US Army Contract
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
Phacil is the prime contractor on the US Army’s SBIR Program

Overview
Phacil is the prime contractor on the US Army’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Phacil personnel facilitate the execution of more than $300 million in Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation annually of the SBIR program. We also develop, distribute and track programmatic and budgetary guidance for over 30 organizations (laboratories, programs, and acquisition and research centers across the DoD).  Additionally, we provide technical and IT support to the program, including the program infrastructure, off-site WAN links, off-site server administration, acquisition program integration, science and technology support, helpdesk operation, technology transfer, and project engineering. 

Services Provided and Technologies Supported
Phacil has developed state-of-the-art web based tools to support life cycle programs, topic development, source selection, and a secure data repository.  Phacil does so utilizing Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 2 principles.  The Army SBIR IT requirements are unique in that they fully integrate with US Army Enterprise Services (e.g., messaging, single sign-on, knowledge management, device authentication), while also having public facing pages for access and separate security roles/profiles for acquisition-based information.  Our engineers provide system development and enhancement (e.g., mobile device display); tier 3 helpdesk; Service Level Agreements (SLA) monitoring; Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP) transition and security accreditation maintenance (e.g., policy, audits, Information Assurance & Vulnerability Assessment); Quality of Service (QoS) monitoring; remote access administration (e.g., Internet Information Services and Citrix combination for Army Knowledge Online integration); network administration and maintenance (VPN, WAN and LAN); and ATM and perimeter security (router, firewall, Intrusion Detection Software/ Intrusion Prevention Systems).  In addition to engineers assisting at a Tier 3 level, Phacil’s help desk (tier 1&2) provides support to all small businesses working in the SBIR enterprise environment (currently over 9000).

Phacil subject matter experts evaluate technology in support of Army investments in the SBIR program.  Phacil engineers and scientists working technical support evaluate technology readiness levels to ensure development is appropriate for integration with Army programs of record.  Our personnel work directly at the Program Executive Office (PEO) Level on integration timing, milestone tracking, Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) input for new technologies, risk management, and portfolio management.  Our personnel also support feasibility studies; provide accurate terms of technology studies for sustainment and flexibility; perform research and testing; and assist with modeling and development.

Our communications specialists support the SBIR strategic communications plan through aggressive multimedia outreach.  Our personnel target and develop media for nationwide conferences and meetings, in addition to website posting.  Electronic materials are produced and distributed for nationwide conferences in addition to brochures, pamphlets, briefings, and information papers.

In addition to the Army SBIR program, Phacil provides Research, Development & Engineering Command (RDECOM) support.  Phacil employees plan, manage, coordinate, and execute the Joint Chemical Biological Defense (CBD) SBIR program. As part of the same contract, they also support the Army Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program and Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E), which is the principal staff advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) for SBIR programs.

Benefits Thus Far
As part of the Army SBIR mission, Phacil employs Technical Assistance Advocates (TAAs) across the Army to proactively engage in discretionary Technical Assistance with PEOs and Program Managers (PMs). Despite TAAs being a brand new SBIR mission and without a predecessor to follow, Phacil established TAAs at five regions across the Army earlier than contract milestone requirements. The Phacil TAA Team has already helped with accelerating the transition of technology and commercialization to participating organizations, which has thereby accelerated the fielding of a full spectrum of capabilities to Soldiers. In addition, the commercialization success has benefited the nation through stimulated technological innovation, improved manufacturing capability, and increased competition, productivity and economic growth. There has been greater participation and enthusiasm from both the small business and the Army Acquisition community in the SBIR program.

Phacil has also built and implemented an Army SBIR Communications Campaign Plan that addresses the program’s four primary customers (the Soldier, Army programs, small businesses, and SBIR participating organizations); these primary customers have already benefited from the new and aggressive Plan as measured by greater participation and enthusiasm.

Results Thus Far
Contract transition has been seamless. Within days of contract award, Phacil established a program management team comprised of incumbent individuals with Army SBIR experience. Using this experience and providing a disciplined approach, Phacil assumed all management aspects of the SBIR program – from writing, promulgating policy and managing multiple source selection processes to programming, planning and budgeting. As of this writing and contract award, Phacil has:

• Executed error-free management support of four source selection processes for three separate programs containing thousands of Phase I and II proposals, and provided 100% of deliverables, delivering on time and under budget;
• Maintained all required security protocols and updates on web-based support tools to ensure full Authority To Operate (ATO), while maintaining greater than 99% operational capability (Phacil has documented the processes and is working to transition to the Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process – DIACAP); and
• Built and implemented an Army SBIR Communications Campaign Plan and documented SBIR as a Best Practice for DoD PMs and PEOs.

In addition, the Phacil TAA Team has begun collecting and maintaining data representing the sales and investment revenue from new products and non-R&D services resulting from Army SBIR Phase II technology. This data, reported annually to Congress, is critical to the continued existence of the program. We will report on the results of this in the near future, as well on Phacil accomplishments and innovations on the Army SBIR program.

Further Information
The Army SBIR program was featured in the April-June 2008 issue of Army AL&T Magazine. The article was co-written by the Army SBIR Program Manager and a Phacil employee on the contract.
View the Article

For further information on this or other projects, please contact us directly at 703-562-4250 or by email at sales@phacil.com.