66 Contract Management March Executive Interview DR. ALLAN BURMAN, President, Jefferson Solutions

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1 66 Contract Management March 2017 Executive Interview DR. ALLAN BURMAN, President, Jefferson Solutions

2 Executive Interview The Ultimate Focus Should Always Be Great Outcomes Contract Management Please tell us a little about yourself. What is your current title and what are your responsibilities? What previous roles of note have you held? Dr. Allan Burman I am president of Jefferson Solutions, 1 which is the government consulting company of the Jefferson Consulting Group. 2 For more than 20 years, we have provided analysis, evaluation, program management, and acquisition assistance and assessment services to over 50 federal government departments and agencies. Prior to Jefferson, I had a lengthy career in the federal government. I served under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton as administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. 3 I have also served in other policy positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and in the Office of Management and Budget. 4 Contract Management March

3 THE ULTIMATE FOCUS SHOULD ALWAYS BE GREAT OUTCOMES : EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW DR. ALLAN BURMAN, PRESIDENT, JEFFERSON SOLUTIONS During your time as procurement administrator, what are some of the important accomplishments you were able to achieve? As procurement administrator, I authored policy letters that established performance-based contracting as the favored approach for contract reform 5 and that encouraged agencies to make greater use of past performance. These documents helped to reinforce a shift in federal management practices from an emphasis on procedure to a focus on outcomes. I also served on the Section 800 Panel tasked by the Fiscal Year 1991 National Defense Authorization Act that led to a series of major acquisition reforms in the 1990s. In addition, I served on the White House Acquisition Advisory Panel established by the 2003 Services Acquisition Reform Act. 6 In August 2016, I was appointed by the under secretary of defense (acquisition, technology, and logistics) to serve as a special government employee on a new congressionally chartered panel (the Section 809 Panel) to again seek approaches to improve defense procurement. 7 Tell us a little more about Jefferson Solutions. When I first left the government, I worked as a vice president under Jefferson Consulting CEO Julie Susman, helping private-sector firms navigate the sometimes murky waters of Washington contracting. I set up Jefferson Solutions in 1996, a couple of years after joining the Jefferson Consulting Group, with the goal being to directly support federal agencies. We also now have an office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with our staff having operated in some 25 countries around the world. Given the current federal budget, and the new administration s focus on spending and acquisition reform, how are you helping your government customers to accomplish their missions? We support government clients in all aspects of their acquisition efforts. In some cases, we may be helping the client carry out the activity e.g., as in strategic sourcing or in cost and price analysis. In other cases, we may be reviewing how well the acquisition organization itself is carrying out the function e.g., as in contract administration or procurement training. When we started Jefferson Solutions, much of our work was in helping agencies develop and use performance-based contracts. I had first encouraged agencies to use performance-based approaches for acquiring services when I served as procurement administrator for the U.S. government. These types of contracts offer agencies a good way to focus on outcomes and hold contractors accountable for results. Since over half of government contracting is in services these days, they still represent a great way to improve efficiency and promote innovation. How did your 20+ years of experience in government service prepare you for where you are today? My stints as deputy administrator and then especially as administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy offered a lot of opportunity for me to familiarize myself with and address all kinds of acquisition and workforce issues from the highest level of government. In these positions, I testified before Congress over 40 times, calling these events opportunities to excel. You never quite knew what to expect at these hearings. This background has certainly helped me in the acquisition role I am playing today. How do you measure customer satisfaction with the services Jefferson Solutions provides? How do you engage with your government customers and know if you are performing well? Given our lengthy consulting history, we learned long ago the value of real and continuous communications with customers. This is something we had long advocated for in our training sessions on performance-based acquisition, and it s proven to be a model we follow in all our engagements. We pride ourselves on the quality and timeliness of our deliverables. We have ISO certification and one of our objectives is the goal of high customer satisfaction ratings in all of our CPARS ratings. 9 Have you found the ISO 9001 certification process helpful? In terms of quality management, are there any challenges that you must still address? We found the ISO 9001 certification process to be very helpful for putting documented procedures in place that promoted quality. We also offer templates for new staff to follow. The process also demands that we assess risks in meeting client needs and develop ways to mitigate those risks. It is always a challenge to ensure that documents remain current, but having such documentation is really important as we continue to expand. 68 Contract Management March 2017

