For our defense acquisition workforce members, if you were not yet already aware of it (or if for some reason you did not receive automated notification of the new “single sign-on (SSO)” conversion that began this past weekend), encourage you to check out the new Acquisition Proven Practices and Lessons Learned (Acquisition P²L²) site on the Defense Acquisition Portal (DAP). Resources on this new site are grouped into three primary areas: Better Buying Power, Acquisition Proven Practices & Lessons Learned, and Success Stories, with a variety of sub-topics under each. Specifically they include:

Better Buying Power:

·         Should-Cost -  A repository of best practices and case studies developed IAW 24 April 2013, BBP 2.0 Implementation Memo, supporting "Control Cost Throughout the Product Lifecycle" to “Implement Should-Cost based management.” This site is restricted to DoD AT&L Government only. Other DoD Government personnel, with a need to know, may send an access request to [email protected]

·         Performance Based Logistics - A knowledge repository for Performance Based Logistics (PBL) Results and Successes for DoD, Service, Agency, and industry lessons learned, best practices, successes, examples, initiatives, processes. This site contains PBL Award Winning Programs, Proof Point Initiatives, Lessons Learned and Proven Practices, and Program and Service-specific PBL Initiatives for the benefit of PBL practitioners from all defense acquisition workforce functional communities, including but not limited to life cycle logisticians, product support managers, program managers, and contracting officers.

 Acquisition Proven Practices / Lessons Learned:

·         After Action Reports -  A repository of unclassified After Action Reports from deployed Contingency Contracting Officers. An AAR is a professional discussion of an event, focused on performance standards, that enables soldiers to discover for themselves what happened, why it happened, and how to sustain strengths and improve on weaknesses.

·         Overseas Contingency Operations -   A consolidation of publicly available information, the Overseas Contingency Operations Acquisition History and Lessons Learned CoP is designed as a searchable repository for overseas contingency acquisition, or acquisition related, lessons learned, policies and regulations, and special assessments regarding Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. This site includes reports from GAO, SIGAR, SIGIR, Commission on Wartime Contracting, CRS, news reports, and Legislative reports. This site is restricted to government only due to the consolidated nature of the content.

·         Smart Shutdown Program - This Smart Shutdown site provides for information exchange and peer-to-peer discussions to provide acquisition organizations enterprise best practices to accomplish smart, disciplined, efficient, and effective program terminations. This site provides a forum for identifying goals, processes, shortfalls, issues, best practices, plans, and considerations in all aspects of program termination activities. On an “as requested” basis, this site contains Program Reviews supporting proven practices and lessons learned.

·         Additional Proven Practice / Lesson Learned Websites  - This site provides additional website links to various Proven Practice and Lessons Learned resources segregated by functional area and organization.

Success Stories:

·         Packard Awards - The David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award, recognizes organizations, groups, and teams that have demonstrated exemplary innovation and best practices in acquisition.

We have also added links from a number of appropriate locations in both the Performance Based Logistics (PBL CoP) and the Logistics Community of Practice (LOG CoP).  A few things to note from a life cycle logistics and product support manager perspective: first, the prominent linkage to the extensive repository of materials available from the PBL CoP, including, but by no means limited to, direct linkage to PBL Results & Successes and details about the winners of the Secretary of Defense Performance Based Logistics Awards dating back to the award’s inception in 2005.  Second, the “Should-Cost repository” contains a growing body of examples, best practices and case studies of should-cost successes. 

If you have not already done so, encourage you to take a few minutes to peruse, familiarize yourself with, and bookmark the Acquisition P²L² site, which is also accessible directly from the DAP homepage.