As a former contracting officer, and leader of many procurements, this particular acronym has left me traumatized on numerous occasions. Although it is intended to be a measurement of how long it takes to get a requirement on contract, either through sole source negotiation or through competitive procedures, there are several milestones that go into developing the overall timeline. Each step along the way is fraught with indecision, various approvals, changes to requirements and ultimately…an opportunity to miss the target and show up on leadership’s “bad boy” list as a result. The one thing I noticed throughout my contracting officer career with regard to PALT is that there has never been a consistent way to measure it…sometimes even within the same organization.
The Department of Defense (DoD) apparently has recognized this as an issue broadly affecting the Department. In the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2018 (Pub. L. 115-91) Congress mandated that DoD develop a definition to the term “Procurement Administrative Lead Time” and open the definition up for public comment. The latter part of this mandate is being satisfied through a Federal Register notice issued on February 8, 2018 (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/02/09/2018-02599/opportunity-for-public-comment-on-proposed-definition-of-procurement-administrative-lead-time-or).
So what? Why is this a big deal and why should a contractor operating in the Federal marketplace care? Mostly because this definition will drive metrics that measure how efficiently the DoD manages its procurements. The proposed definition is as follows:
“the time between the date on which the initial solicitation for a contract or task order of the Department of Defense is issued and the date of the award of the contract or task order.”
I suspect that this definition was derived because this is the period of time where variables are best able to be controlled, to some degree. Also, it is a chunk of time that doesn’t represent the predominance of time spent doing a procurement; which will help the DoD save a little face as they begin to publish results of the metrics. The bulk of time spent on a procurement will not be captured by this definition. Savvy vendors know that there is a tremendous amount of time spent working a requirement before a solicitation is issued.
The lead up to the issuance of a solicitation is chalk full of all sorts of decision making with a ton room for variation and alteration to the schedule. The point in which a solicitation hits Federal Business Opportunities (www.fbo.gov) the path forward is far more predictable and manageable. Of course the timeline for award once a solicitation is posted is of particular interest to those contractors who intend to propose, however, the timeline leading up to the solicitation can be quite lengthy, but is vitally important to vendors when deciding whether or not to propose in the first place.
Things vendors typically see are sources sought notices and various requests for information. These market research tools are typically used when developing the acquisition strategy and can come at different points in the process. For a vendor who is wanting to figure out the timing of an upcoming solicitation, the recommended PALT definition will offer no help. If you are a vendor who pays close attention to requirements as you see them come out during the market research phase, it may behoove of you to provide comments in response to this Federal Register notice letting DoD know you are interested in metrics for the period of time leading up to the release of a solicitation also.