4 THE ULTIMATE FOCUS SHOULD ALWAYS BE GREAT OUTCOMES : EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW DR. ALLAN BURMAN, PRESIDENT, JEFFERSON SOLUTIONS The ultimate focus should always be great outcomes in meeting the needs of the warfighter or the government agency. What are some other things you are doing to help your government and industry colleagues face the challenges affecting the profession today? We are continually looking for ways to promote innovation in how we conduct our business and for our clients as well. For example, when establishing performance metrics for firms assisting our government clients, we often add formal requirements to bring innovative ideas to the table on a regular basis. Using technology such as improved government contract writing or decision systems is one way to reduce staff burdens and improve efficiencies. Workforce training is often highlighted as an area of concern and solution to real or perceived problems in today s government procurement system. What are your thoughts on training? I have been a long-time proponent of using training as an effective tool for improving staff knowledge and government operations. From its inception, Jefferson Solutions has offered training to our government clients on areas as diverse as promoting critical thinking to understanding the contracting process. I am also an adjunct professor at George Mason University, and have been teaching a graduate-level class on Managing Government Contracting since I am always impressed with the quality of the students in the class with half usually working for the government and half for the private sector. While online training is okay, I still see real value in classroom interactions. For specialized training, like we have been doing in the performance-based arena, just-in-time training for a combined group of program and contracting officials makes great sense to me. Contract Management March

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6 THE ULTIMATE FOCUS SHOULD ALWAYS BE GREAT OUTCOMES : EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW DR. ALLAN BURMAN, PRESIDENT, JEFFERSON SOLUTIONS What do you like to do when you re not working? What kinds of hobbies do you enjoy? I have been playing tennis for years, and I can get pretty cranky if I can t play at least a couple of times a week. My wife, MJ, is an excellent tennis player, so this becomes another opportunity for me to try to excel. We also enjoy biking, reading, and good long walks. What are your goals in the near future for Jefferson Solutions? We are very proud of the support we provide to all our clients, and we want to be sure to continue to provide that kind of quality as the company continues to grow. At the same time, we want our staff to recommend Jefferson Solutions to their friends and acquaintances as a great place to work. You have had a successful career in procurement. What reflections do you have as you look back from where you are today? What advice would you share with those just entering this field? I am pleased to see that a number of policies that I put in place as procurement administrator remain relevant today, including: Promoting green procurement and using recycled paper, Requiring past performance as an evaluation criterion, Promoting performance-based contracting, and Better defining inherently government functions. For people entering the field, I would recommend that they become as knowledgeable as possible about how the government conducts its business. They also should recognize that procurement is a mission support function. The ultimate focus should always be great outcomes in meeting the needs of the warfighter or the government agency. And the importance of seeking and obtaining collaboration between program and contracting officials as well as a good partnership with industry can t be overstressed. Your participation in this interview is an integral part of the learning component for our 20,000+ members around the world. What are your thoughts on membership and participation in professional associations such as NA? I have been a member of NA and an NA Fellow for many years, and today serve on the Board of Advisors. The organization offers a great way to keep up-to-date on developments in the field and to network with those who have similar goals and interests. I have found the connections and friends I have made through NA over the years to be invaluable both to my career and to my enjoyment of the profession. I would strongly recommend that anyone in the contracting field look for and actively participate in NA events and symposiums. DR. ALLAN V. BURMAN, NA FELLOW President, Jefferson Solutions. Currently serving on the Section 809 Panel. Previously served on the Section 800 Panel, as well as the SARA Panel. Previously served as administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy; special assistant to the director of defense education, Office of the Secretary of Defense; chief of the Air Force branch, National Security Division, Office of Management and Budget. Strategic Advisor to Government Executives (SAGE), Partnership for Public Service. Chairman, Procurement Round Table. Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration. Member, Board of Advisors, NA. Honorary member, National Defense Industrial Association. Adjunct professor, George Mason University, as well as the International Law Institute. EDITOR S NOTES 1. See 2. See 3. A Senate-confirmed position within the White House s Office of Management and Budget. 4. In the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Dr. Burman served as special assistant to the director of defense education. At the Office of Management and Budget, he served as chief of the Air Force Branch in the National Security Division. 5. See, generally, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 37.6, Performance-Based Acquisition. 6. I.e., the SARA Panel. 7. See 8. The International Organization for Standardization s (ISO) 9000 family of standards focuses on quality management, and the 9001 standard establishes criteria for a quality management system. To be ISO 9001 certified signals to customers that the certified organization meets these criteria and will deliver consistent, good quality products and services. (For more information, see 9. The Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) is the governmentwide evaluation tool used to gauge the quality and timely reporting of a contractor s past performance information. (For more information, see Contract Management March

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