The federal government, much like any other organization, either provides for itself or buys a wide range of overhead services to support its operations. Overhead is not a derogatory term — it is just the term that is applied to services that are necessary to support the mission of an agency. Missions do not get accomplished without overhead services. While overhead services such as Human Resources, Financial Management or Contracting support follow laws and regulations that are remarkably consistent across agencies, most agencies have dedicated internal service providers. The result is a level of redundancy and cost that diverts scarce resources to overhead functions rather than agency missions. Faced with decreasing budgets and shocks such as sequestration, agencies can no longer afford to carry out business-as-usual with respect to common support services. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel challenged his department and its stakeholders to "challenge all past assumptions" and "put everything on the table."
Commentary by Jeff Neal
Founder of ChiefHRO.com
& Senior Vice President, ICF International
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Showing posts with label HRLOB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HRLOB. Show all posts
Monday, April 21, 2014
Friday, September 13, 2013
Payroll snafu leads to delayed paychecks for many feds
Employees at multiple federal agencies, who would normally receive a direct deposit electronic paycheck today, will have to wait until Tuesday because of a mix-up by the Interior Business Center, one of the largest federal payroll processors.
-Jack Moore, FederalNewsRadio.com
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The official pay date for all agencies serviced by the center's Federal Personnel Payroll System is technically the first Tuesday after the end of the pay period — in this case Sept. 17. Payments, though, are generally provided via direct deposit on the Friday prior to the official pay date, which is today.
However, "an oversight occurred during the certification process" for the current pay period, the center's Payroll Operations Divisions Chief Linda Rihel-Todd said in an email to agencies obtained by Federal News Radio. For affected employees, that means either no electronic payment was deposited into their account or a deposit was made but with a hold on it until Sept. 17.
Some banks could still process payroll deposits today, meaning employees would be paid today, but that's on a bank-by-bank — and even branch-by-branch — basis, according to a senior official at one of the affected agencies.
-Jack Moore, FederalNewsRadio.com
READ MORE...
GSA plans to stop providing HR shared services
The General Services Administration is getting out of the human resources and payroll shared service provider business.
The decision came as part of the review by administrator Dan Tangherlini. He wants GSA to focus on its core missions: acquisition, real estate and some of the technology services, said Anne Rung, GSA's associate administrator in the Office of Governmentwide Policy.
She said HR services just don't fit into their plans anymore.
GSA's decision comes as the Obama administration is applying more pressure on agencies to share resources.
The Office of Management and Budget issued a shared services strategy in May 2012, setting a series of deadlines. It followed in March with a memo requiring agencies to consider federal shared service providers first when it's time to upgrade their financial management systems. And OMB created Uncle Sam's List (USL) to have one place to promote the availability of shared services.
OMB is planning to launch version 1.1 of USL in a few weeks that will include a simplified user interface and an easier way to promote existing services, said Peter Warren, who is leading the effort for OMB.
Scott Bernard, OMB's chief architect, said version 2 of Uncle Sam's List is expected to be ready in 2014 and will take into account the findings of a recent survey of acquisition, technology and financial management workers.
With GSA bowing out of HR shared services, including payroll, that leaves only the Interior Business Center (IBC), the Agriculture Department's National Finance Center (NFC) and the Treasury Department's HRConnect as civilian agency providers. But only the IBC and the NFC are payroll providers.
The fifth provider, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, serves only the Defense Department.
OMB's push for agencies to consolidate commodity IT or seriously consider a government shared services center for financial management are major reasons why there is a growing optimism and demand for shared services.
Another area where there is both a need and a desire for shared services is with geospatial information. Nearly every agency uses geospatial data and more than 30 are part of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC).
The Homeland Security Department also is looking to expand the cybersecurity line of business. With the recent award for continuous monitoring-as-a-service, Jeff Spicka, the project manager for the Information Systems Security Line of Business, said DHS is looking for more opportunities to set up cyber service providers.
Michael Casella, the chief financial officer at GSA, said agencies need policy help from OMB to solve the funding challenges.
A franchise fund lets providers charge up to four percent more than the cost of the service to pay for technology or other program upgrades. Without a franchise fund, shared service providers under law are prohibited from charging customer agencies anything more than the cost of the service.
Casella said another barrier is the cost of migrating to a shared service provider from legacy systems or switching from one to another.
OMB's deputy controller Norm Dong said the administration understands these funding and franchise fund challenges and encourages agencies to submit a budget proposal to set up a franchise fund.
At the same time, Dong said OMB is looking at policies or guidance for agencies around what recourse they have if the service provider isn't performing well.
READ MORE...
Friday, December 07, 2012
Interior revamps business center
The Interior Department’s National Business Center has been restructured and is now the Interior Business Center, according to a Dec. 6 announcement.
Officials say the restructuring will allow the center to operate more efficiently. The shared-services provider offers business solutions to Interior and other federal agencies.
“The new, streamlined Interior Business Center focuses on delivering a core set of complementary business services in the areas of human resources, acquisition, financial management and indirect cost services,” said Rhea Suh, the department’s assistant secretary for policy, management and budget, in a statement.
Suh said Interior officials surveyed customers and employees, conducted strategic assessments, and met with focus groups to find ways to transform the center. The department is taking a phased, cost-sensitive approach to the transition.
- Mathew Weigelt, FCW.com
READ MORE...
