When relying on outside suppliers to provide technology solutions, responsibility falls squarely on the acquiring party to define a reasonable set of project expectations, keep the development and operational stakeholders focused on the endgame, and successfully transition newly delivered systems and capabilities into operational use. Government and commercial organizations who depend on suppliers for critical systems continue to find themselves facing cost overruns, schedule breaches, depleted capability or worse, no capability delivered to their users. We must do better. Our obligation as acquisition or outsourcing professionals is to provide our customers with evolutionary (sometimes revolutionary), cutting-edge capabilities that are aligned with business and mission objectives—and to do it in a way that success is commonplace, not the exception. In addition to improving their own capability, acquirers play an important role in establishing incentives for good practice while working with their suppliers. The acquirer’s leadership and vision are vital in ensuring the appropriate emphasis is placed on process and product quality within the value chain. This book, along with the CMMI-ACQ, was written to address these and many other acquisition issues. By following the guidance contained in each, you’ll be able to build an organic acquisition capability that will position your organization to successfully set the scope of engagements with suppliers, keep suppliers and in-house users focused on a common picture of success, and deliver capabilities that will position your organization as a leader in your market or mission for years to come.