RFP Patterns and Techniques for Successful Agile Contracting

December 2, 2016 • Special Report

By

Mary Ann Lapham, Larri Ann Rosser (Raytheon Intelligence Information and Services), Steven Martin (Space and Missile Systems Center), Thomas E. Friend (Agile On Target), Peter Capell, Keith Korzec, Greg Howard (MITRE), Michael Ryan (BTAS), and John H. Norton III (Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems)

This report discusses request-for-proposal patterns and techniques for successfully contracting a federal Agile project.

Publisher

Software Engineering Institute

CMU/SEI Report Number

CMU/SEI-2016-SR-025

Subjects

Acquisition

Abstract

Increasing budget constraints and emphasis on fielding capability faster have led the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and other federal entities to pursue the benefits of Agile software development—reduced cycle times, flexibility to adapt to changing conditions and user needs— that software development practitioners have achieved in the commercial market.

This report is written by the National Defense Industrial Association’s System Engineering Agile Working Group to provide information on request-for-proposal (RFP) patterns and techniques for successful Agile contracting that can and have been used for contracts seeking to employ Agile methods. This report is intended to support the writers of RFPs in bringing Agile concepts into programs at the earliest possible time, providing examples of the kinds of language that will affect the foundations of contracts on which programs rely.

Software Engineering Institute