Glossary

Acquisition: Acquire with appropriated funds of supplies or services (including construction) by and for the use of the Federal Government through purchase or lease, whether the supplies or services are already in existence or must be created, developed, demonstrated, and evaluated. Acquisition begins at the point when agency needs are established and includes the description of requirements to satisfy agency needs, solicitation and selection of sources, award of contracts, contract financing, contract performance, contract administration, and those technical and management functions directly related to the process of fulfilling agency needs by contract.

Acquisition planning: The process by which the efforts of all personnel responsible for an acquisition are coordinated and integrated through a comprehensive plan for fulfilling the agency need in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost. It includes developing the overall strategy for managing the acquisition.

Commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS): Any item of supply that is, (i) A commercial item (as defined in paragraph (1) of the definition in this section); (ii) Sold in substantial quantities in the commercial marketplace; and (iii) Offered to the Government, under a contract or subcontract at any tier, without modification, in the same form in which it is sold in the commercial marketplace.

AI Computer Software: Means (i) Computer programs that comprise a series of instructions, rules, routines, or statements, regardless of the media in which recorded, that allow or cause a computer to perform a specific operation or series of operations; and (ii) Recorded information comprising source code listings, design details, algorithms, processes, flow charts, formulas, and related material that would enable the computer program to be produced, created, or compiled.

Contract: A mutually binding legal relationship obligating the seller to furnish the supplies or services (including construction) and the buyer to pay for them. It includes all types of commitments that obligate the Government to an expenditure of appropriated funds and that, except as otherwise authorized, are in writing. In addition to bilateral instruments, contracts include (but are not limited to) awards and notices of awards; job orders or task letters issued under basic ordering agreements; letter contracts; orders, such as purchase orders, under which the contract becomes effective by written acceptance or performance; and bilateral contract modifications. Contracts do not include grants and cooperative agreements covered by 31 U.S.C.6301, et seq. For discussion of various types of contracts.

Contract modification: any written change in the terms of a contract.

Contracting: means purchasing, renting, leasing, or otherwise obtaining supplies or services from nonfederal sources. Contracting includes description (but not determination) of supplies and services required, selection and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contracts, and all phases of contract administration. It does not include making grants or cooperative agreements.

Contracting office: an office that awards or executes a contract for supplies or services and performs post award functions not assigned to a contract administration office

Direct cost: any cost that is identified specifically with a particular final cost objective. Direct costs are not limited to items that are incorporated in the end product as material or labor. Costs identified specifically with a contract are direct costs of that contract. All costs identified specifically with other final cost objectives of the contractor are direct costs of those cost objectives.

Indirect cost: any cost not directly identified with a single final cost objective, but identified with two or more final cost objectives or with at least one intermediate cost objective.

Major system: combination of elements that will function together to produce the capabilities required to fulfill a mission need. The elements may include hardware, equipment, software, or any combination thereof, but exclude construction or other improvements to real property.

Market research: collecting and analyzing information about capabilities within the market to satisfy agency needs.

Statement of Objectives (SOO): means a Government-prepared document incorporated into the solicitation that states the overall performance objectives. It is used in solicitations when the Government intends to provide the maximum flexibility to each offeror to propose an innovative approach.

Performance Work Statement (PWS): a statement of work for performance-based acquisitions that describes the required results in clear, specific and objective terms with measurable outcomes.

Statement of Work (SOW): is typically used when the task is well-known and can be described in specific terms, provides explicit statements of work direction for the contractor to follow, and can also be found to contain references to desired performance outcomes, performance standards, and metrics.

Government off-the-shelf (GOTS): A software and/or hardware product that is developed by the technical staff of a Government organization for use by the U.S. Government. GOTS software and hardware may be developed by an external entity, with specification from the Government organization to meet a specific Government purpose, and can normally be shared among Federal agencies without additional cost. GOTS products and systems are not commercially available to the general public. Sales and distribution of GOTS products and systems are controlled by the Government.

Offer: a response to a solicitation that, if accepted, would bind the offeror to perform the resultant contract.