Competitive sourcing guide released

Competitive Sourcing Best Practices (Update to FAC Manager's Guide)

The Federal Acquisition Council and the Office of Management and Budget have published a list of best practices to help agencies in their competitive sourcing efforts.

The guide, included in an update to the Manager's Guide to Competitive Sourcing, is based on interviews with agencies that have made progress in using public/private competition, OMB officials said.

"The best practices guide will help managers and employees learn from other agencies' competitive sourcing experiences, and will help us utilize competitive sourcing practices in a most reasoned and responsible manner," said OMB's deputy director for management, Clay Johnson, in a statement.

Best practices include:

* Cultivating a long-term outlook among employees and building an effective foundation for competitive sourcing decisions and processes.

* Centralizing management and decentralizing execution while also ensuring there is support and oversight from senior officials.

* Taking advantage of management tools, such as an internal score card and a close coordination with the workforce initiative.

* Grouping competitions by function or geographic location to allow for the right size and potentially more attractive competitions.

* Using proactive and strategic thinking in the pre-planning stages of feasibility studies and business case analysis.

* Seeking additional guidance from support contractors.

Competitive sourcing is one of the five initiatives in the President's Management Agenda. The guide was initially published in October 2003 and outlined the May 2003 revisions to OMB's Circular A-76. The best practices included in the updated guide have emerged during the past two and a half years, according to the guide. Officials plan to make additional updates in the future.