SD-5 Market ResearchThe purpose of this document is to provide DoD and other Federal personnel involved in the acquisition process with practical guidance on using market research to ensure the acquisition of products and services that will best serve the government??s needs. Specifically, this document is designed for personnel involved with establishing requirements for products or services, such as engineers, technical specialists, project officers, and customers; personnel involved with purchasing products or services, such as contracting officers, contract specialists, and cost analysts; and personnel who support the acquisition process, such as logisticians, testing and quality assurance specialists, and legal counsel.

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Figure 1. Market Research and the Acquisition Process

Tactical Market Research (Market Investigations)

Concept Refinement Technology

Development

System Development and Demonstration

Production and

Deployment

Operations and Support

tify commercial and nondevelopmental items that can be integrated as subsystems, components, and support equipment even though the overall system is military unique. Both FAR Part 12 and DoD Instruction 5000.2,"0perations of the Defense Acquisition System," instruct program managers and contracting officers to require contractors to incorporate commercial items or nondevelopmental items as components of systems developed for DoD.

During a major system acquisition, there will be many opportunities for market research to in- fluence outcomes.As the system progresses from the concept refinement phase through the oper- ations and support phase, many questions will need to be answered through market research.Also, acquisition of support services-R&D, engineering, test and evaluation (T&E), logistics and sup- port, and training, to name a few-will require market research. Figure 2 illustrates this concept.

At the other end of the spectrum from major system acquisitions are the multitude of lower- dollar-value, standalone contracts for products and services.These might be for new products or services or for procurement of products or services furnished previously. For these acquisitions, strategic and tactical market research may be combined into a single effort that takes place be- fore a solicitation is issued.The scope and effort of this market research will vary depending on the size and complexity of the acquisition, but in any event, the goal of market research remains the same: understand the commercial market and use commercial products, services, and prac- tices to the maximum extent possible in order to gain the best value for the government.

Who Should Be Involved in Market Research?

The military services and defense agencies do not have a specific group of people called "mar- ket researchers"; instead, a wide range of people are called upon to perform market research re- lated to their area of expertise.Your participation may vary, depending on your organization and the types of products or services for which you are responsible. 0n large and complex acquisi- tions, a team effort is usually the best approach, because many functional areas may need infor-