The Federal government has been designating more Quality Service Management Offices (QSMOs) across agencies to streamline its approach to shared services, and General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Emily Murphy and Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat are saying that both current and future QSMOs are taking a customer-centric approach to their duties.
“This is not just about just a technology thing; it really looks at all of the shared services,” Roat said at the ACT-IAC Shared Services Summit today. She continued, “I’m really excited because this takes the long view, it’s not a one and done, a one-year thing that may or may not happen, this really looks to deliver value.”
Giving a look inside the QSMO designation process, Murphy added, “It’s always with the voice of the customer in mind and making sure that we’re going to the right solution that the agencies need.” Roat explained further that when designating QSMOs, the team considers “inputs from all those constituents” to launch a shared service.
“There’s going to be a lot of customization to make sure that we always keep that idea that the goal is not just to make sure we share services,” Murphy said, “but to improve the quality of services that we are sharing to make it easier for executives, to make it easier for Federal employees.”
QSMOs operate as a “government storefront/manager” of a specific marketplace to manage tech solutions based on governmentwide standards. To become a QSMO, the agency must submit a Marketplace Implementation Plan that details proposed service offerings, the acquisition strategy, financial infrastructure, and other requirements.
Since the initiative launched, three agencies have been formally designated at QSMOs. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency leads the cybersecurity services QSMO, the Treasury Department leads the core financial management QSMO, and GSA leads the civilian human resources transaction services QSMO. The Department of Health and Human Services has been pre-designated to lead the grants management QSMO.
For agencies interested in pursuing QSMO status, Roat and Murphy recommended agreeing on business standards from the get-go, and then lining up congressional funding and support with their agency committees.
