Highlights from the NDIA IPMD 2020 Winter Meeting

The NDIA Integrated Program Management Division (IPMD) winter meeting was recently held on January 29th and 30th. L3Harris was gracious enough to host again this year at their gorgeous High-Tech Center in Palm Bay, Florida. This meeting had a packed agenda, great turnout, and a lot of information was presented.

Presentations are now available on the NDIA IPMD web page. Here are just some of the highlights I would like to share.

DCMA Major Program Support

Mr. Eric Palmer, Director, Major Program Support Division, Portfolio Management & Business Integration, Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)

Mr. Palmer presented on DCMA’s monthly Program Assessment Report (PAR), which is used to report program data for ACAT I, MDAPS + and other high-priority programs. The PAR repository is a SharePoint based system within DoD’s Acquisition Information Repository (AIR). Some of the ways in which the information is used includes:

• EVM is used monthly to evaluate the quality of the IPMR to ensure data is acceptable for EVM
  analysis, review tripped indicators, issue CARs for contractual noncompliance of missing/late
  EVM CDRL deliverables or incorrect CDRL data, apply contractual thresholds for VARs, identify WBS elements that significantly contribute to overall contract variances.
• EVM is used quarterly to develop EACdcma (bottoms up EAC at the WBS level rolled up to contract level). At the contract level, evaluate MR consumption and apply projected MR usage. Also, evaluate EAC realism and develop the ECDdcma quarterly.

EVMS Scalability Guide Update

The EVMS Scalability Guide, originally developed by the Civilian Agency Industry Working Group (CAIWG), has been refreshed. Version 2 was voted on and passed by the full IPMD. Changes from the original are relatively minor. You can find the new version here.

Department of Energy Update

Mr. Mel Frank, Project Controls Division, Office of Project Management, Department of Energy (DOE)

Mr. Frank provided an update on the Arizona State University study, sponsored by DOE, to assess the maturity of EVMS implementations and its impact on program cost and schedule. The team has developed an EVMS Maturity and Environment Total Rating (METR) scorecard that will be released to the public. It should provide a valuable tool in helping organizations assess their EVMS implementations.

Did you know that the Department of Energy has published freely available EVMS training? Called EVMS Training Snippets, these courses, which are between 10 and 30 minutes a piece, provide topical information related to EVMS and DOE validation. You aren’t going to learn the fundamentals of EVM from these training courses, but if you are an existing practitioner looking for more specific information on DOE validation and reporting expectations, these are a great resource.

US Space Force, Space and Missile Command (SMC)

Ms. Racquel Tacda, Branch Chief, Cost & EVM, Space & Missile Systems Center and Mr. Albert Shvartsman, SMC Chief, EVM, Space & Missile Systems Center

We’ve all been reading about the Space Force in the news recently, so it was exciting to learn what the plans for acquisitions and application of EVM this new command has in store. Not surprisingly, they will be focusing on Mid-Tier Acquisitions (MTAs) for rapid prototyping and, along with that, looking to streamline as much as possible. Some information presented on these MTAs:

• MTAs include rapid prototyping and rapid fielding
• MTAs are not dollar value threshold limited, not classified as MDAPs, not overseen by JCIDS and not governed by DoDI 5000.01 and DoDI 5000.02. They are governed by DoDI 5000.90, which allows for tailoring.
• SMC has developed a streamlined approach to bring EVMS for efficient management in a rapid acquisition environment because using EVM as a proactive tool is key for better management processes

SMC has obtained a DFARS Class Deviation for Earned Value and in place of the standard DFAR clause, the Statement of Work will contain language requiring:

• The contract(s) to have an EVMS that complies with EIA-748
  • Using contractor’s own internal surveillance for validation
  • Scalable EVMS requirements
  • PMB assessment (instead of IBR)
• Tailored IPMR CDRLs
  • Performance at Control Account (CA) level
  • Format 5 will be a one-page contract summary
• Subcontractor reporting is required if > $100M

EIA 748 E Updates

Mr. Shane Olsen, Manager, NGAS Sector Program Control, Northup Grumman Corporation and Mr. Randy Steeno, BDS EVMS Policy, The Boeing Company

Perhaps the most exciting (for me) part of the meeting was seeing the first draft of the new EIA 748 E guidelines. I’ve written more details about this here. This will be the first major re-write of the guidelines since the original Cost Schedule/Control System Criteria (CS/CSC) was adapted into the EIA-748 guidelines in 1998. From what we can see now in this early draft, the guidelines have been condensed from 32 to 28, and have been improved for clarity. We still have a lot of time for industry and government input, so things can change quite a bit from this early draft, but what I saw looked promising.

AAP Update

Mr. John McGregor, Deputy Director for EVM, Acquisition Analytics and Policy

The last presentation of the second day was an update from the DoD Office of Acquisition, Analytics and Policy (AAP). Mr. McGregor gave an update on the new IPMDAR, which we should expect to start showing up on new contracts later this year.

He also addressed something that many of us have been thinking about since DoD implemented their new acquisition pathways. What does this mean for EVM going forward? According to Mr. McGregor:

"The structure of the 5000 series has changed. There are different pathways of acquisition that fall under each other. Within each is regulatory and statutory requirements. The myth that you don’t have to do EV anymore is wrong. Nothing has changed with acquisition pathways. Things like the 5000.02 Tables 8 and 9 applies, DFARS applies, etc. Cost, schedule, and technical accomplishments must be still be managed. You are still going to provide artifacts on systems you are running to provide for transparency and execution."

Are you interested in attending the next NDIA IPMD Meeting? The 2020 Spring NDIA IPMD meeting will be held on April 28-29, 2020 at the Westin Tysons Corner in Falls Church, VA. Visit https://NDIA.org/SpringIPM for more information.