Manage Suppliers

(Activity) for Tier: Governance

PURPOSE

This activity provides guidance and defines the minimum required expectation for compliance with the (CMMI) Supplier Agreement Management (SAM) process area and the organizational policy for planning and performing outsourcing agreements with sub-contractors, whose products will integrate into a solution delivered by InnovaSystems under contract to our customer.

WHEN

Performed on an as-needed basis only, and has no required periodicity. Supplier management must be approved by executive management in advance due to its impact on company revenue. Refer to section 1.6 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan for more guidance and scenarios regarding instantiation of the supplier management process.

INPUTS

  • ISI Organizational SAM Plan
  • ISI Organizational SAM Request to Outsource Template
  • ISI Organizational SAM Consultant Agreement Template
  • ISI Organizational SAM Product Acceptance Report Template
  • ISI Organizational SAM Request for Proposal Template
  • ISI Organizational SAM RFP Evaluation Report Template
  • ISI Organizational SAM RFP Evaluation Template
  • ISI Organizational SAM Subcontract Management Plan Template
  • ISI Organizational SAM Vision and Scope Template

ENTRY CRITERIA

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fill in “Entry Criteria” of Activity: Supplier Management Agreement . (delete this line when done.)

SUB-ACTIVITIES

  1. Request to Outsource

    • Review outsourcing guidance.

      • Refer to and review sections 1.6 through 1.6.5 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan for general guidance regarding considerations and characteristics of projects and situations where outsourcing is recommended.

    • Create an executive summary.

      • Using the ISI Organizational SAM Request to Outsource Template, generate the outsourcing request and complete the Executive Summary (section 2) per the embedded guidance.

    • Examine and document project characteristics.

      • Refer to and review section 1.6.2 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan for guidance regarding the characteristics of projects to outsource.

        Note

        This guidance also specifies characteristics of projects that should not be outsourced.

      • Complete the Project Characteristics portion (section 4) of the outsourcing request per the embedded guidance.

    • Conduct executive recommendation meeting.

      • Schedule and conduct an Executive recommendation meeting to review the outsourcing request.

      • Ensure that the CEO and CFO are included and have them provide a list of all other department/executive personnel to be included.

      • Ensure that a representative from each constituency is selected and included.

        Note

        project personnel should be selected based on their knowledge of the recommended scenario and expertise with respect to the project. Designate a meeting scribe to document the meeting.

      • The outcome of this meeting must be an Executive decision to concur (accept) or reject the outsourcing recommendation.

    • Document executive findings and decision.

      • After the executive recommendation meeting has been held and a decision is reached, the Project Manager will collect all notes and complete the executive Findings and decision portion (section 5) of the outsourcing request in accordance with the embedded guidance.
      • Once this section is complete, post the outsourcing request document in the team VSTS repository in accordance with the project Data Management Plan.

  2. Define Product Requirements

    • Review outsourcing guidance.

      • Identify the vision and scope of the project by creating the Vision and Scope Document.
      • Review section 2.2.1 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using the ISI Organizational SAM Vision and Scope Template, create a Vision and Scope Document for your project by replacing the embedded guidance of the template with the specifics for your project.

    • Create an executive summary.

      • Define and document all functional and non-functional requirements of the work to be outsourced. Create and maintain the requirements work items in the projects VSTS repository in accordance with InnovaSystems’ standard operational process guidance and the projects Data Management Plan.

      • See sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan for guidance regarding Requirements Development and Requirements Management respectively. These sections identify common requirements development/management practices with links to applicable activities of InnovaSystems’ standard operational process guidance.

      • Irrespective of the suppliers’ internal requirements management processes and their point of interface with InnovaSystems, it is the responsibility of the Product Owner to ensure that all functional and non-functional requirements are developed/maintained within the projects VSTS repository and in accordance with standard operational guidance.

        Note

        It is highly recommended all supplier requirement work items be assigned to a specific area path that indicates clearly that they are identified with a SAM managed process and can be easily queried and their status reviewed.

  3. Prepare Statement of Work

    • Prepare statement of work.

      • Review section 2.3 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using the ISI Organizational SAM Request For Proposal Template, create a Request For Proposal (RFP) for the project and update section 6 (and all sub-sections) of the RFP by replacing the embedded guidance with the specifics for your project. Store the draft RFP in the projects’ VSTS repository in accordance with the project Data Management Plan for further updates in following activities.

        Note

        It is acceptable to send prospective vendors a request for information prior to writing an RFP/SOW to determine what is available and/or possible. Responses to vendor information requests may be used to scope the RFP/SOW.

  4. Perform Risk Analysis

    • Assess risks.

      • Review section 2.4 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Working with the internal project team, conduct the specified risk management activities. Ensure that all constituencies are represented and that risks are analyzed over a broad spectrum as indicated by the examples in the plan.
      • Execute the specified risk management activities and store the work items in VSTS to create a risk baseline to manage from.

  5. Define Proposal Evaluation Criteria

    • Define proposal evaluation criteria.

