Acquisition Technical Management (ATM) (CMMI-ACQ)

The Acquisition Technical Management process area focuses on the following:

• Conducting technical reviews of the supplier’s technical solution
• Analyzing the development and implementation of the supplier’s technical solution to confirm technical progress criteria or contractual requirements are satisfied
• Managing selected interfaces

Typically, these activities interactively support one another to gauge technical progress and allow effective management of project technical risks. Different levels of detailed analysis, depending on the development progress and insight required, may be needed to conduct technical reviews to the acquirer’s satisfaction. Prototypes, simulations, and technology demonstrations created by the supplier can be used to help gauge technical progress, gauge readiness for technical reviews, assess technical risks, and gain knowledge needed to manage selected interfaces.

In some acquisitions, the acquirer assumes the role of overall systems engineer, architect, or integrator for the product. In these acquisitions, the Technical Solution process area of CMMI-DEV should also be used.

Technical Solution in CMMI-DEV includes additional information about designing, developing, and implementing solutions, including the design approaches, design concepts, and alternative solutions for which an acquirer can have varying degrees of responsibility.

Acquisition Technical Management activities involve measuring technical progress and the effectiveness of plans and requirements. Activities include the ones associated with technical performance measurement and the conduct of technical reviews. A structured review process should demonstrate and confirm completion of required accomplishments and exit criteria as defined in project planning and technical plans (e.g., the systems engineering management plan). Acquisition Technical Management activities discover deficiencies or anomalies that often result in corrective action.

Acquisition Technical Management should be performed with other technical and agreement management processes, such as requirements management, risk management, configuration management, data management, and agreement management.

For acquisition of product lines and standard services, the practices described in this process area (as well as Acquisition Requirements Development practices) can also be applied to identify and acquire core assets used in developing, acquiring, or customizing products or service systems. (See the definition of “product line” in the glossary.)

When the supplier is using an Agile method, end users or their proxies are typically involved in the supplier’s development processes. In such a situation, the acquirer also needs to be involved to ensure that needed changes to requirements and supplier agreements are acceptable given the constraints of the acquisition, and also to incorporate the changes into the supplier agreements.