SD-2 Dod Acquisitions Buying Commercial Items And Nondevelopmental ItemsThis document offers guidance on acquisitions involving all types of commercial and nondevelopmental items: systems, subsystems, assemblies, parts, and items of supply. Commercial services are also addressed.This document does not present a “cookbook” approach to the acquisition of commercial and nondevelopmental items; such an approach could not accommodate the vast array of potential applications. It does offer lessons learned and things to consider when participating on an integrated product team.

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Market Research

Market research is the process of collecting and analyzing information about the capabilities within the market to satisfy requirements. For specific guidance about conducting market research, readers should review Standardization Document (SD) 5, Market Research: Gathering Information about Commercial Products and Services (January 2008).

SD-5 contains detailed guidance for performing both strategic and tactical market research. The guiding principles for successful market research are as follows:

• Start early

• Define and document the requirements

• Refine as you proceed

• Tailor the investigation

• Repeat as necessary

• Communicate the results

• Involve users.

In a traditional DoD acquisition program, the emphasis is on defining the requirements and using mar- ket research to determine the extent to which the commercial market is able to meet those require- ments. Based on the results, tradeoff decisions can be made or R&D can be initiated to develop unique capabilities.

When attempting to maximize the use of commercial items in an acquisition, the emphasis should be placed on market research to determine the capabilities of the commercial market. The user's require- ments, ideally, are then oriented toward commercial capabilities.