      • Review and refer to section 2.5 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance and the embedded guidance in section 12 of the projects draft RFP, define the major categories for evaluation. Then define the specific items/elements for each category. Examples and requirements are specified in the plan. Once the categories and items are defined, update section 12 of the draft RFP and save to the projects VSTS repository per the Data Management Plan.

    • Create evaluation matrix.

      • Review and refer to section 2.5 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using the ISI Organizational SAM RFP Evaluation Template, create an evaluation matrix for the project by copying the evaluation criteria from section 12 of the updated project RFP and assigning weights as detailed in the plan. Save the evaluation matrix to the projects VSTS repository per the Data Management Plan.

    • Create evaluation report draft.

      • Review and refer to section 2.5 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using the ISI Organizational SAM RFP Evaluation Report Template, create a draft evaluation report for the project and save to the project VSTS repository per the Data Management Plan.

  6. Prepare Request for Proposal

    • Finalize draft RFP.

      • Review and refer to section 2.6 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance and the embedded guidance in the remaining sections of the projects RFP, complete the RFP by replacing the embedded guidance with the specifics for your project. Complete sections 1 thru 5, review and/or update section 6, complete sections 7-11, and review and/or update section 12.

        • Note any updates to section 12 will also require a review and/or update to the Evaluation Matrix and/or the Evaluation Report.

      • Save the completed RFP to the projects VSTS repository per the Work Product Management Plan.

  7. Submit RFP to Suppliers

    • Copy reference artifacts to Contracts portal.

      • Review and refer to section 2.7 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance create a project sub-folder and upload:

        • Completed Vision and Scope Document
        • Completed RFP with proposal evaluation criteria and non disclosure agreement (NDA)
        • Completed Proposal Evaluation Matrix
        • Draft Proposal Evaluation Report

    • Submit copy of RFP to supplier point of contact (POC).

      • Review and refer to section 2.7 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance, the Contracts Manager will submit a copy of the completed RFP to the identified POC for each potential supplier. With respect to all potential suppliers:

        • Verify that a supplier intends to submit a proposal/bid.
        • Ensure suppliers submit their questions in writing.
        • Ensure suppliers submit their proposal in hard copy and electronic formats.

  8. Select Supplier

    • Copy all submittals to Proposals portal.

      • Review and refer to section 2.8 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance create a project sub-folder and upload all potential supplier’s proposals/bids for review.
      • Ensure that all proposals are complete and correctly formatted.

    • Assess proposals.

      • Review and refer to section 2.8 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Assess all proposals in accordance with the guidance in the plan and complete the RFP Evaluation Matrix, and RFP Evaluation Report that were initialized in the Define Proposal Evaluation Criteria activity and stored in the projects VSTS repository. Replace the embedded guidance with the specifics for your project.
      • Save and store the Evaluation Matrix and Report to the projects VSTS repository per the projects Data Management Plan.

    • Copy finalized Evaluation Matrix and Report to Proposals portal.

      • Upload the completed proposal evaluation matrix and report to your project folder on the InnovaSystems Proposal Portal.

  9. Develop Subcontract Template Management Plan

    • Create Subcontract Management Plan.

      • Review and refer to section 2.9 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance create a project Subcontract Management Plan based on the ISI Organizational SAM Subcontract Management Plan Template. Replace the embedded guidance in the template with the specifics for your project. Collaborate with the supplier on the key sections identified in the plan. Store the completed plan in the projects VSTS repository per the project Data Management Plan.

    • Obtain supplier’s development plan.

      • Review and refer to section 2.9 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance, collaborate with the supplier to create their development plan. The guidance in the plan provides a minimum outline for the development plan, however, the Project Manager may extend this outline to include any other relevant details specific to the full life-cycle of the outsourced work. Store a copy of the supplier’s development plan to the projects VSTS repository.

    • Review supplier’s development plan.

      • Review and refer to section 2.9 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. The Project Manager will schedule a review meeting with the team. All constituencies must be represented. Using the guidance contained in the plan, the team will review the development plan for any potential flaws or shortcomings.
      • Create a review work item and document the inputs and analysis of the team. If deficiencies are found in the plan, the Project Manager will work with the supplier to make the necessary corrections and conduct subsequent reviews until all issues have been mitigated and accepted. Create additional review work items for any subsequent review meetings and link to the original.
      • Store the accepted suppliers development plan in the projects VSTS repository.

  10. Execute Contract

    • Create the Subcontract Consultant Agreement.

      • Review and refer to section 2.10 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance create a Subcontract Consultant Agreement with the supplier.

      • The Contracts Manager will create the agreement using the ISI Organizational SAM Consultant Agreement Template and will work with the Project Manager to integrate any specifics for the project.

        Note

        If InnovaSystems has a previous Subcontract Consultant Agreement with the supplier, it may be re-used in whole or in part as applicable.

      • Store the projects Subcontract Consultant Agreement in the projects VSTS repository per the Data Management Plan. Also store a copy of the agreement to the Contracts portal.

