Government Track
Program Coordinator: Buddy Everage
GT01 Department of Defense Earned Value Management Policy and Initiatives
Deborah A. Tomsic, Office of thr Secretary of Defense
(Acquisition, Technology and Logistics)
GT02 GAO’s Cost Assessment Guide
Jennifer Echard
GT03 Civilian Agency/Contractor Collaboration in the Area of EVMS
Bob Raines, Director Program Management Systems and Assessments,
Office of Engineering and Construction (OECM), Department of Energy
Michael Nosbisch, Parsons Corporation
GT04 How the FAA Assesses Program-Level ANSI-748 Compliance
Jennifer (Jennie) Hagen, PMP
Kim Hunter, PMP, EVP
GT05 EVMS Surveillance: Challenges and Opportunities
Ivan Bembers, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
Keith Linville, Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems
GT06 Government Must Now Practice What it Preaches
Patrick S. Rowe, Robbins Gioia, LLC
Stephen E. Thompson, Robbins Gioia, LLC
GT 01 - Department of Defense Earned Value Management Policy and Initiatives
The Department of Defense (DoD) has been using earned value to manage its acquisition programs for over 40 years. Earned Value Management (EVM) is a proven management approach that combines both government requirements and industry best practices to ensure the total integration of cost, schedule, and work scope aspects of projects. While this widely accepted process is a valuable program management tool, its effectiveness is dependent upon many factors -- most importantly, the integrity of the management system itself. The validity of the information generated by the management system for decision-making purposes is also paramount. DoD has embarked on several initiatives to improve its EVM policy and practices to more successfully manage and oversee defense acquisition programs. This session will focus on the EVM requirements that DoD applies to its contracts, the key issues and challenges that impact the effectiveness of DoD’s implementation of EVM, and the actions that DoD is taking to improve its use of EVM.
Deborah A. Tomsic, Office of the Secretary of Defense
(Acquisition, Technology and Logistics)
Phone: (703) 695-0707
Fax: (703) 693-7043
E-Mail: deborah.tomsic@osd.mil
Deborah (Debbie) Tomsic is a senior program analyst in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), Acquisition Resources and Analysis, Acquisition Management. She is responsible for oversight of several major defense acquisition programs and is the Office of the Secretary of Defense focal point for earned value management.
In her previous position, Ms. Tomsic was the senior strategic planner for the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). In this capacity, she was responsible for all aspects of strategic planning and performance measurement for the Agency. Prior to joining DCMA in 1993, Ms. Tomsic served in several assignments with the Department of the Army in the United States and overseas, where she was responsible for a variety of human capital and financial management processes and projects.
Ms. Tomsic holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Management from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. She is also a graduate of the National Defense University’s Senior Acquisition Course. Ms. Tomsic is a certified acquisition professional in the program management career field.
GT 02 - GAO’s Cost Assessment Guide
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is responsible for, among other things, assisting Congress in its oversight of the federal government, including agencies’ stewardship of public funds. Legislators, government officials, and the public want to know whether government programs are achieving their goals and what their costs are. The capability to generate reliable program cost estimates is a critical function necessary to effectively use public funds and to support the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) capital programming process. Without it, agencies are at risk of experiencing cost overruns, missed deadlines, and performance shortfalls—all of which are recurring problems that our program assessments too often reveal.
Our Cost Assessment Guide was developed in order to establish a consistent methodology based on best practices to be used across the federal government for the development and management of its program cost estimates. In particular, it provides a detailed link between cost estimating and earned value management (EVM)—which is especially critical for setting realistic program baselines and managing risk. By design, managers and auditors alike should find this Guide to be a useful manual as they assess (1) the credibility of a program’s cost estimate for budget and decision-making purposes, and (2) the program’s status using EVM.
In this presentation, we will discuss the content of the Guide and highlight case studies from previous audits which illustrate the best practices being discussed. In addition, we will provide examples of recent GAO audits where the Guide was piloted as an audit tool.
Jennifer Echard
Jennifer Echard has been a senior cost analyst in GAO’s Center for Technology and Engineering since 2002. At GAO she is involved in performing cost analyses, earned value management analyses, schedule analyses, and technology audits on a variety of programs spanning many different agencies. Jennifer is also one of the authors of the GAO Cost Assessment Guide. Before joining the GAO, Jennifer was a cost analyst for the Department of the Navy where she developed independent cost estimates for major weapon and automated information systems. Jennifer holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Maryland. She has co-authored articles in The INTOSAI IT Journal and the Navy Comptroller Magazine. Jennifer is also Level-III certified in the field of cost estimating and financial management. She has 20 years experience in the fields of cost estimating and technology auditing.
