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.

Pages 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 - 37 - 38 - 39 - 40 - 41 - 42 - 43 - 44 - 45 - 46 - 47 - 48 - 49 - 50 - 51 - 52

Figure 5. The Seven Steps of Tactical Market Research

• Review strategic market research data

• Conduct additional market surveillance if needed

• Summarize strategic market research findings

• Determine areas for tactical market research

• Define requirements

• Consider results of market research: available products and services, com- mercial practices

• Identify acceptable risk

• Negotiate needs

• Document capability requirements clearly and precisely

• Government contractors

• Web searches and websites

• Other government offices

• Conferences

• Business publications

• RFIs and notices

• Associations

• Advertisements

• Company marketing

• Determine information to be collected

• Devise data collection templates, databases, interview guides, etc.

• Provide sources with information

• Obtain information from sources

• Extract key informa- tion from sources

• Obtain references from product or service suppliers

• Locate other users indepen- dently if possible

• Contact users and obtain feedback on the product or service

• Capture relevant information from research efforts

• Discuss with team members and stakeholders

• Compare findings to require- ments

• Follow up with additional research if necessary

• Devise format for reporting results

• Prepare report of market research findings and recommendations

• Communicate with others as needed

successful tactical market research. Information must reach industry early to give vendors an opportunity to identify potential commercial products or services. It is important to communi- cate requirements in a manner that industry can easily and fully understand. It is also vital to describe the operational environment because it may differ from the commercial environment.

Formulate Requirements

Before beginning the detailed look into sources to meet the requirements, you should formu- late and define those requirements in greater detail.The results from early market research should be sufficient for acquisition personnel to determine whether the user's initial concept

and requirements are feasible. Early market research should also point to possible alternatives, ei- ther material or nonmaterial, to meet the user's need.

Documenting the results from early market research will allow the user and acquisition per- sonnel to discuss the various alternatives, assess risk, make tradeoffs, and negotiate and clearly define the requirements upon which the acquisition will be based. Clearly formulating the re- quirements through discussions and negotiations between the user and acquisition personnel will pay dividends in time and money saved as the acquisition moves from concept refinement through production and deployment, as well as in the operations and support phase.

.r ft.-%,

' ,.,

-- I I/