The General Services Administration (GSA) recommends that agencies use IT Schedule 70 to procure solutions to implement Technology Business Management (TBM) practices – including advanced tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics process automation (RPA) – alongside IT financial management solutions.
In an August 5 request for information, GSA summarized its market research on TBM, finding that agencies have an opportunity to leverage automated tools as well as TBM-specific solutions.
“We found that a variety of tools and services can, and should, be leveraged to advance this effort; not just IT financial management solutions, but advanced data science techniques/tools (e.g., RPA, AI, Natural Language Processing [NLP], and Machine Learning [ML]) as well,” the RFI states.
Industry feedback also emphasized the need for strong data standards, scalability, and change management support during implementation.
To keep agencies on the same page, the Office of Governmentwide Policy worked with the Office of Management and Budget to (OMB) recommend IT Schedule 70 and its dedicated special item numbers (SINs) for TBM tools and services (SIN 132-40 and SIN 132-51).
“This will help to ensure that the TBM tools and services procured are designed to meet each agency’s needs,” the RFI states.
For further enforcement, OMB and GSA will establish the TBM Task Order Review Board (TORB), which agencies will need to use to procure TBM tools and services. The TORB will provide templates for acquisitions, review acquisitions, and either provide approval or require agencies to revise their solicitation. The board will be established by the end of the fiscal year, according to an agency spokesperson.
“The TORB will simplify TBM acquisition processes, ensure that TBM-related procurements support the government-wide TBM initiative, and ease the solicitation process for industry by streamlining the format of TBM acquisition requests,” the RFI notes.