The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report of potential interest to the Defense Acquisition Workforce earlier today entitled “Weapon System Acquisitions: Opportunities Exist to Improve the Department of Defense's Portfolio Management (GAO-15-466)."

According to the GAO, “the Department of Defense (DOD) is not effectively using portfolio management to optimize its weapon system investments, as evidenced by affordability challenges in areas such as shipbuilding and potential duplication among some of its programs. Best practices recommend assessing investments collectively from an enterprise-wide perspective and integrating requirements, acquisition, and budget information, but several factors inhibit DOD's ability to do so” In its report, GAO went on to recommend “that DOD update its portfolio management policy, designate a senior official responsible for its implementation; conduct annual portfolio reviews that integrate key information from the requirements, acquisition, and budget processes; and invest in analytical tools to support its portfolio management efforts.”