PMO Support / $70 Million Procurement for Federal Grant
Howard County, along with the State of Maryland, was awarded a $115 million Federal grant (one of the largest in the U.S.) for the installation of a fiber optic cable network, as part of the Department of Commerce's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).
Howard County's Department of Technology and Communications Services (TCS) is leading the effort for 9 jurisdictions in central Maryland, referred to as the Inter-County Broadband Network (ICBN).
Core Competencies for this Project
- Aquisition / Procurement Strategy
- Project Management
- Process Reengineering / Six Sigma
- Performance Improvement / Measurement
- Industrial and Management Engineering
- Statistics / Data Collection / Analytics / Surveys
- Cost Analysis
When completed, the new 800-mile high-speed infrastructure will ultimately connect 1000 schools, libraries, hospitals, fire departments and other anchor institutions to better serve the citizens of central Maryland.
The new infrastructure will enable increased efficiency in the transmission of information to improve education, health care and public safety, at a minimum.
[/su_column]
Solution Types
for this Project
PME has been supporting the ICBN Program Management Office (PMO) in a variety of areas. PME developed requirements, designed performance metrics, prepared solicitations, supported evaluations of offers, and assisted in awarding contracts.
PME has also been developing and implementing a Quality Assurance Surveillance program to monitor the primary ICBN vendors.
PME has supported the PMO in developing standard operating procedures, business processes, forms to initiate work assignments, protocols on increasing small business participation, and best practices on a variety of activities.
Highlights of PME’s primary accomplishments include:
- Built performance-based statements of work for 5 major solicitations worth over $70 million for logistics, construction, engineering, material acquisition, and legal services; expeditiously navigated the procurement processes accounting for local, state and federal regulations; and aided in technical evaluation and awards to 13 different contractors in less than 5 months – over 50% less time than anticipated.
- Designed and implemented innovative results-oriented performance metrics, an incentives methodology, a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP), and statistical sampling surveillance procedures to hold contractors accountable for 17 distinct areas of performance.
- Developed a complex multi-dimensional master schedule to coordinate the efforts of concurrent construction, engineering and logistics activities among many contractors and subcontractors
- Created a systematic method and elaborate tracking tool to allow the PMO to assign, manage and inspect job order construction and material acquisition.
- Engineered new business processes, systems and reporting tools to enable the PMO to gauge the project’s success, risks, and timeline.
