Had a great question from a member of the workforce this afternoon that provided a ready-made topic for today’s blog post. The question was: “I know the Business Case Analysis (BCA) creation is a team effort, but who is actually responsible for the product support BCA”, or put another way, “who normally gets to be labeled as the "Business Case Analysis Project Officer?”

The answer would at first glance appear to be a relatively easy one to answer, given that many of you are no-doubt already well aware that the answer is that the Product Support Manager (PSM) is responsible for the product support BCA. Extensive information on the PSM and his/her roles, responsibilities, and policies are available on the PSM site on the DAU Logistics Community of Practice (LOG CoP). However, this question reminded me just how much has evolved and transpired in the BCA policy realm in the last few years. To workforce members who may be wondering where to begin, for starters, would highly recommend taking a look at:

·         the latest product support BCA guidance contained in Directive-Type Memorandum (DTM) 10-015, Requirements for Life Cycle Management and Product Support (Change 1), DTD 29 Apr 11, which in fact specifically lists one of the PSM's primary responsibilities to "conduct periodic product support strategy reviews and revalidate the supporting business case analysis prior to each change in the product support strategy or every 5 years, whichever occurs first."

·         Service PSM implementation guidance, including the Air Force Guidance Memorandum (AFGM) to Air Force Instruction (AFI) 63-101, Acquisition and Sustainment Life Cycle Management, DTD 27 Apr 11, as  well as the  US Army Memorandum "Product Support Manager (PSM) Implementation", DTD 5 Nov 10, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Acquisition & Logistics Management) Policy Memo, "Product Support Manager (PSM) Implementation", DTD 18 May 11.

·         the April 2011 DoD BCA Guidebook

·         Chapter 5 of the Defense Acquisition Guidebook (DAG)

And you know what? Every now and again, it is good for each of us as life cycle logisticians and product support managers to go back to basics and think about where we would go to find key information and references if we were asked a similar question by a member of our own teams.