Following are additional questions and answers from an interview with retired Army Col. Jacob Haynes, director of software acquisition for the Defense Contract Management Agency, which appeared in the May/June issue of DEFENSE SYSTEMS. Editor Dawn S. Onley sat down to talk with Haynes, who had been in the job less than a year, about DCMA’s software buying and development challenges.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: When you retired from the Army, why did you decide to work for the Defense Contract Management Agency?

HAYNES: I still wanted to be able to support soldiers and civilians during this critical time in our history. DCMA is at the forefront of providing quality goods and services to all locations. CIO Mike Williams, whom I knew when I was the program manager for the Standard Procurement System, is the driving technologist and the catalyst for this organization and is defining a clear strategy and vision for the future.

I’ve only been assigned to program executive office organizations, so this experience in a CIO-centric organization is different. I support Mike in leveraging all facets of technology to meet DCMA’s emerging IT requirements and aggressive cost and budget schedules. I conduct internal and external needs analyses for future software development initiatives, which have a direct impact on our customers.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: What are your goals for this year?

HAYNES: I have several goals. I’m still in the transition phase from the military to civilian life, and that’s going well because I was fortunate enough to transition to an office that I was somewhat familiar with. I knew some people in the organization and was still helping support soldiers on their daily mission. My goal was to make sure I did that correctly.

I would like to establish development models that can enable the software development side to provide the CIO with a clear picture of cost, schedule, performance and risk. I want to use my experience to help streamline and build software with minimum deficiencies as fast as possible, so we can support our 11,000 users in the field.

The other thing is that I have some program managers working for me who are fairly new to program management, and I’m really excited about sharing my experiences with them—to help them grow and become PMs that can, at some point, manage Acquisition Category 1 programs. So that’s a major goal. Leadership is a total organizational responsibility.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: What are some of your biggest challenges?

HAYNES: I think the biggest challenge for me is digging down a bit deeper in the technology, and learning the enterprise at DCMA so that I can understand how the software works within this environment. It’s a challenge understanding the critical missions of contract management officers in the field so I can support them in a rapid fashion.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: What work does your team specifically perform for DCMA’s 11,000 customers?

HAYNES: We develop software that helps them do everything from collaboration to human resources functions so they can track their hours in every aspect of their daily mission.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: Is the software that you’re developing enterprise software or is it mission-specific?

HAYNES: In most cases it is mission-specific.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS: How does this bode with a DOD move to have software developed with an eye toward enterprisewide use?

HAYNES: No other software or capabilities in DOD’s inventory would support the day-to-day mission that our users require. Unlike SPS, where each service has its own contract-writing systems, procurement system or human resources system—and the Office of Management and Budget also has its own—we have a very niche objective and mission, so the chance of redundancy is slim to none. It’s very different.

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