Officials say the restructuring will allow the center to operate more efficiently. The shared-services provider offers business solutions to Interior and other federal agencies.
“The new, streamlined Interior Business Center focuses on delivering a core set of complementary business services in the areas of human resources, acquisition, financial management and indirect cost services,” said Rhea Suh, the department’s assistant secretary for policy, management and budget, in a statement.
Suh said Interior officials surveyed customers and employees, conducted strategic assessments, and met with focus groups to find ways to transform the center. The department is taking a phased, cost-sensitive approach to the transition.
- Mathew Weigelt, FCW.com
READ MORE...
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Baitman starts HHS commodity consolidation effort with HR systems
The Department of Health and Human Services soon will move its human resources systems to a federal shared service provider.
Frank Baitman, the HHS chief information officer, said the goal is for HHS to stop doing things they have little or no real expertise in, and focus on the mission-critical functions of the agency.
In fact, the decision to have the human resources system hosted and managed by someone else is one that will be made for several other commodity technology systems in the coming years.
HHS put its commodity IT through the PortfolioStat process earlier this year.
Baitman said because of the federated nature of the agency, his office has little insight into what the operating divisions bought and maintained.
Baitman said HHS will initially focus on enterprise services for email and collaboration, and the HR system, and eventually move toward using the cloud to improve interagency information sharing.
HHS expects the move to a shared service provider for HR systems to save it about 25 percent annually. Baitman said the migration could be done in mid-2014.
HHS also implemented Yammer, a Microsoft tool that creates a secure social network for an organization, a few weeks ago.
Baitman said HHS also is developing a mobile strategy that likely will include a way to implement a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approach.
All of these steps Baitman is taking to modernize the agency's systems and networks will be supported by an upcoming enterprisewide cloud computing services contract.
To help manage this modernization, Baitman said a new HHSwide governance group so the programs or divisions considering cloud services can ensure their plans fit in with the broader plans.
He also is creating a vendor management organization to help manage and buy commodity IT services.
-Jason Miller, FederalNewsRadio.com
READ MORE...
Frank Baitman, the HHS chief information officer, said the goal is for HHS to stop doing things they have little or no real expertise in, and focus on the mission-critical functions of the agency.
In fact, the decision to have the human resources system hosted and managed by someone else is one that will be made for several other commodity technology systems in the coming years.
HHS put its commodity IT through the PortfolioStat process earlier this year.
Baitman said because of the federated nature of the agency, his office has little insight into what the operating divisions bought and maintained.
Baitman said HHS will initially focus on enterprise services for email and collaboration, and the HR system, and eventually move toward using the cloud to improve interagency information sharing.
HHS expects the move to a shared service provider for HR systems to save it about 25 percent annually. Baitman said the migration could be done in mid-2014.
HHS also implemented Yammer, a Microsoft tool that creates a secure social network for an organization, a few weeks ago.
Baitman said HHS also is developing a mobile strategy that likely will include a way to implement a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approach.
All of these steps Baitman is taking to modernize the agency's systems and networks will be supported by an upcoming enterprisewide cloud computing services contract.
To help manage this modernization, Baitman said a new HHSwide governance group so the programs or divisions considering cloud services can ensure their plans fit in with the broader plans.
He also is creating a vendor management organization to help manage and buy commodity IT services.
-Jason Miller, FederalNewsRadio.com
READ MORE...
Saturday, May 19, 2012
OMB begins to clarify industry's role in shared services
In the almost three weeks since the Office of Management and Budget released its shared services strategy, one of the bigger questions that remains has been how does industry fit in the equation?
Under the Bush administration's Lines of Business initiative, contractors could qualify to be a shared service provider and bid on solicitations for financial management or human resources services.
While the Obama administration's shared services strategy tries to reinvigorate the agency-side of LOB effort, vendor participation remains unclear.
As agency deadlines begin to ramp up over the next three months, OMB is beginning to clarify industry's role.
Unlike the former LOB initiatives where public and private sector providers existed, OMB is not differentiating between the two, said Scott Bernard, the federal chief architect at OMB.
Bernard said the strategy breaks down the roles in a shared service set up: the managing partner, the consumer or agency and the supplier.
Agencies have until the end of May to submit to OMB a high level portfolio survey of their internal lines of business, where they can identify potential opportunities for consolidation to a shared service provider.
Then by June 15, agencies must send to OMB a list of commodity IT areas ripe for consolidation and by June 29 a draft plan to consolidate commodity IT.
-Jason Miller, FederalNewsRadio.com
READ MORE...
Under the Bush administration's Lines of Business initiative, contractors could qualify to be a shared service provider and bid on solicitations for financial management or human resources services.
While the Obama administration's shared services strategy tries to reinvigorate the agency-side of LOB effort, vendor participation remains unclear.
As agency deadlines begin to ramp up over the next three months, OMB is beginning to clarify industry's role.
Unlike the former LOB initiatives where public and private sector providers existed, OMB is not differentiating between the two, said Scott Bernard, the federal chief architect at OMB.
Bernard said the strategy breaks down the roles in a shared service set up: the managing partner, the consumer or agency and the supplier.
Agencies have until the end of May to submit to OMB a high level portfolio survey of their internal lines of business, where they can identify potential opportunities for consolidation to a shared service provider.
Then by June 15, agencies must send to OMB a list of commodity IT areas ripe for consolidation and by June 29 a draft plan to consolidate commodity IT.