GT 03 - Civilian Agency/Contractor Collaboration in the Area of EVMS
Similar to the current relationship between DoD’s Office of Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (OUSD(AT&L)) and NDIA’s Program Management Systems Committee (PMSC), the office responsible for earned value management within the Department of Energy (DOE) has developed a strong collaborative association with a contractor organization called the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG). Specifically, DOE’s Office of Engineering and Construction Management (OECM) and EFCOG’s Project Management Working Group (PMWG), have met regularly over the past several years to share ideas and best practices related to EVM as it applied on projects across the vast “DOE complex.” A recent output of this relationship are two white papers that have been jointly prepared that better define the implementation of EVMS certification and surveillance for DOE projects where both are a contractual requirement. In addition to providing an initial synopsis of these white papers, this presentation will also provide additional insight into the relationship between DOE OECM and EFCOG’s PMWG.
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Bob Raines, Director Program Management Systems and Assessments, Office of Engineering and Construction (OECM), Department of Energy
Bob Raines is the Director for Program Management Systems and Assessments in the Office of Engineering and Construction Management (OECM). On board since Jan 2008, he is responsible for ensuring that the projects in the Department’s $60 billion capital acquisition program are delivered in accordance with their approved performance baselines. He joins OECM from CH2M Hill where he was responsible for environmental remediation work throughout the United States the Caribbean and Europe.
Prior to his position with CH2M Hill Mr. Raines served as a member of the United States Navy’s Civil Engineer Corps. He focused primarily on large scale fast tracked construction projects, completing over $5 billion in design and construction projects. Mr. Raines had two Command tours, serving as the Commanding Officer of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command’s Southern Division, and Engineering Field Activity Northeast. Under his leadership, Southern Division was selected as the U.S. Air Force Design and Construction Agent of the Year, and the Air Combat Command Construction Agent of the Year.
Mr. Raines has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. He has a Masters degree in Civil Engineering and Construction Management from Stanford University and completed the Executive Education Business Program at the University of Michigan.
Michael R. Nosbisch, Parsons Corporation
Phone: (626) 440-2887 Fax: (626) 440-3066 e-mail: michael.nosbisch@parsons.com
Michael has over 20 years of experience in project management and project controls within both the government and private sectors. Since leaving the U.S. Marine Corps as a Captain in 1994, he has worked for several of the leading EPC firms in the industry, to include URS Corporation, Jacobs Engineering, and Kiewit. Currently, Michael is Vice President of Project Controls for the federal government-dedicated business unit of Parsons Corporation, headquartered in Pasadena, CA. In this capacity, he has traveled extensively to domestic and international project locations including Iraq, Russia, and Indonesia. Michael is also an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, teaching graduate level courses in heavy construction estimating and scheduling. Michael was certified as a PMP in 1999 (currently inactive).
GT 04 - How the FAA Assesses Program-Level ANSI-748 Compliance
Over five years ago, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) embarked on an ambitious mission to develop the premier capital planning and investment control system within the civilian sector of the US federal government. Due to its relentless commitment to solid program control and management, the Earned Value Management System (EVMS) maturity level necessary to have their program removed from the GAO high risk list was achieved in January 2009. Part of this success can be directly attributed to the rigorous ANSI-748 assessment procedures FAA has developed to ensure their programs are fully ANSI compliant.
This brief will discuss the FAA Program EVMS Assessment Process and how it was implemented on the FAA’s Aviation Safety Knowledge Management Environment (ASKME) program. ASKME is an FAA Office of Aviation Safety (AVS) Program established to fund, execute, monitor, and control 18 Information Technology (IT) projects over an eight year production lifecycle. The goal of the program is to enable AVS’ proactive approach to aviation safety management by identifying potential safety risks in advance, thus avoiding exposure of risks to the traveling public. The brief will be presented from the FAA assessor’s perspective and also from the perspective of the FAA ASKME Program Manager. Lessons Learned will be discussed along with the pros and cons of EVM at the federal program level.
Jennifer (Jennie) Hagen, PMP, is a Program Manager in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Aviation Safety. She has over 21 years of experience in Information Technology technical support and project/program planning in the Federal Government. Prior to the FAA, Jennie spent 16 years with the U.S. Department of Defense for Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense Contract Audit Agency, leading technical IT support teams. Within the FAA, she is the program manager for a major FAA program charged with designing, developing, and deploying applications to support the mission of the Office of Aviation Safety. As a Major Program Manager in the FAA, her responsibilities include ensuring accomplishment of program deliverables and leveraging EVM best practices in the monitoring and controlling of her program to ensure alignment to cost, scope, and schedule. Jennie holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology (Montana Tech) and a CIO Graduate Certificate from the National Defense University.
Kim Hunter, PMP, EVP, is a Senior Manager with KM Systems Group in support of the Federal Aviation Administration. She has over 20 years Capital Planning and Investment Control project management experience in both the federal government and private industry. Kim retired from the Marine Corps in 2003. While on active duty she served as a Contracting Officer Representative for the 4th largest contract in the Marine Corps and wrote several publications concerning Information Management, Command and Control and Administrative Operations. After retirement, she served as a Senior Project Manager for the Navy-Marine Corps Internet Project, as a contractor in support of the State Department, the Department of Labor and the Department of the Interior. In all of these positions she has served as a proponent for EVM. She holds a Master of Science in Technology Management from George Mason University and is CIO University certified.
