Using Voluntary Consensus Standards

The availability of voluntary consensus standards allows them to do just that. The use of voluntary consensus standards allows the federal agencies to manage their IT staff and contractors better by setting a consistent level of expectations for them and the agency program manager. The OMB Circular does not specify the method by which the agencies are to implement the directive to use voluntary consensus standards. Rather the OMB Circular leaves it up to each federal agency to determine the best way to implement the requirement.

This paper has defined four models (Directive, Project, Consensus, Hybrid) that can be implemented. In addition this paper has described some advantages and disadvantages of each model. It is up to the agency to identify the model that best suits its needs and its culture. Once the agency has selected this model, they may desire to use an outside contractor to develop the process and procedures required for implementation.