-Jason Miller, FederalNewsRadio.com
READ MORE...
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Federal shared services effort gets push from new executive forum
The Office of Management and Budget has said little publicly about the future of the Lines of Business initiatives that began under the previous administration.
So without specific direction, agencies are taking it upon themselves to implement these initiatives whether human resources, financial management or cybersecurity.
One new major effort is the Shared Services Forum made up of 20 agency executives with some support from industry collaborating and sharing best practices.
"It was a group of people who started talking about shared services, but [the efforts] were all over the map, and we were believers in shared services and believed there needs to be some structure to make it flourish because government can't afford to continue to have everyone build their own capabilities," says Jim Williams, the commissioner of the General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service.
This forum is not specific to a back office function, but instead the goal is to reach governmentwide implementation of all shared services.
Williams says the forum is developing recommendations for how to expand the use of and continue to institutionalize shared services as a concept across all agencies.
"We are making recommendations that look like cloud computing so that you can finally improve some of these services-procurement, personnel, all of the different things the government does," he says.
"We're thinking of something where there is broad access to these services, where every agency doesn't have to have their own, that it is somewhat like the government health care system where there is managed competition and not the Wild Wild West. There is a common lexicon, common measurements and common way to measure customer satisfaction."
The forum will submit their recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget's chief performance officer Jeffrey Zients. Williams says the forum members hoped to meet with Zients in November to discuss the recommendations.
Williams says some estimate that agencies can save 20-percent-to-30-percent by moving administrative services to shared service providers.
The forum also likely will recommend a dashboard to measure the impact of these services.
Williams says the forum didn't grow from the LOBs, but came to be from GSA, vendors and several agencies who provide shared services believing there is a need to collaborate and coordinate more effectively.
In fact, Williams says he prefers not to call these lines of business, but use the more common private sector term, shared services. He says there are some similarities, but the big difference is the maturity of the shared services approach.
Along with the forum, the Security LOB will issue two requests for proposals later this year for certification and accreditation services, and situational awareness and incident response services.
The Human Resources and Financial Management shared service efforts also are making progress by setting standards and determining how best to integrate existing systems.
Several other Lines of Business, including Grants and the Budget Formulation and Execution efforts, have been less active over the past year.
And the IT Infrastructure initiative is now about cloud computing as a means to consolidate desktops, networks and other infrastructure.
- Jason Miller, FederalNewsRadio.com
READ MORE or LISTEN HERE...
So without specific direction, agencies are taking it upon themselves to implement these initiatives whether human resources, financial management or cybersecurity.
One new major effort is the Shared Services Forum made up of 20 agency executives with some support from industry collaborating and sharing best practices.
"It was a group of people who started talking about shared services, but [the efforts] were all over the map, and we were believers in shared services and believed there needs to be some structure to make it flourish because government can't afford to continue to have everyone build their own capabilities," says Jim Williams, the commissioner of the General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service.
This forum is not specific to a back office function, but instead the goal is to reach governmentwide implementation of all shared services.
Williams says the forum is developing recommendations for how to expand the use of and continue to institutionalize shared services as a concept across all agencies.
"We are making recommendations that look like cloud computing so that you can finally improve some of these services-procurement, personnel, all of the different things the government does," he says.
"We're thinking of something where there is broad access to these services, where every agency doesn't have to have their own, that it is somewhat like the government health care system where there is managed competition and not the Wild Wild West. There is a common lexicon, common measurements and common way to measure customer satisfaction."
The forum will submit their recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget's chief performance officer Jeffrey Zients. Williams says the forum members hoped to meet with Zients in November to discuss the recommendations.
Williams says some estimate that agencies can save 20-percent-to-30-percent by moving administrative services to shared service providers.
The forum also likely will recommend a dashboard to measure the impact of these services.
Williams says the forum didn't grow from the LOBs, but came to be from GSA, vendors and several agencies who provide shared services believing there is a need to collaborate and coordinate more effectively.
In fact, Williams says he prefers not to call these lines of business, but use the more common private sector term, shared services. He says there are some similarities, but the big difference is the maturity of the shared services approach.
Along with the forum, the Security LOB will issue two requests for proposals later this year for certification and accreditation services, and situational awareness and incident response services.
The Human Resources and Financial Management shared service efforts also are making progress by setting standards and determining how best to integrate existing systems.
Several other Lines of Business, including Grants and the Budget Formulation and Execution efforts, have been less active over the past year.
And the IT Infrastructure initiative is now about cloud computing as a means to consolidate desktops, networks and other infrastructure.
- Jason Miller, FederalNewsRadio.com
READ MORE or LISTEN HERE...
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Lines of business predicted to survive
The lines of business initiative will stay in place, regardless of which presidential candidate wins in November, according to predictions by the market research firm Input.
Most, if not all, of the individual LOBs will persist, Input said. The Office of Management and Budget program has proven useful in addressing government needs that transcend political differences.
The company divided the lines of business into three categories, based on maturity, goals, ability to standardize, and political and cultural impact.
The categories are:
* Mature shared-service center vision, such as the Financial Management and Human Resources LOBs.
* An evolving community-of-interest approach based on sharing best practices, such as the Grants Management and Information Security lines.
* Challenged efforts with limited constituencies, such as the Federal Health Architecture and Geospatial LOBs.
