The
National Security Agency recognizes and understands the
importance of industry alliances to achieve its goals and
objectives. NSA created an Acquisition Organization - an
organization focused on working closely with U.S. industry
to help integrate technology forecasts and assess the rate
of market implementation. NSA continues to broaden collabrative
partnerships with industry and academia to maximize the
return from technology efforts. These partnerships enable
NSA to stay on the cutting edge of technology while allowing
us to focus our attention on our two core missions: Foreign
Signals Intelligence and Information Assurance.
As NSA continues on its path to transform the U.S. Cryptologic System, the Acquisition Organization must continuously modernize and improve the acquisition process by implementing best business practices to satisfy mission needs. The velocity of changes in technologies, along with an ever-increasing variety of communications, challenges our ability to develop and deploy systems that meet operational requirements. To meet these challenges head-on, we are assessing and re-engineering our current acquisition policies, procedures, and practices to eliminate inconsistencies, redundancies, and steps that add no value. We are institutionalizing innovation, automation, planning, and risk management to acquire products and services better, faster, smarter, and at lower cost. Tools and methodologies are being provided that enable good program management, execution, and reporting. The Acquisition Organization is expanding and maintaining a robust industrial base to deliver solutions employing the latest technology.
In the past, the majority of NSA’s acquisition needs were based on government developments. Today the Agency relies more and more on the commercial marketplace for its solutions. Whereas in the past we would start with a defined set of business processes and build a solution to fit the processes primarily using custom-developed components, today we start with a set of commercial products whose characteristics are already defined and we adapt the business processes to work within the already established performance characteristics. In today’s environment, our ability to deliver satisfactory solutions is highly dependent on our access to the technologies and products available or under development in the commercial sector. Our ability to exchange information with industry from the earliest identification of a requirement through the receipt of proposals is key to the success of the Acquisition Organization.