How many solicitations have you seen that begin with a statement like, "This is a solicitation for a time-and-materials contract." Or what about this one: "The purpose of this solicitation is to acquire information technology hardware, software, and services." Or this one (true story): "This is a performance-based specification to acquire services on a time-and-materials basis." In the context of performance-based acquisition, all are bad starts.

The first statement made in a statement of objectives should be an explanation of how the acquisition relates to the agency's program or mission need and what problem needs solving (as identified under step two).