The third category is most likely to see some programs fall away after the new administration takes office, said Lauren Jones, principal analyst at Input.
-Michael Hardy, FCW.com
READ MORE...
Most, if not all, of the individual LOBs will persist, Input said. The Office of Management and Budget program has proven useful in addressing government needs that transcend political differences.
The company divided the lines of business into three categories, based on maturity, goals, ability to standardize, and political and cultural impact.
The categories are:
* Mature shared-service center vision, such as the Financial Management and Human Resources LOBs.
* An evolving community-of-interest approach based on sharing best practices, such as the Grants Management and Information Security lines.
* Challenged efforts with limited constituencies, such as the Federal Health Architecture and Geospatial LOBs.
The third category is most likely to see some programs fall away after the new administration takes office, said Lauren Jones, principal analyst at Input.
-Michael Hardy, FCW.com
READ MORE...
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Collaboration essential to overcoming skepticism about shared services, report says
A new report points to buy-in from all stakeholders and communication among agencies as essential to a shared services environment that consolidates business processes across government. But reluctance to relinquish information, confusion about the business model and skepticism about funding continues to stall progress, said a government official.
In 2004, the Office of Management and Budget established the lines of business initiative to meet a President's Management Agenda goal to expand electronic government. The intent was to provide services across agencies and consolidate operations to save money and improve efficiency. Agencies are encouraged to share services managed by federal or commercial providers. Human resources services, for example, are offered through the Treasury Department's HR Connect Program, the Agriculture Department's National Finance Center and the Interior Department's National Business Center. Interior's center also provides financial management services.
To help agencies make the transition, IAC's Collaboration and Transformation Shared Interest Group interviewed service providers and their customers at large civilian agencies to determine best practices. The analysis focused on four of the administration's e-government initiatives: payroll, rulemaking, financial management and human resources.
The overarching finding from the report was that managers and staff at both the provider and customer agencies, as well as oversight organizations, should be involved in the initial design, planning, migration and operation of shared services. That, in turn, allows more customization of services and a migration path that is least disruptive to the agencies involved.
Other best practices highlighted in the report include continuous marketing of services and a business approach to funding.
Funding is not the only issue driving skepticism from some agencies about shared services. A reluctance to hand over ownership of information and confusion about the business model persist. While many agencies praise the concept, Ed Meagher, deputy chief information officer at Interior, which was among the agencies interviewed for the study, compares the buzz to the emperor's new clothes -- outwardly positive, but artificial.
To come around to the idea of shared services, agencies need a clearly defined and gradual approach that doesn't require completely scrapping existing business processes, Meagher said.
-Jill Aitoro, GovExec.com
READ MORE...
In 2004, the Office of Management and Budget established the lines of business initiative to meet a President's Management Agenda goal to expand electronic government. The intent was to provide services across agencies and consolidate operations to save money and improve efficiency. Agencies are encouraged to share services managed by federal or commercial providers. Human resources services, for example, are offered through the Treasury Department's HR Connect Program, the Agriculture Department's National Finance Center and the Interior Department's National Business Center. Interior's center also provides financial management services.
To help agencies make the transition, IAC's Collaboration and Transformation Shared Interest Group interviewed service providers and their customers at large civilian agencies to determine best practices. The analysis focused on four of the administration's e-government initiatives: payroll, rulemaking, financial management and human resources.
The overarching finding from the report was that managers and staff at both the provider and customer agencies, as well as oversight organizations, should be involved in the initial design, planning, migration and operation of shared services. That, in turn, allows more customization of services and a migration path that is least disruptive to the agencies involved.
Other best practices highlighted in the report include continuous marketing of services and a business approach to funding.
Funding is not the only issue driving skepticism from some agencies about shared services. A reluctance to hand over ownership of information and confusion about the business model persist. While many agencies praise the concept, Ed Meagher, deputy chief information officer at Interior, which was among the agencies interviewed for the study, compares the buzz to the emperor's new clothes -- outwardly positive, but artificial.
To come around to the idea of shared services, agencies need a clearly defined and gradual approach that doesn't require completely scrapping existing business processes, Meagher said.
-Jill Aitoro, GovExec.com
READ MORE...
Monday, February 04, 2008
USDA IT budget boosts financial management modernization funds
President Bush requested $2.4 billion for information technology for the Agriculture Department in fiscal 2009, slightly higher than the $2.3 billion for this year, in his budget proposal unveiled today. Overall IT development and modernization is slightly lower for 2009 at $472.9 million from this year. But maintaining IT operations rises to $1.9 billion in 2009 from this year.
Financial management gets a significant boost from $51.3 million to $79 million, including the department’s financial modernization initiative and the Human Resources Line of Business.
-Mary Mosquera, FCW.com
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Financial management gets a significant boost from $51.3 million to $79 million, including the department’s financial modernization initiative and the Human Resources Line of Business.
-Mary Mosquera, FCW.com
READ MORE...
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Basics: Lines of Business
When corporations merge, executives routinely consolidate functions that are duplicative. These functions include human resources, back-office operations and information technology. In doing so, executives look to consolidate the business processes and IT systems that support the functions. The idea is a company doesn't need two HR systems, two payment systems, two e-mail systems and so on. After all, consolidation is a large part of what makes the merger financially viable -- creating economies of scale that present efficiencies that reduce unit costs.
The same theory can be applied to government, and the Bush administration has tried to do just that with its lines of business initiative.
