Office of the Secretary of Defense

Project details

The Military Community and Family Policy group, within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, coordinates programs that support service members and their families, such as child care, education, and volunteer opportunities. Military OneSource is the central hub for all of these services and information.

The Military Community and Family Policy group wanted to make sure Military OneSource services were reaching their increasingly young and mobile users. Updating Military OneSource meant undertaking a big procurement, and the Military Community and Family Policy group wanted to reduce costs and lower the risk of delays.

### Demonstrating that agile acquisition practices can reduce risk, save money, and deliver great outcomes

18F and the Military Community and Family Policy group held a two-day agile acquisition workshop to shape the strategy for hiring a private vendor to redesign Military OneSource. 18F helped create the acquisition strategy, write the request for quotation, and advise the technical evaluation panel that ultimately selected the vendor. Based on our work, a private vendor has since delivered a completely redesigned beta website.

Researching the needs of military families was written into the contracting documents. As a result, the beta version focuses on three topics: transition assistance for service members, resources to help families during deployment, and confidential support services.

18F’s work on the procurement process helped reduce the risk of delays and protest, resulted in a product that cost less than originally estimated, and provided a highly enjoyable end-to-end experience that meets the needs of its users.