Once the acquisition's intended results have been identified, the integrated project team should begin to examine both private-sector and public-sector solutions. This is called "market research," and it is a vital means of arming the team with the expertise needed to conduct an effective performance-based acquisition.

Market research is the continuous process of collecting information to maximize reliance on the commercial marketplace and to benefit from its capabilities, technologies, and competitive forces in meeting an agency need. Market research is essential to the government's ability to buy best-value products and services that solve mission-critical problems. Acquisition reform has opened the door to effective new approaches to market research that should be undertaken by the integrated project team long before attempting to write a performance work statement.