Find all you wanted to learn about the lines of business initiative and more in Government Executive's new in-depth profile section: The Basics
-Martin Bosworth, GovExec.com
The same theory can be applied to government, and the Bush administration has tried to do just that with its lines of business initiative.
Find all you wanted to learn about the lines of business initiative and more in Government Executive's new in-depth profile section: The Basics
-Martin Bosworth, GovExec.com
Friday, June 01, 2007
OMB details approach for HR Line of Business migrations
The Officer of Management and Budget late last week gave agencies the how-to guide for moving to a human resources shared service provider.
The much-anticipated directive tries to answer questions regarding how OMB Circular A-76 fits into the HR Line of Business initiative as well as step-by-step directions for evaluating offers and competing work only with private-sector or public-sector providers.
In a memo to agency deputy secretaries, Clay Johnson, OMB’s deputy director for management, said the framework establishes a competitive selection process, and the opportunity to improve cost, quality and performance of shared services.
Agencies also must consult with OMB if they choose not to ask vendors on the GSA schedule to bid on their work, and if they want to have limited competition—either just public-sector or just private-sector providers.
For either noncompetitive migrations or private-sector only competitions, the agency must justify its decision which must be approved by the chief human capital officer, the CIO, CFO and the chief acquisition officer, the guidance states.
-Jason Miller, FCW.com
READ MORE...
The much-anticipated directive tries to answer questions regarding how OMB Circular A-76 fits into the HR Line of Business initiative as well as step-by-step directions for evaluating offers and competing work only with private-sector or public-sector providers.
In a memo to agency deputy secretaries, Clay Johnson, OMB’s deputy director for management, said the framework establishes a competitive selection process, and the opportunity to improve cost, quality and performance of shared services.
Agencies also must consult with OMB if they choose not to ask vendors on the GSA schedule to bid on their work, and if they want to have limited competition—either just public-sector or just private-sector providers.
For either noncompetitive migrations or private-sector only competitions, the agency must justify its decision which must be approved by the chief human capital officer, the CIO, CFO and the chief acquisition officer, the guidance states.
-Jason Miller, FCW.com
READ MORE...
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
LOBs continue to take hold, OMB officials say
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- In the three years since the Office of Management and Budget began work on the line-of-business initiatives, agencies went from “no, never going to happen” to “this can work,” according to officials involved in the programs.
One of the keys has been convincing agencies to work as one government enterprise, said Tim Young, OMB’s associate administrator for e-government and information technology.
The Human Resources and Financial Management LOBs are the furthest along in meeting OMB’s goal of fee for service.
Danny Werfel, OMB’s deputy comptroller, said the financial initiative will release a request for proposals in June to certify commercial shared-service providers. Other officials said the HR LOB will precede the financial RFP with its own this month.
Werfel also said the Financial Management LOB would release its next set of accounting standards for payables for public comment this month. The accounts receivable and billing would come after that, Werfel said.
The Financial Management LOB office wants to test the common governmentwide accounting code with a handful of agencies, he added.
“We want a proof of concept,” Werfel said. “We want agencies to put together an implementation schedule and it will be helpful for them to see what challenges they may face in a pilot.”
GSA received more than 600 comments and will release the final document in the fall, he added.
-Jason Miller, FCW.com
READ MORE...
One of the keys has been convincing agencies to work as one government enterprise, said Tim Young, OMB’s associate administrator for e-government and information technology.
The Human Resources and Financial Management LOBs are the furthest along in meeting OMB’s goal of fee for service.
Danny Werfel, OMB’s deputy comptroller, said the financial initiative will release a request for proposals in June to certify commercial shared-service providers. Other officials said the HR LOB will precede the financial RFP with its own this month.
Werfel also said the Financial Management LOB would release its next set of accounting standards for payables for public comment this month. The accounts receivable and billing would come after that, Werfel said.
The Financial Management LOB office wants to test the common governmentwide accounting code with a handful of agencies, he added.
“We want a proof of concept,” Werfel said. “We want agencies to put together an implementation schedule and it will be helpful for them to see what challenges they may face in a pilot.”
GSA received more than 600 comments and will release the final document in the fall, he added.
-Jason Miller, FCW.com
READ MORE...
Friday, March 30, 2007
HRLOB Releases FAQ Quide
The HR LOB Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provide high–level information on the HR LOB transformation effort. The HR LOB FAQs will be updated periodically to reflect the most current information.
HRLOB FAQs
HRLOB FAQs
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Research service suggests test runs for financial system consolidation
The Bush administration's plan to consolidate agency financial management systems into shared service centers might enjoy a greater chance of success if first tested using pilot projects, the Congressional Research Service recommended in a recent report.
The report, written by CRS analyst Garrett L. Hatch, stated that the debate over financial management streamlining focuses on when, not if, the consolidation should take place. As part of the so-called lines of business effort, the Office of Management and Budget is requiring agencies to move to one of several centralized financial systems run by the government and the private sector, once their existing systems need upgrades. But critics argue that these transitions should not happen until risks are adequately addressed, the report stated.
Hatch, who works in the Government Organization and Management section of the CRS' Government and Finance division, suggested that agencies address this by undertaking pilot projects before making transitions to shared service providers. This would allow officials to analyze and discuss the results of a potential move in a controlled environment.
But Karen Evans, OMB administrator of e-government and information technology, said the problem with pilot projects in government is that they "never go away."