GT 05 - EVMS Surveillance: Challenges and Opportunities
With the transition from Cost/Schedule Control Systems Criteria (C/SCSC) to Earned Value Management, Industry embarked upon a path of increased ownership and use of Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS). As a result, Industry has been principally responsible for ensuring the effective implementation and maintenance of company EVM systems, many of which had already been validated or otherwise accepted. However, in any given company, there are many ongoing challenges and opportunities to maintain and improve the effective use of EVMS.
This presentation will provide an overview of common EVMS Surveillance challenges and opportunities for improvement. The focus of this workshop will be from both a Government and Industry perspective to ensure balanced points of view with the workshop attendees. Specifically, this workshop will address organizational investment and commitment to EVMS that either enables or impacts the Surveillance process, a framework for effective surveillance and close-out strategies.
Ivan Bembers – National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Ivan Bembers works for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), Portfolio Management Office. He is the chief of the NGA Earned Value Management Center of Excellence which serves as the agency’s EVM focal point and is responsible for EVM system acceptance and surveillance reviews, gap analyses, facilitating contract implementation reviews (CIR) and Integrated Baseline Reviews, training at the NGA College, policy, management consulting with program offices and Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) control phase reviews. Ivan has extensive experience in establishing and implementing EVMS surveillance plans, practices, methods, templates, and tools to ensure high value feedback and EVMS compliance with minimal impact to programs. Prior to working at NGA, Ivan has provided a full range of EVM support activities in other Intelligence Community agencies and Ballistic Missile Defense Organization programs, worked in corporate finance and contracts/procurement positions, and served in the US Army. He has both a Masters and BS degree in Business Administration, a Masters Certificate in Project Management, and is a member of PMI.
Keith Linville – Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems
Keith Linville has nearly twenty five years of finance / project management experience in support of critical Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) hardware and software development programs. Keith is a recognized expert in Earned Value Management (EVM) and related project management disciplines, with demonstrated success in effectively applying EVM tools and techniques in support of a variety of complex operational environments. As the EVMS focal point for Raytheon IIS, Keith is responsible for the effective and compliant implementation of EVMS in an extremely diverse business with over $3B in annual sales. Keith has supported numerous Joint Surveillance Reviews (JSRs) over the years, and has a unique perspective gained through active collaboration with the government customer in a wide range of roles and favorable JSR experiences. Keith is a current member of NDIA, and has BA and MS degrees from Metropolitan State College and the University of Southern California, respectively.
GT 06 - Government Must Now Practice What It Preaches
More and more government agencies are being required to implement Earned Value Management practices on their own contracts. This trend is growing throughout the industry and is having some dramatic affects on government agencies. Also, some government agencies are requiring other agencies within the government to be accountable for their spending and schedule adherence. In other words, how much did they spend, what did they produce and when? This is forcing government agencies to move away from managing by funding to managing by performance. Essentially this is requiring the agency to account for what that funding produced. How are they able to make the transition? What are some of the current trends? What are some of the implications for EVM within the government? What does the future hold?
Patrick S. Rowe, Robbins Gioia, LLC
Phone: (303) 521-7290
E-Mail: patrick.rowe@robbinsgioia.com
Mr. Rowe is the Principal Consultant for Performance Management with Robbins-Gioia, LLC. He has extensive Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS) experience from both the government subcontractor implementation and government compliance review sides of the house. One of Pat’s latest accomplishments includes leading the EVMS implementation for the Marine Corp Logistics Base Barstow which resulted in an EVMS compliant system for the Marine Corp Logistic Bases. He has successfully trained individuals from executive management down to those actually implementing the EVM process. Pat is thoroughly familiar with all aspects of EVM System implementation. This includes system description preparation through completion of customer compliance review among other aspects. Pat has more than 17 years of consulting experience, including 5 years with Arthur Andersen & Company.
Professional Certifications: Project Management Professional (PMP)
Education: B.S. Accounting/Psychology: Loyola University
Stephen E. Thompson, Robbins Gioia, LLC
Phone: (303) 523-6058
E-Mail: Stephen.thompson@robbinsgioia.com
Mr. Thompson is the Principal Consulting Manager for Performance Management with Robbins-Gioia, LLC. He has extensive Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS) experience from both the contractor implementation and maintenance and government compliance review sides of the house. One of Mr. Thompson’s latest accomplishments includes leading the EVMS implementation for the Benet Labs (Army) in Watervliet, New York. Prior to joining Robbins Gioia, Steve was the EVMS Manager for Raytheon Company in Aurora, Colorado. He has developed and presented comprehensive training courses focusing on a thorough understanding of EVM processes to individuals at the executive level down to those who deal with the EVM process on a daily basis. With more than 25 years in the EVM arena, Steve is completely conversant with all aspects of EVM System implementation.
