Information Technology Acquisition in the Federal Government

Course Dates: 4/6/13 - 4/23/13 [see full schedule]

Faculty: William Greenwalt and Dan Reddy

This course provides an overview of federal IT acquisition and will outline sourcing strategies, allowing you to assure the integrity of systems and components in cyber enterprise. Specific focus will be on the scope of acquisition, including organizational structures, regulations, and issues of acquisition processes and management, from the development of an initial capability or need, through design, development, production, fielding, sustainment, and disposal. The course introduces the principles and concepts that underlie the successful acquisition of secure IT systems that offset risk by the acquiring entity. These include a review of vulnerabilities, threats, and security standards. You will write three short (four pages max.) “issue papers” based on a topical IT acquisition issue. There will be a final exam.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the federal acquisition environment, along with its regulations and processes.
• List key challenges typically encountered during the contracting for and while managing IT projects.
• Articulate the primary threats to government cyber systems.
• Differentiate between compliance that COTS vendors undertake for compliance versus risk management undertaken by the acquiring agency.