A new Other Transactions (OT) Guide has been issued by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD, A&S). The new guide is a stark departure from the previous OT for Prototype Guide, issued in January 2017, … Continued
“OTAs are used when you’re really experimenting and prototyping… to find out exactly what the art of the possible is.” – Ellen Lord, Under Secretary of Defense AT&L To adequately solve a problem, the problem must be understood. This … Continued
How the opportunity to save Billions of dollars is being squandered As mentioned in Part 3 of this series Congress presented DOD, which handed the task to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), a series of programs and what … Continued
It has been erroneously asserted on occasion that only Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriations are available for execution of projects as other transactions pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 4021 or 4022. The question of whether Operations and Maintenance (O&M) … Continued
“Simply having technology first does not ensure an enduring lead. While the United States was first to develop the airplane, only a year after the Wright Brothers demonstrated flight in Paris, the French ran away with the military application … Continued
written by Richard L. Dunn “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Early on, OT authority and the first agreements were misunderstood; subject to poor reporting that resulted in false assumptions which were then accepted as accurate. … Continued
written by Richard L. Dunn “Costs too much, takes too long” – what is the problem? As pointed out in Part 1, the Federal government does not actually need contracting statutes to enter into and perform contracts. … Continued
The growing volume of misinformation about Other Transactions (OTs) is fed by reporters and commentators who do a poor job; so-called experts of various ilks who pontificate on a subject about which they know only a limited amount; outright … Continued
Spend enough time in federal acquisition and contracting circles you will hear ‘experts’ and apologists of the traditional system bemoan the lack of competition in awarding government contracts. The prevalence of ID/IQ contracts and other transaction consortia structured like multiple … Continued
Lists of the various agencies with Other Transactions (OT) authority have been included in various articles and guides. The number of agencies that have some form of OT authority is much greater than indicated in published lists. Statutory … Continued