All agencies are scheduled to move to shared financial management service providers by 2015, and OMB officials have said consolidating financial management and human resources systems will save $5 billion over 10 years.
Despite the concerns cited by Hatch that given the scope and complexity of financial management systems, the project is moving forward too quickly, the administration has not shown signs of slowing the drive toward consolidation.
The CRS report stated surveys have shown that agency officials' greatest fears are investing millions of dollars into moving to a shared service provider, only to have the provider fail to furnish the promised services. In several cases, OMB-designated shared service providers have failed to comply with financial regulations, the report stated.
A lack of regulations governing the agency-run centers have caused some to doubt that any large agency will successfully allow another shop to run its financial management systems. Several smaller agencies have moved to shared service providers. The available agency-run centers are the Bureau of Public Debt, the Interior Department's National Business Center, the Transportation Department and the General Services Administration.
In November, the Office of Personnel Management's much touted effort to move its back-end financial management operations to the Bureau of Public Debt's Administrative Resource Center collapsed. OPM officials have said they will conduct a public-private competition in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 to determine who will host their financial systems.
The CRS report also suggested that plans to develop performance metrics for financial management, standardize business processes across agencies and establish a governmentwide accounting code could provide the earliest opportunity to realize the benefits of improved agency financial management.
OMB has sent signals that may indicate it is backing away from the concept of consolidating agencies' IT systems around shared centers.
The agency is pursuing the adoption of uniform governmentwide standards rather than shared centers in three of the newest areas in which it is hoping for streamlining: budget formulation and evaluation systems, geospatial information systems and IT infrastructure.
-Daniel Pulliam, GovExec.com
READ MORE...
The report, written by CRS analyst Garrett L. Hatch, stated that the debate over financial management streamlining focuses on when, not if, the consolidation should take place. As part of the so-called lines of business effort, the Office of Management and Budget is requiring agencies to move to one of several centralized financial systems run by the government and the private sector, once their existing systems need upgrades. But critics argue that these transitions should not happen until risks are adequately addressed, the report stated.
Hatch, who works in the Government Organization and Management section of the CRS' Government and Finance division, suggested that agencies address this by undertaking pilot projects before making transitions to shared service providers. This would allow officials to analyze and discuss the results of a potential move in a controlled environment.
But Karen Evans, OMB administrator of e-government and information technology, said the problem with pilot projects in government is that they "never go away."
All agencies are scheduled to move to shared financial management service providers by 2015, and OMB officials have said consolidating financial management and human resources systems will save $5 billion over 10 years.
Despite the concerns cited by Hatch that given the scope and complexity of financial management systems, the project is moving forward too quickly, the administration has not shown signs of slowing the drive toward consolidation.
The CRS report stated surveys have shown that agency officials' greatest fears are investing millions of dollars into moving to a shared service provider, only to have the provider fail to furnish the promised services. In several cases, OMB-designated shared service providers have failed to comply with financial regulations, the report stated.
A lack of regulations governing the agency-run centers have caused some to doubt that any large agency will successfully allow another shop to run its financial management systems. Several smaller agencies have moved to shared service providers. The available agency-run centers are the Bureau of Public Debt, the Interior Department's National Business Center, the Transportation Department and the General Services Administration.
In November, the Office of Personnel Management's much touted effort to move its back-end financial management operations to the Bureau of Public Debt's Administrative Resource Center collapsed. OPM officials have said they will conduct a public-private competition in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 to determine who will host their financial systems.
The CRS report also suggested that plans to develop performance metrics for financial management, standardize business processes across agencies and establish a governmentwide accounting code could provide the earliest opportunity to realize the benefits of improved agency financial management.
OMB has sent signals that may indicate it is backing away from the concept of consolidating agencies' IT systems around shared centers.
The agency is pursuing the adoption of uniform governmentwide standards rather than shared centers in three of the newest areas in which it is hoping for streamlining: budget formulation and evaluation systems, geospatial information systems and IT infrastructure.
-Daniel Pulliam, GovExec.com
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Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Budget proposal to detail benefits of IT consolidation
The Bush administration's fiscal 2008 budget proposal will detail the financial benefits of an effort to consolidate back-office information technology systems across government, an Office of Management and Budget official said Tuesday.
The effort, known as the lines of business initiative, encourages agencies to move away from maintaining their own IT systems in areas such as financial management and human resources, and toward using service centers shared with other agencies. The service centers could be run by a federal agency or a private sector contractor.
From fiscal 2006 to fiscal 2007, planned spending on IT to support agency missions increased by $1 billion across government, said Tim Young, OMB's associate administrator for e-government and information technology, at the Government Performance Summit in Washington. But during that same period, there was a substantially smaller increase in planned infrastructure spending, Young said.
"In my view, that is an indication that agencies are consolidating and optimizing their infrastructure, and they're fully utilizing the president's e-government and lines of business initiative," Young said.
For example, the Housing and Urban Development Department saved more than $10 million in 2005 by transferring to the Treasury Department's HR Connect service center, and is in the process of shutting down 17 separate human resources systems, Young said.
"Transparency breeds accountability and accountability breeds results," Young said. "Look at the agencies that have no investments on the management watch list. One could conclude from this that they are pretty good, at least on paper, at planning the implementation of their capital investments."
