The Dismounted Close Combat Integrated Project Team (DCC IPT)

Although there are separate customers for the procurement and support stages of an equipment acquisition project, the equipment will only have one supplier within MOD, the Integrated Project Team, or IPT. The DCC IPT will be responsible for translating the Equipment Capability Customer's expression of the outputs or results that users require from the system (the User Requirements Document, or URD) into an output-based statement of what the system must do to meet these requirements (the System Requirement Document, or SRD). The DCC IPT will also devise and cost equipment solutions to meet the SRD, produce the material required to support the customer's Main Gate approval, and manage the development, manufacture, in-service support and eventual disposal of the equipment. The DCC IPT remains responsible for the project throughout its life.

The Smart Procurement IPT has three key characteristics:

It is responsible for managing the project from concept to disposal. Prior to Initial Gate, an IPT will be formed under an IPT Leader, or an existing IPT tasked, to advise the Capability Working Group (CWG), on equipment options that should be investigated and their likely time and cost boundaries, to assist in the preparation of the Business Case for Initial Gate and in the planning for the subsequent Assessment Phase. Following Initial Gate, the overall direction of the IPT's work would be established in a CSA agreed with the DEC.

It includes all the skills necessary to manage the project. These range from requirements management through project management and engineering and technical skills to equipment support. The IPT will include representatives from industry, except when competition makes this impracticable, and, at the appropriate points, independent scrutineers. The balance of skills will change over time to reflect the demands of the project. Most skills will be held within the core team, reporting to the IPT Leader, but the IPT Leader may need to 'hire in' specialist resources from time to time, such as a senior contracts officer for complex negotiations or specialist pricing experts. This integrated team approach will ensure close and effective involvement of all major stakeholders in the build-up to key decisions, avoiding costly last-minute conflicts. Such teams should both promote a successful final outcome and offer major improvements in time and whole-life cost reductions.

It is headed by an effective and empowered IPT Leader. The IPT leader is the line manager for all MOD core members of the IPT, although functional links ("dotted lines") to senior specialist staff outside the IPT will remain. The success of an IPT will depend in large part on the calibre of the team leader and his/her authority, both within the team and in relations with industry and the customer.

Last Updated - February 2001