A reoccurring conversation that I’ve had as an acquisitions professional revolves around the support required for a product, service, or program to be fielded. Whether it’s a misconception or simply an afterthought people assume someone else is working on, there is more to fielding something in the USG than money and a contract. Even within the USG, I had organizations come to me and say, “If we can get $15M, can we get this widget?” The answer almost every time is “there is more to it than that.” Especially when discussing major weapons systems such as aircraft.
Most of this support is for the USG to organize. Perhaps they have other contracts that need to be adjusted to include support for your product or service. Perhaps they need to coordinate with their Cyber team to come up with an ATO plan so that is worked into the contract. Perhaps there is a physical footprint for equipment that the USG will have to expand to house your product (even laptops and iPads need a place to live).
A few examples of support:
- Logistics to move products and supplies
- Network support to include cyber certifications
- Physical space to store property
- Additional training
I’ve written about how additional support usually requires funding. Today I want to focus on the coordination of that support more than the funding of the support. When your USG customer is actively engaged with bringing your product or service into the federal space, there is more to that process than getting funding, coordinating stakeholders, and providing a contract vehicle.
Questions that drive coordination include: Does your product require purchasing additional hardware? Who will purchase that? Where will it be stored? Is there maintenance required? What is the long-term plan for that maintenance?
Why am I mentioning this in a blog post? Because whether you’re trying to transition to a Phase III or working on Congressional inserts, you need to be aware that getting funding is only half the battle. Your product, no matter what it is, is going to be integrated into the bigger DoD and integration requires coordination. More than likely, that is for your USG customer to sort out. But it is crucial that you not lose sight of the fact that you and your contract play a role in a much bigger system.
The best way to support your USG customer is to try your best to think ahead. If you know that you’ll need certain support such as storage or power requirements, make sure you bring that up early. Waiting until after the fact to have that conversation will cause delays or altogether stop your ability to transition to recurring revenue.
Again, most of the coordination will fall on the USG. Even the large defense prime integrators lean significantly on the USG to coordinate integration into their respective program. Be patient and try to think two steps ahead if you can.
Keep Moving Forward,
