Commercial Services Management
Commercial Services Management
To better reflect the expanded goals of Performance Improvement Initiatives, OMB has announced that the term "Competitive Sourcing" has been renamed "Commercial Services Management." According to OMB, this change recognizes that agencies are improving commercial functions using a variety of management tools, including not just competitive sourcing, but also business process reengineering and the establishment of high performing organizations.
The scorecard standards for Commercial Services Management will recognize business process reengineering initiatives to improve internal operations that use the same disciplined skills associated with competitive sourcing, such as workload measurement, cost analysis, and human capital planning.
The news of this change was included in OMB's request for agency study plans for 2009 and 2010. Click here for the OMB Memo.
Competitive Sourcing Generates Savings
On May 2, 2008 OMB released their annual Report on Competitive Sourcing Results for Fiscal Year 2007, documenting that competitive sourcing produces significant savings and continues to be an effective tool for improving work efficiencies for federal agencies. According to the report, Public-Private Competitions completed in FY 2007 are expected to yield nearly $400 million in savings over the next five years. Furthermore, the cumulative projected savings from competitions completed over the past five years are expected to generate over $7 billion.
The report also shows that the majority of the competitions (73% in FY 2007) were won by federal employees. Thus, Government agencies are using these competitions to restructure, reorganize, and generate efficiencies for their organizations.
Agencies are also showing a return on their investment in these competitions. For studies conducted between FY 2003 and FY 2007, agencies spent approximately $240 million, which resulted in a $30 return on every dollar spent on competitions. Furthermore, agencies are continuing to track and review the actual costs incurred by the selected service providers, and ensuring the cost savings and performance improvements are actually being realized.
Click here for the full OMB Report.
COMPARE 3.3 Upgrade
The COMPARE 3.3 version was released on March 20, 2008. Version 3.3 includes changes that address recent legislative policy changes affecting all Federal Agencies. Additionally, there have been several administrative refinements identified since the release of Version 3.2 last year. These changes were necessary to ensure policy compliance, maximize the capability of the software, and incorporate feedback from users.
Specifically, the recent legislative changes and competitive sourcing program guidance require changes to the Standard Competition Form (SCF) and Streamlined Competition Form (SLCF) certification statements. These changes also allow for an entry on SLCF Line 9 (to accommodate an upward adjustment to a contractor’s health and retirement benefits costs) for non-DOD Streamlined Competitions.
Click here for more information from the COMPARE A-76 Website.
Manager's Guide to Competitive Sourcing
Click here for guide provided by the Office of Management and Budget.