-Daniel Pulliam, GovExec.com
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The effort, known as the lines of business initiative, encourages agencies to move away from maintaining their own IT systems in areas such as financial management and human resources, and toward using service centers shared with other agencies. The service centers could be run by a federal agency or a private sector contractor.
From fiscal 2006 to fiscal 2007, planned spending on IT to support agency missions increased by $1 billion across government, said Tim Young, OMB's associate administrator for e-government and information technology, at the Government Performance Summit in Washington. But during that same period, there was a substantially smaller increase in planned infrastructure spending, Young said.
"In my view, that is an indication that agencies are consolidating and optimizing their infrastructure, and they're fully utilizing the president's e-government and lines of business initiative," Young said.
For example, the Housing and Urban Development Department saved more than $10 million in 2005 by transferring to the Treasury Department's HR Connect service center, and is in the process of shutting down 17 separate human resources systems, Young said.
"Transparency breeds accountability and accountability breeds results," Young said. "Look at the agencies that have no investments on the management watch list. One could conclude from this that they are pretty good, at least on paper, at planning the implementation of their capital investments."
-Daniel Pulliam, GovExec.com
READ MORE...
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
OMB issues updated EA documents
As agencies develop their fiscal 2008 budget requests over the next few months, the Office of Management and Budget’s Federal Enterprise Architecture Program Management Office recently delivered a number of updated documents to make that process easier — or at least run more smoothly.
OMB published the latest version of the Federal Transition Framework with 15 new cross-agency initiatives for a total of 18. The FTF gives agencies a standard way to describe cross-agency initiatives, and makes sharing that information easier. While agencies will not have to use the FTF until the 2009 budget cycle, it does provide a single source of information describing these areas, said Dick Burk, OMB’s chief architect in a letter to agency CIOs and chief architects.
Burk’s office also released the new EA assessment guide, which will be used as a part of the 2008 budget process, and a FEA Practice Guide. The Practice Guide suggests techniques for CIOs and architects to describe how their architecture can provide business and mission value to non-IT people.
The EA Assessment Version 2.1 is more of an update than a full revision, Burk said in another letter to agency CIOs and chief architects.
Agencies have until Feb. 28 to submit their EAs so OMB can assess them under the new framework. OMB will score agencies’ EA and include the results in the second-quarter President’s Management Agenda scorecard, Burk said.
Additionally, OMB issued a revised consolidated FEA reference model that includes information on all five models — Business, Technical, Performance, Data and Service Component.
FTF Version 1.0 follows a pilot version OMB released in September. The initial version focused only on three cross-agency initiatives — the move to IP version 6, E-Authentication and the IT infrastructure Line of Business Consolidation initiative. The newest version adds 15 new projects, including all eight LOBs, such as human resources and financial management, and the Integrated Acquisition Environment, Information Sharing Environment and Grants.gov portal.
For each initiative, the FTF provides a standard way of describing each project based on the each FEA reference model.
-Jason Miller, GCN.com
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OMB published the latest version of the Federal Transition Framework with 15 new cross-agency initiatives for a total of 18. The FTF gives agencies a standard way to describe cross-agency initiatives, and makes sharing that information easier. While agencies will not have to use the FTF until the 2009 budget cycle, it does provide a single source of information describing these areas, said Dick Burk, OMB’s chief architect in a letter to agency CIOs and chief architects.
Burk’s office also released the new EA assessment guide, which will be used as a part of the 2008 budget process, and a FEA Practice Guide. The Practice Guide suggests techniques for CIOs and architects to describe how their architecture can provide business and mission value to non-IT people.
The EA Assessment Version 2.1 is more of an update than a full revision, Burk said in another letter to agency CIOs and chief architects.
Agencies have until Feb. 28 to submit their EAs so OMB can assess them under the new framework. OMB will score agencies’ EA and include the results in the second-quarter President’s Management Agenda scorecard, Burk said.
Additionally, OMB issued a revised consolidated FEA reference model that includes information on all five models — Business, Technical, Performance, Data and Service Component.
FTF Version 1.0 follows a pilot version OMB released in September. The initial version focused only on three cross-agency initiatives — the move to IP version 6, E-Authentication and the IT infrastructure Line of Business Consolidation initiative. The newest version adds 15 new projects, including all eight LOBs, such as human resources and financial management, and the Integrated Acquisition Environment, Information Sharing Environment and Grants.gov portal.
For each initiative, the FTF provides a standard way of describing each project based on the each FEA reference model.
-Jason Miller, GCN.com
READ MORE...
Monday, January 08, 2007
GSA schedules a place for HR line of business
In a move that underscores how the Human Resources Line of Business is maturing, the General Services Administration will establish a place on its HR schedule for commercial shared-services providers.
GSA plans to release a statement of objectives next month, and name private-sector providers by the summer.
Under an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management, GSA plans to expand the existing 738x schedule, said Norm Enger, OPM’s director of the Human Resources Line of Business Program Management Office.
The schedule already comprises contractors for human resources services and investigative and reporting services for Equal Employment Opportunity compliance. “Plans are to complete the selection of private-sector HR LOB shared-services centers by summer 2007,” he said.
The Federal Acquisition Service will administer the procurement.
Under the HR LOB schedule, vendors will perform services to certain governmental minimum standards, said Robert Lam, an executive director at Accenture LLP of Reston, Va.
GSA will release a statement of objectives in early February as a heads-up to industry and an RFP in mid to late March, said John Sindelar, GSA’s soon-to-be-retired associate administrator of the Office of Governmentwide Policy.
