OMB makes buying financial management software easier

The Office of Management and Budget Friday approved regulations changing the way agencies purchase off-the-shelf financial management software packages.

In adopting revisions to OMB Circular A-127, which governs financial management software, OMB is freeing agencies from their current requirement to purchase from the Federal Management Systems Software (FMSS) schedule. The new rules, announced in the Federal Register Friday, take effect Sept. 13.

FMSS expires at the end of September. Stakeholders have been trying to find a suitable replacement for it for several years. Software vendors complained that FMSS testing requirements were expensive and vague. Agencies said orders took too long to be filled under FMSS.

Under the new process, the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP) will test and certify software to ensure that it meets core federal financial management system requirements.

Agencies must notify JFMIP once a decision to purchase financial software has been made. JFMIP will then post a message on a Web site that will allow interested vendors to begin market research in anticipation of submitting a bid or proposal.

One of the best features of the new process is that it is completely open, said Karen Alderman, executive director of JFMIP. "It's a full disclosure model. The Web site shows exactly what was tested, all the assumptions and all the results," she said.

Even agencies that aren't in the market for new software can benefit from the new process by using the JFMIP model to test their current systems, Alderman said.

JFMIP will release a list of software products that have been tested and certified under the new standards on Oct. 1, but won't comment on who will make the list until then. So far, at least two vendors-Oracle and AMS- have claimed that their software was the first to be certified under the new JFMIP process.

Certified financial management software will be available on the Group 70, IT Solutions Schedule, managed by the Federal Supply Service, beginning Oct. 1.