Sometimes you need to look back and reflect on where you have been for inspiration to move forward and grow in the future…
While it may seem like just any other day here at the Technology Acquisition Center (TAC), a group of us (Contracting, Engineers, end users, and legal) working in the innovation lab on the best acquisition strategy to contract for a new widget for Veterans, I remember when we were first stood up a little over 15 years ago in March 2009. Many of us came from the Army out of Fort Monmouth. Two very different worlds – one very structured with processes and procedures, procuring weapon systems to support the Warfighter, and the other buying Information Technology (IT) goods and services to support our Nation’s Veterans without a solid path to follow. I was a GS-12 learning how to execute Interagency Agreements under the Economy Act so that other federal agencies could assist with awarding contracts for development and hosting of VA applications on the cloud at Terremark. Now I am a Contracting Officer (CO) and my colleagues and I are at the forefront of innovative acquisition, supporting VA’s mission and ultimately our Nation’s Veterans and their families in this super-fast digital world.
TAC has helped pave the way for VA to get out of its own “VA Way”. It started when we were stood up in 2009, TAC took the initiative to make sense of all the VA policies and procedures so that all 1102s (and non-1102s) working at the TAC could ensure compliance and put good IT contracts in place. Throughout the years we worked with the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) on changing the Performance Work Statements and resultant contracts from waterfall to agile development and to ensure maximum security. For example, TAC executed a contract in 2018 for VA’s Enterprise Cloud and all legacy systems/applications were migrated to it and all new systems/applications deployed in it over the last 5-6 years, no longer needing Interagency Agreements to do the work. Then in 2019, TAC took another big step in the right direction – getting almost all our 1102s certified in digital services through DITAP (FAC-C-DS), including myself. This was a tipping point from doing good IT contracting to doing great IT contracting! We have been working with our customers (OIT, VBA, VHA, NCA, as well as outside agencies) for the past five years on perfecting innovative market research techniques and evaluation processes to implement the “Show, Don’t Tell” digital services mentality, which has allowed for a high level of confidence in VA that the products we put into the hands of the end users are not only functional and secure, but user-friendly.
It’s 2024, my agency has been spearheading innovative concepts in acquisition for the past 5 years to get to this point, where now we can proudly announce that TAC is recognized as an innovative leader in digital services throughout the public and private industry! It’s been a tough road, lots of people said it couldn’t be done, but we have cracked the code on decreasing Procurement Acquisition Lead Time (PALT) and increasing customer satisfaction through innovation. Through much collaboration with the United States Digital Services team, our business owners, and end users – VA now has significantly faster, more secure systems in place to get Veterans the benefits and services they deserve. The backlog on Veterans’ claims no longer exists, scheduling for a doctor appointment is quick and seamless, and Veterans love the personal attention and experience they receive at each VA medical center from check-in to check-out…nationwide!
I would say the future looks bright for the TAC, and VA as a whole, and I am proud to be a part of it. As a CO and a FAC-C-DS certified acquisition professional, I have always and will continue to use my knowledge, skills and abilities to continue to advance the goods and services TAC procures for our Veterans and make sure the TAC stays “innovative” and “best in class” in the acquisition community. I vow to keep an open-mind and a willingness to try new things for the betterment of my craft, as the world and technology in it is always changing and if we don’t change and grow with it – we will be left behind.
Digital IT Acquisition Professional (DITAP) Program Blog 