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TechFAR
Handbook for Procuring Digital Services Using Agile Processes
Executive Summary
In the Government, digital services projects too often fail to meet user expectations or contain
unused or unusable features. Several factors contribute to these outcomes, including the use
of outdated development practices and, in some cases, overly narrow interpretations of what is
allowed by acquisition regulations. OMB is developing tools to significantly upgrade the ability
of Government digital services to deliver better results to our citizens and improve the way we
capitalize on information technology (IT
) to better serve the American people.
One tool is the Digital Services Playbook, which identifies a series of “plays” drawn from proven
private sector best practices to help agencies successfully deliver digital services. Another tool
is the TechFAR, which highlights flexibilities
in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR
) that
can help agencies implement “plays” in the Playbook that would be accomplished with
acquisition support.
The vision for the TechFAR is that it will be expanded in future iterations to address many areas
of IT. This edition of the TechFAR is aligned with the Digital Services Playbook’s guidance to use
contractors to support an iterative development process. In particular, it emphasizes Agile
software development,
a technique for doing modular contracting and a proven commercial
methodology that is characterized by incremental and iterative processes where releases are
produced in close collaboration with the customer. This process improves investment
manageability, lowers risk of project failure, shortens the time to realize value, and allows
agencies to better adapt to changing needs. Agile software development is geared towards
projects where significant design and development are needed, such as digital services (e.g.,
healthcare.gov or recreation.gov) as well as internal digital services and business systems. It is
not designed to be used for commodity IT purchases, especially where commercially available
off-the-shelf items can be used as-is at a lower cost and lower risk to the Government.
“Information Technology” is defined in FAR 2.101.
While the FAR offers flexibility in contracting, agencies must adhere to restrictions imposed on the appropriated
funds used to pay for IT.
The FAR System is established for the codification and publication of uniform policies and procedures for
acquisition by all executive agencies. The FAR System consists of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which is
the primary document, and agency acquisition regulations that implement or supplement the FAR. The FAR
System does not include internal agency guidance of the type described in FAR 1.301(a)(2). The FAR is issued as
Chapter 1 of Title 48, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and is accessible at www.acquisition.gov/far. Executive
agency FAR supplements are accessible in Title 48, CFR at www.ecfr.gov.
Agile software development encompasses various Agile methodologies that share the same philosophy, but have
their own practices and tactics. Some examples are Scrum, Kanban, DSDM, FDD, XP, etc. Based on the specific
Agile methodology being used, note that the requirement document may vary.
