Software Engineering Institute

Building on relevant best practices extracted from the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) framework, this report defines effective and efficient practices for acquisition projects. These best practices focus on the activities performed by acquisition professionals in the acquisition program office. They also address internal program office activities that support the monitoring and control of development contractors and suppliers. They provide a foundation for acquisition process discipline and rigor that enables product and service development to be repeatedly executed with high levels of ultimate acquisition success. 

This report documents acquisition practices that should be performed by government acquisition projects acquiring systems or services. These practices, however, can also be used by non-government organizations to improve their acquisition practices. This report does not contain prescribed implementation approaches for achieving acquisition best practices. Instead, the proven content of the CMMI framework is used as a base, and amplifications that are specific to the acquisition process have been added. 

The information in this report can also be used by acquisition organizations that manage several related acquisition projects (e.g., product centers, acquisition commands, Program Executive Officers, Service/Component acquisition executives) to establish an acquisition process improvement program, ensuring the success of projects in their purview.