
  • Organizational readiness
  • Acquisition process maturity review
  • Tool assessment
  • Contract management maturity
  • High-level contract spend

Results

  • Documented the "As-Is" requisition process, defining the roles and responsibilities, key outputs from each process step as well as targeted areas that should be leveraged within the "To-Be" process
  • 81 categorized findings and 54 prioritized recommendations
  • Gauged the maturity of the BIA acquisition landscape, identify near-term and long-term strategic milestones as well as an action plan for achieving these milestones
  • Introduced performance-based contracting practices and principles within the BIA