Mobile Services Roadmap (MSCT Strategic Approach)

September 23, 2016

Executive Summary

Our major operating principle is straightforward: “Standardization, Simplification, and Savings” When the government standardizes their requirements to the maximum extent practical, and when acquisition vehicle providers continue to simplify the ability to procure existing and emerging solutions, savings are created for federal agencies across government. These include solution costs and transaction costs.

Through these guiding principles we will fulfill the following goals, which are clear and consistent with Category Management principles:

  1. Maximizing Business Volume
  2. Receive and Manage Data
  3. Advocating for a Strategically Sourced Approach
  4. Providing Transparency
  5. Government-wide Collaboration and Execution

Concerning data, one of the challenges the MSCT recognizes concerns available data, which is a primary tenant of Category Management. There is a recognized value in standardizing, securing, and sharing data across agencies as a way to properly manage a category. By sharing data, we strengthen our ability to make intelligent and informed decisions, and the MSCT proposes both a structure and a mechanism to facilitate data-share in a simple and streamlined way.

These goals will be addressed by:

  1. Creation of a government-wide acquisition approach for carrier services. This approach will quantify the best practices allowing agencies to contain the costs associated with carrier services and transactions through sound sourcing practices.
  2. Creating a data repository accessible by federal agency mobility personnel who are mobile leads and representatives of the MSCT.
  3. Standardizing the way agencies collect data is and share information.
  4. Addressing sub-components of mobility by defining the space, creating technical requirements, identification of potential sources capable of addressing these subcomponents, and identifying the available existing procurement pathways by which to procure these products or services, either directly or through partnerships.

By doing what is proposed we will be saving agencies time and money, contain costs associated with products and services, reduce the transaction costs associated with procuring mobile solutions, serve as proper stewards for the American taxpayers, and fulfill the spirit and objectives of Category Management in an achievable way that continues to facilitate the adoption of mobile solutions across government. This strategy also lays the foundation for agencies to begin outline their total cost of ownership for mobility in a more comprehensive way, ensuring that a total mobile environment improves agency enterprise and mission outcomes and enables CIO offices adherence to FITARA.