OMB formally designates two more quality services management offices
The Department of the Treasury and General Services Administration officially became quality services management offices (QSMOs) Monday, as the government continues to reform its shared services.
Treasury and GSA will operate federal marketplaces for core financial management services and civilian human resources transaction services, respectively.
In April 2019, the Office of Management and Budget issued a memo naming four QSMOs — essentially the federal government’s modernized core shared services providers. Agencies with mission experience and expertise must complete a marketplace implementation plan proposing service offerings, an acquisition strategy, governance, financial infrastructure and organization to achieve long-term QSMO status.
“Core financial management and civilian HR transaction are key services that are integral to the operations of every agency,” said Federal CIO Suzette Kent in the announcement. “Offering a robust marketplace where we can innovate and leverage expertise, contracts, and solutions to improve the federal landscape is a win.”
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency became the first QSMO to achieve formal designation a year later for cybersecurity services like security operation center and vulnerability management standardization, as well as Domain Name System resolution.
GSA will specifically offer governmentwide compensation management, work schedule and leave management services.
“With our QSMO designation, the GSA NewPay Team and our partner agencies will be able to modernize the way the federal government processes payroll and time and attendance by aligning policy, processes, data standards, and technology,” said GSA Administrator Emily Murphy in a statement. “This gives us all the opportunity to further collaborate on new and innovative solutions to better serve federal employees.”
GSA awarded two multi-million-dollar task orders in September for its NewPay Initiative moving agencies off aging payroll systems to Software-as-a-Service solutions.
Currently, customer agencies are expected to pay for the services, like NewPay, that are delivered, but that model could change in time, Kent said in November.
“The establishment of the Financial Management Quality Service Management Office at Treasury supports our tradition and long-standing commitment to improving financial management throughout the government,” David Lebryk, fiscal assistant secretary, said in a statement. “This new office will develop a customer-centric marketplace for modern IT solutions that will move agencies away from outdated IT systems and improve government operations and performance.”
Agencies can now partner with all three agencies to incrementally share technologies and services.
The only initial QSMO to not be formally designated yet is the Department of Health and Human Services for grants management, which is particularly challenging because it lacks a preexisting shared services model like the others. HHS spent more time engaging customer agencies about potential impacts.
OMB intends to identify more QSMOs over time in areas like assisted acquisition, contract writing, customer experience, the Freedom of Information Act management, travel, and real property management.
