An Acquisition Process Area at Maturity Level 2

The purpose of Solicitation and Supplier Agreement Development (SSAD) is to prepare a solicitation package, select one or more suppliers to deliver the product or service, and establish and maintain the supplier agreement.

The Solicitation and Supplier Agreement Development process area provides a set of practices that enables the acquirer to initialize and formalize a relationship with the supplier for the successful execution of the project. A supplier agreement is an agreement between the acquirer and supplier. This agreement may be a contract, license, or memorandum of agreement. The acquired product or service is delivered to the acquirer from the supplier according to the supplier agreement.

A supplier agreement created using these practices enables the acquirer to monitor and control supplier activities using other process areas, such as Project Monitoring and Control and Agreement Management.

The practices of this process area apply equally to initial supplier agreements and to subsequent change orders, task orders, or amendments related to those agreements.

The acquirer is responsible for establishing and maintaining ground rules for communicating with the supplier, documenting decisions, and resolving conflict through the life of the agreement. The acquirer facilitates these activities with relevant stakeholders. Roles and responsibilities of relevant stakeholders during the interaction with suppliers are defined, coordinated, and adhered to.

The specific goals and specific practices of this process area build on each other. The Prepare for Solicitation and Supplier Agreement Development specific goal and its associated specific practices identify potential suppliers and develop and distribute the solicitation package, including evaluation criteria and the statement of work. The solicitation package is developed using work products from other process areas (e.g., requirements and design constraints from Acquisition Requirements Development, supplier project and technical measures and objectives from Project Planning and Measurement and Analysis).

The Select Suppliers specific goal and its associated specific practices use work products from the preparation of the solicitation to solicit responses from potential suppliers, evaluate these responses, negotiate with potential suppliers, and select a supplier who can best deliver. Subsequently, the Establish Supplier Agreements specific goal and its associated specific practices are used to establish and maintain the supplier agreement. In turn, data provided by the supplier and documented in the supplier agreement (e.g., cost, schedule, risks) are used by Project Planning practices to update the project plan.

This process area contains many lists of examples to include in work products. As in other process areas, these lists are not all-inclusive and the acquirer should rely on other related lists when building work products. Considerations for supplier agreement content are described throughout the process areas.

Although this process area describes acquisition practices for a project, an acquirer would use the same practices in establishing a supplier agreement for multiple projects. The requirements included in the solicitation package and the supplier agreement would reflect a broader scope, and the evaluation and selection process would require an appropriate level of review before a selection is made.

Refer to the Project Planning process area for more information about planning for solicitation, developing and documenting the project plan for the acquisition, estimating the supplier’s work, and revising the project plan.

Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about specifying project measurement data.

Refer to the Acquisition Requirements Development process area for more information about defining customer and contractual requirements.

Refer to the Requirements Management process area for more information about managing requirements, including changes to requirements and traceability of requirements for products acquired from suppliers.

Refer to the Agreement Management process area for more information about monitoring and analyzing selected supplier activities and processes based on the supplier agreement.

Refer to the Decision Analysis and Resolution process area for more information about formal evaluation methods that can be used to select suppliers.

Specific Goal and Practice Summary

SG 1 Prepare for Solicitation and Supplier Agreement Development

SP 1.1       Identify Potential Suppliers

SP 1.2       Establish a Solicitation Package

SP 1.3       Review the Solicitation Package

SP 1.4       Distribute and Maintain the Solicitation Package

SG 2 Select Suppliers

SP 2.1       Evaluate Proposed Solutions

SP 2.2       Establish Negotiation Plans

SP 2.3       Select Suppliers

SG 3 Establish Supplier Agreements

SP 3.1       Establish an Understanding of the Agreement

SP 3.2       Establish the Supplier Agreement