Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2023 11 Sponsored Content P E R S P E C T I V E er in the battlefield or behind the lines. Second, such an outcome driven ap- proach works collaboratively with the department to deliver the program, not supplement person hours. ADGA invests in understanding our client's priorities, is- sues, concerns and working culture. The desire for defence procurement success is as strong for ADGA as it is for the Cana- dian Armed Forces. As much as 25% of our employees are veterans and ADGA is passionately committed to the success of those who serve. Importantly, the VaPM model does not alter the accountability regime. Our cli- ent remains responsible for delivering re- sults. ADGA will operate to benchmarks, metrics and KPIs outlined by the depart- ment. Thus, the true value of applying a new program management approach to defence procurement is measured by our client. Instead of providing single bodies who have to be managed by the department, a whole-team offering provides an almost turnkey project management solution. This frees up DND employees, both uni- form and civilian, to work on other criti- cal missions, thereby effectively doubling available capacity. ADGA and the depart- ment become allies in the objective of delivering outcomes to the highest stan- dards of performance. ADGA is focused on offering this inno- vative value-added program delivery ca- pability. It is not a simple numbers game. It is not about delivering people to gov- ernment. It is first, primarily and always about reliably and efficiently delivering defence outcomes to Canada. Outcome driven, performance mea- sured. That is ADGA's Value-added Pro- gram Management. Defence procurement is hindered by a culture of near zero tolerance for risk. Concern regarding financial probity is justified when taxpayer money is at stake. However, increasing layers of governance and bureaucracy have resulted in liter- ally hundreds of interdepartmental pro- cess steps between the identification of the need to the realization of the benefit. Dis- torted perceptions of industry influence have reduced the efficacy of industry en- gagement to the point that requirements rarely articulate accurately what industry can provide and often stifle innovation. For ADGA, the key question is not "how many?", but, "how?". For over 55 years and with over 2,800 cumulative years of service from our employees, ADGA has worked as an ally with DND providing de- fence services and solutions. The insights ADGA has gained from this experience drive a belief that the solution is to con- struct a new relationship model: "Value- added Program Management" or VaPM. This approach distinguishes itself from the typical "Staff Augmentation" relationship model in two fundamental ways. First, ADGA's innovative approach does not simply augment traditional program teams on a piecemeal, bums-on-seats ap- proach, but rather provides holistic pro- gram delivery capability. ADGA brings years of experience to offer agility, lean and empowered management, and the right number of highly qualified, skilled, expe- rienced personnel familiar with DND-spe- cific processes to get the job done. ADGA has pioneered defining compe- tencies, not labour categories, with com- petent people hired to get the job done without micromanagement or a hierarchy of approvals for each decision. For ADGA, the drive is supporting the mission, wheth- Capacity is not the same as capability D efence program delivery is at a crossroads. The choice is whether to continue to bemoan the situation or to act. Innovative solutions are called for. Much has been written about the broken system of defence procure- ment. Reports have suggested that it is a problem of capacity, with more than 1,200 procurement positions vacant in National Defence in 2022. But is it a simple prob- lem of capacity? No. Providing DND with additional resourc- es will not, by itself, address the issue. Ca- pacity is not the same as capability. ADGA believes that the problem has been viewed from the wrong direction. Capacity is an input problem. Delivery is an output ob- jective. Whether modernizing command and control systems, digitizing information management, or supporting a brigade in Latvia, the focus must be on the objective. B Y J A C K M A C D O N A L D, T E C H N I C A L D I R E C TO R AT A D G A G R O U P

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