The General Services Administration (GSA) and the Treasury Department have been formally designated as civilian human resources transaction services and financial management services Quality Service Management Offices (QSMOs), respectively, per a June 29 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) press release.
“By designating GSA and Treasury as QSMO, the Federal government is able to really leverage shared services across multiple mission critical services benefiting all agencies,” Federal CIO Suzette Kent said. “Core financial management and civilian HR transaction are key services that are integral to the operations of every agency. Offering a robust marketplace where we can innovate and leverage expertise, contracts, and solutions to improve the federal landscape is a win.”
Treasury’s management of core financial management services includes accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, and reporting, according to the QSMO website. OMB clarified that GSA’s management of civilian HR will be limited to compensation management, work schedule, and leave management services only. This also includes talent acquisition, talent development, employee performance management, and compensation and benefits management.
“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,” GSA Administrator Murphy said of the designation. “This gives us all the opportunity to further collaborate on new and innovative solutions to better serve Federal employees.”
David Lebryk, fiscal assistant secretary at Treasury, added, “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. This new office will develop a customer-centric marketplace for modern IT solutions that will move agencies away from outdated IT systems and improve government operations and performance.”
QSMO is OMB’s centralized approach to shared services, as a part of Memorandum 19-16 (Centralized Mission Support Capabilities for the Federal Government) launched in April 2019. Each QSMO acts as the government storefront or manager of a specific marketplace to manage tech solutions based on governmentwide standards. Agencies interested in becoming QSMOs must submit a Marketplace Implementation Plan detailing service offerings, acquisition strategy, financial infrastructure, and other requirements.
OMB has now formally designated three of the four initial QSMOs is intended to launch when it announced the initiative.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) became the first formally designated QSMO in April 2020. The agency acts as a QSMO for security operation center standardization, vulnerability management standardization, and domain name system resolver. CISA officials recently applauded how QSMO works closely with programs such as Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation to keep agencies cybersecure.
The Department of Health and Human Services is still awaiting a formal QSMO designation, although OMB revealed early on its intentions to tap the agency to lead grants management services.