OMB has named five agencies to provide shared services: the Treasury, Defense and Health and Human Services departments, the Interior Department’s National Business Center and the Agriculture Department’s National Finance Center.
“We’re seeing a lot of activity in this area [HR LOB],” Lam said.
For example, the Labor Department recently released an RFP for a public or private shared-services provider to replace its current HR and payroll systems with integrated applications.
Unlike the HR LOB, federal officials still are trying to figure out the best way of proceeding with the Financial Management Line of Business.
“It could very well be similar to HR LOB. I’m not sure that the FM LOB acquisitions plan has been documented or brought to fruition. It’s not quite as far along as the HR LOB,” Lam said.
-Mary Mosquera, GCN.com
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GSA plans to release a statement of objectives next month, and name private-sector providers by the summer.
Under an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management, GSA plans to expand the existing 738x schedule, said Norm Enger, OPM’s director of the Human Resources Line of Business Program Management Office.
The schedule already comprises contractors for human resources services and investigative and reporting services for Equal Employment Opportunity compliance. “Plans are to complete the selection of private-sector HR LOB shared-services centers by summer 2007,” he said.
The Federal Acquisition Service will administer the procurement.
Under the HR LOB schedule, vendors will perform services to certain governmental minimum standards, said Robert Lam, an executive director at Accenture LLP of Reston, Va.
GSA will release a statement of objectives in early February as a heads-up to industry and an RFP in mid to late March, said John Sindelar, GSA’s soon-to-be-retired associate administrator of the Office of Governmentwide Policy.
OMB has named five agencies to provide shared services: the Treasury, Defense and Health and Human Services departments, the Interior Department’s National Business Center and the Agriculture Department’s National Finance Center.
“We’re seeing a lot of activity in this area [HR LOB],” Lam said.
For example, the Labor Department recently released an RFP for a public or private shared-services provider to replace its current HR and payroll systems with integrated applications.
Unlike the HR LOB, federal officials still are trying to figure out the best way of proceeding with the Financial Management Line of Business.
“It could very well be similar to HR LOB. I’m not sure that the FM LOB acquisitions plan has been documented or brought to fruition. It’s not quite as far along as the HR LOB,” Lam said.
-Mary Mosquera, GCN.com
READ MORE...
Sunday, January 07, 2007
GSA to manage contracts for consolidating personnel systems
The General Services Administration has taken over the acquisition portion of an effort to consolidate human resources systems across government.
The HR consolidation is part of a broader Bush administration effort to make agencies move to shared back-end information technology systems in several areas. GSA's new role, established in a memorandum of understanding signed Dec. 19, marks a major shift in how the administration is implementing the effort.
Office of Personnel Management spokesman Peter Graves said OPM is still the managing partner for the HR project and is responsible for setting the requirements for shared service providers. The private sector providers GSA will select would supplement the five government agencies that currently serve as shared providers.
One government official familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the move will allow OPM to focus on setting up the contents of the program rather than the acquisition element.
Starting next week, GSA officials will "work out the nuts and bolts of the acquisition strategy with OPM," a GSA spokesman said.
Originally, OPM officials said they would release a request for proposals for prospective private sector providers sometime in 2006 and make awards by the end of the year. But that never materialized.
According to a GSA spokesman, a notice will be published on FedBizOpps on Jan. 20 containing more information about the contracting process. On Jan. 30, a draft statement of objectives, along with the pre-certification requirements, will be published.
A question and answer session for prospective bidders is scheduled for Feb. 14, and on March 1, responses to questions that come up in that session will be published on FedBizOpps.
Offers will be due on April 15; GSA will finish evaluating them on June 30.
The GSA spokesman said the agency may consider moving to a similar acquisition strategy for the financial management line of business, but cannot discuss the details since the Office of Management and Budget is still completing a review.
Daniel Pulliam, GovExec.com
READ MORE...
The HR consolidation is part of a broader Bush administration effort to make agencies move to shared back-end information technology systems in several areas. GSA's new role, established in a memorandum of understanding signed Dec. 19, marks a major shift in how the administration is implementing the effort.
Office of Personnel Management spokesman Peter Graves said OPM is still the managing partner for the HR project and is responsible for setting the requirements for shared service providers. The private sector providers GSA will select would supplement the five government agencies that currently serve as shared providers.
One government official familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the move will allow OPM to focus on setting up the contents of the program rather than the acquisition element.
Starting next week, GSA officials will "work out the nuts and bolts of the acquisition strategy with OPM," a GSA spokesman said.
Originally, OPM officials said they would release a request for proposals for prospective private sector providers sometime in 2006 and make awards by the end of the year. But that never materialized.
According to a GSA spokesman, a notice will be published on FedBizOpps on Jan. 20 containing more information about the contracting process. On Jan. 30, a draft statement of objectives, along with the pre-certification requirements, will be published.
A question and answer session for prospective bidders is scheduled for Feb. 14, and on March 1, responses to questions that come up in that session will be published on FedBizOpps.
Offers will be due on April 15; GSA will finish evaluating them on June 30.
The GSA spokesman said the agency may consider moving to a similar acquisition strategy for the financial management line of business, but cannot discuss the details since the Office of Management and Budget is still completing a review.
Daniel Pulliam, GovExec.com
READ MORE...
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