    • Create the Task Directive(s)

      • Review and refer to section 2.10 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. The Contracts Manager will collaborate with InnovaSystems’ Project Manager to incorporate the scope of work into the Task Directive and help determine appropriate level of effort values based on the SOW, Sub-Contract Management Plan, and Suppliers’ Development Plan.
      • Store all Task Directives in the projects VSTS repository per the Data Management Plan. Also store copies of all directives to the Contracts portal.

  11. Manage Subcontracted Project

    • Work product reviews and management.

      • Review and refer to section 2.11 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance, the Project Manager will review and manage work items against the projects Subcontract Management Plan and the Suppliers Development Plan. Refer to the guidance in section 2.11 for specifics regarding the review and management of the three key areas of work:

        • Work item management
        • Project specific management
        • Artifact management

      • Through the execution of managing and monitoring these three areas, work items, project artifacts, updates to the Subcontract Management Plan and Suppliers Development Plan will occur. In all cases follow InnovaSystems standard operational process guidance to the maximum extent possible (as applicable) and manage these work items in VSTS per the projects Data Management Plan.

    • Status reporting.

      • Review and refer to section 2.11 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance, the Project Manager will periodically obtain status reports from the Supplier in accordance with the details specified by section 5 of the Subcontract Management Plan.

        Note

        InnovaSystems minimum expectation is a monthly status report from the supplier.

      • The Project Manager is accountable to carefully review and analyze each report (see section 2.11 for additional guidelines) and work with the project team and/or the Supplier to resolve any issues. This may necessitate the need to manage risks, issues, schedules, costs, etc. and may also require updated to the Subcontract Management Plan and/or the Suppliers Development Plan. In all cases, manage these work items in VSTS per the project Data Management Plan.

    • Change control boards.

      • Review and refer to section 2.11 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance, the Project Manager will be accountable to conduct regular change control boards (CCB) with the project team and the supplier.
      • Execute the CCB’s as defined by section 3.3 of the projects Subcontract Management Plan. Create a meeting minute work item to document the proceedings and decisions of the CCB. Refer to the guidance in section 2.11 of the SAM Plan for additional guidance on warning signs to watch out for.

  12. Accept Product

    • Review acceptance criteria.

      • Review and refer to section 2.12 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Review InnovaSystems standard definition of pass/fail grades for product acceptance.
      • The guidance gives several examples of common problem areas that may trigger a fail grade. For example, installation or integration failures.
      • The guidance also offers several common categories to consider in evaluating the products acceptability. For example: functional testing - does the product function as defined?

    • Perform acceptance activities.

      • Review and refer to section 2.12 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using the guidance and the acceptance procedures/criteria specified by section 2.12 of the Subcontract Management Plan, the project team (led by the Project Manager) will evaluate each product deliverable and assign a pass or fail grade.

    • Create Product Acceptance Report.

      • After all product deliverables have been evaluated by the team and assigned a pass/fail grade, the Project Manager will create the Product Acceptance Report based on the ISI Organizational SAM Product Acceptance Report Template. Replace the embedded template guidance with the specifics for your project and enter the evaluation results in each row per product deliverable. Store the acceptance report in the project VSTS repository per the Data Management Plan.

    • Address deviations.

      • Review and refer to section 2.12 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance, the Project Manager will complete the acceptance report by filling out the deviations worksheet to identify any/all failed deliveries and corrective action(s). Update the acceptance report and store in VSTS.

        Note

        All failed deliverable items must be re-evaluated after corrective action has been taken and receive a Pass grade to be accepted. In addition, InnovaSystems senior management may, at its discretion, issue addendums to the appropriate Task Directive for any/all deliverables that fail the acceptance process.

  13. Support and Maintain Product

    • Execute transition plan(s).

      • Review and refer to section 2.13 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. Using this guidance and the specifics contained in section 6.8 of the RFP, the Project Manager will lead the team to implement the execution of all transition plans/activities. Consider alternate/possible channels of knowledge transfer and update section 6.8 as necessary. Ensure the revised RFP is stored in VSTS.

        Note

        Execution of these transition activities should be expected to generate project specific work items and/or artifacts (refer to section 2.11 of the SAM Plan for more detail.) These items/artifacts must also be accounted for in the projects Data Management Plan and stored in VSTS accordingly.

  14. Close Out Project

    • Conduct project retrospective.

      • Review and refer to section 2.14 of the ISI Organizational SAM Plan. The Project Manager will lead the team in conducting InnovaSystems standard activity Conduct Project Retrospective.

OUTPUTS

  • ISI Organizational Request to Outsource
  • ISI Organizational Consultant Agreement
  • ISI Organizational Product Acceptance Report
  • ISI Organizational Request for Proposal, and copy of winning Proposal
  • ISI Organizational RFP Evaluation Report
  • ISI Organizational RFP Evaluation
  • ISI Organizational Subcontract Management Plan
  • ISI Organizational Vision and Scope

EXIT CRITERIA

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fill in “Exit Criteria” of Activity: Supplier Management Agreement . (delete this line when done.)

NEXT ACTIVITY

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fill in “Next Activity” of Activity: Supplier Management Agreement . (delete this line when done.)