Facts About Systems Engineering Technical Assistance

By Nancy Allen


Mission-based agencies have a lot of complex systems that they deal with. In such a case, they have to hire technical assistance and advisers to help them out in procurement and usage of such systems. It is recommendable to understand these service providers to get the best out of them. Continue reading this article to acquaint with details about systems engineering technical assistance.

The role of these contractors. The hiring agency usually provides an outline of every responsibility that the hired contractor supposed to assume the task at hand should consider. However, there are specific roles that cut across most contracts. For instance, the agency might require the firm to analyze a particular requirement, provide independent verification and validation and monitoring and evaluating performance. Agencies usually agree to requests from companies that fall under their expectations.

Usage of the term. The use of an acronym SETA has been prevalent since 1995. The Department Of Defense as the primary hiring agency use this term in most of its technical hiring procedures. The abbreviation is among the list of technical acronyms provided by the DOD guide for integrated product and process.

Contracting criteria. The contracting agency might require a formal request for information (RFI) or a Request for Proposal (RFP) from any firm that expects to get an opportunity. A SETA contractor might also get involved in contracting other firms as an intermediate agency in recruiting actions that might help in managing other operations. To avoid conflict of interest during the hiring process, the agency uses a Non-disclosure Agreements.

Policies used in the acquisition. There are strict policies highlighted by the DOD, Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations, and Federal Acquisition regulations that determine how the agency will acquire these service providers. The policies are spread out in different sections since they cover a variety of aspects. The most common part is in the Federal Acquisition Regulations section 37.

Ways to narrow down to a reasonable choice. The agency in charge of recruitment should have various means to get to their ideal candidate when there are a lot of applicants to consider. The least and most natural way include checking the level of experience, determining whether a particular firm has certification and checking its reputation. The agency might also require the shortlisted candidates to attend interviews with them even though they satisfy these criteria.

Ways to improve the capabilities of agencies involved in hiring. The recruitment of these service provider requires improvement to ensure that they offer a cost-effective service. The Department of defense should focus on aspects such as maintaining objectivity in their hiring process and allowing enough leverage in their existing infrastructure. They should also deal with challenges that result from inadequacy in specifying the requirements of their recruitment.

Development of Independent SETA firms. There is a need to develop this sort of services for efficiency in service delivery and cut down the costs as well. Ways to develop their independence are increasing the potential for best value solution and increase competition and reduce cost. The hiring agency should also balance private-sector and organization conflict of interest (OCI).




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