Marketplace Launch
In September 2022, the Grants Quality Service Management Office (Grants QSMO) launched its public-facing Marketplace of validated Federal Shared Solutions/Services for use by all Federal Awarding Agencies that award grants and/or cooperative agreements. This Grants QSMO Marketplace provides Federal Awarding Agency customers with information to support and inform decisions regarding adoption of shared solutions/services across the entire grants lifecycle. Federal Awarding Agencies that have identified a requirement for grants IT for any part of the grants lifecycle will consult this Marketplace, the Grants QSMO team, and the respective Shared Service Providers to determine if Marketplace offerings can meet their grants IT requirements.
Read our press release announcement.
Background
In January 2021, HHS became the designated agency for the Grants QSMO with a goal of transforming government-wide grants management end-to-end. Created by the Office of Management and Budget in Memorandum M-19-16, Centralized Mission Support Capabilities for the Federal Government, QSMOs are tasked with offering and managing a marketplace of systems and service solutions. Grants QSMO plans to better leverage the buying power of the government to:
- Improve the user experience and service quality for applicants, recipients, and agencies;
- Streamline and modernize the expansive and aging grants system landscape; and
- Allow all Federal Awarding Agencies access to high quality shared solutions with reduced costs.
The transformation of grants management is anchored by the Grants QSMO 2030 Vision to empower and enable applicants, recipients, and federal awarding agencies to efficiently and effectively deliver on mission. This vision is reinforced by three pillars; to ease burden and drive efficiencies; respond to customer needs; and leverage data as a strategic asset.
The Grants QSMO has three major initiatives that drives all of its work:
- Establish a marketplace of quality shared solutions/services and govern the long-term sustainability of the solutions/services.
- Coordinate with Federal Awarding Agencies to review and advise on all investments in grants IT systems to make recommendations to OMB, as required by OMB Memos M-19-16, M-21-20, and M-22-12.
- Engage with Federal Awarding Agencies, grants shared service providers, recipients, and applicants to improve the experience for all stakeholders related to Federal grants management.
Grants IT Investments
Through strong partnership and coordination with awarding agencies on grants IT investment development, the Grants QSMO first seeks to increase the utilization of grants shared service offerings via the Grants QSMO’s Marketplace to improve mission delivery and help reduce duplicative government IT investments. In the event an agency cannot meet its grants IT requirements with a Marketplace offering, the Grants QSMO will review investments in grants systems to make recommendations to OMB in the investment as OMB Memos M-19-16, M-21-20, and M-22-12 require agencies to coordinate with the Grants QSMO on investments made in Grants IT. The Grants QSMO’s Grants IT Investment Review process aims to:
- Modernize, automate, and standardize grants management processes and systems;
- Drive adoption of Grants QSMO’s Marketplace of shared solutions and services, where feasible;
- Align grants IT investments to adherence to FIBF Standard Data Elements for Grants Management; and
- Gradually achieve IT consolidation within agencies to reduce the overall grants IT footprint.
This investment review process ensures that an agency investing in grants IT aligns the project to the Grants QSMO's Seven Guiding Principles for Grants Technology Modernization, leverages the Grants QSMO’s existing market research, shared resources, and best practices (e.g., GSA’s M3 Playbook), and avoids duplicative investments across the government.
If you are a Federal Awarding Agency looking to invest in a grants IT system or have any questions for the Grants QSMO please contact us and visit our Grants QSMO Collaboration Site on OMB
MAX: https://community.max.gov/display/HHS/Grants+Quality+Service+Management+Office.
For more information on other QSMOs, visit ussm.gsa.gov/qsmo.
