The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has recently engaged in a number of efforts to promote collaboration and enhance efficiency across federal government agencies.
On October 22, 2015, OMB and the General Services Administration (GSA) announced a new initiative encouraging the development of government-wide shared services for mission-support functions. Mission-support functions in the initiative include acquisition management, financial management, human resources, travel services, and information technology. The initiative is the result of a study initiated in February 2015 to identify ways to improve the management of mission-support shared services. After consultation with more than 90 stakeholders and review of numerousgovernment, association, and industry reports, the OMB determined that performance and efficiency improvements require reforms to the manner in which the government delivers and oversees its shared service initiatives.
The OMB notice related to shared services improvements is available here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/10/22/scaling-implementation-shared-services
The same week that the shared services initiative was announced, OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy issued a Memorandum entitled "Reducing the Burden of Certifying Earned Value Management Systems." The purpose of the Memorandum is to encourage agencies to enter into reciprocity agreements to recognize Earned Value Management System (EVMS) certification across agencies. Reciprocity would reduce burdens both on the agencies that assess EVMS capabilities and the contractors that are required under FAR Subpart 34.2 to have certified EVMS systems. The cost of obtaining EVMS certification can be significant, and, as currently structured, contractors sometimes are required to obtain multiple agency EVMS certifications. A single certification process would reduce waste and promote efficiency.
The full notice concerning the EVMS initiative is available here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/procurement/memo/reducing-burden-certifying-earned-value-management-systems.pdf
Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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