Recently we wrote an article about different options to get the proposal work done when responding to Task Orders. When you work on Task Orders you need help from all corners of the organization. This cross-organizational work and coordination can be chaotic and cause problems. Over the last few weeks we’ve released three add-on solutions, Account Management, Subcontractor Administration and My Work, that you can now leverage to drive even more efficiency in your IDIQ Task Order Management process. In this article, I’ll talk about each add-on and how it can improve your work on IDIQ Task Orders.
Success Depends on More than Just a Great IDIQ Task Order Management Process
We do provide a comprehensive IDIQ Task Order Management system. It meets the key needs for the people that are directly involved in the core IDIQ Task Order Management process – the Program Managers, the Task Order Managers, the Proposal Managers, the Teamed Partners, the Business Group decision makers, etc. However, when you work on Task Orders you touch many other parts of the organization. Your needs are just part of their work. You have to work with Contracts and Subcontract Management, You work with Legal, Finance, and Security. You work with HR and Estimating. You need information from BD and capture people. You engage people across the business groups as subject matter experts. The challenge is that by thinking about solely your straight line process, you miss the opportunity to also incorporate these “supporting activities” as part of your process. So, while you may be very efficient in your core process you can easily run into bottlenecks. As you mature in your Task Order process, you will find certain cross-organizational groups that you need to work with in structured ways. Our new add-ons provide you with tools to help automate this cross-organizational work.
Account Management
This add-on can be added to any SharePoint environment to enable people to capture information about accounts and contacts. It also enables users to log activity related to opportunities, proposals, task orders etc. It replaces some key functionality often found in separate and often siloed CRM systems. When you are working on Task Orders, you are able to access this information from within the IDIQ Task Order system. You can call up information on the account and contacts. You can view the contact activity with accounts or log your own – all without having to leave where you are working.
To learn more about R3 Account Management.
Subcontractor Administration
If you are working on Task Orders, then, you are usually also working with Subcontractors/Teaming Partners. This add-on can be dropped into any SharePoint environment. It does two things. First, if becomes a resource to capture information about each subcontractor and the contacts. Second, it is a full process application that enables requests of Contracts/Subcontracts to be funneled into a process application. So, as you work on Task Orders you will most probably need to access information about the organization and the people. From within the IDIQ system you can access this information and update it. In addition, you will be making requests of Contracts/Subcontracts – requests to onramp a partner, for an NDA, a Teaming Agreement, an SOW, etc. These can now be entered and funneled into that process from the IDIQ system and you can see and engage on the work on each request. This way you these tasks don’t fall through the cracks.
To learn more about R3 Subcontractor Administration.
My Work
People across your organization are called upon to do work to help you with a task order. Subject matter experts are assigned documents to do. People in Legal or HR get action items. My Work is a single site within your environment where people can go to see the work that they need to get done, take action, and access resources. We refer to it as a “work console”. So instead of users having to go from site to site looking for work, it is all there in one place. Here is a simple scenario. I am a subject matter expert in cyber security. I work on task orders that come out for different IDIQs managed by different program managers. From within the IDIQ system, they assign work to me. I get notified and the work that I need to get done is all available in one place – My Work. And, I also work on RFPs that aren’t task orders. I can also find this work in My Work.
To learn more about R3 My Work.
What Else Do you Need?
These add-ons give you a good start for some common needs. They are additional solutions that can be dropped into a SharePoint environment enhanced with the CorasWorks application platform. As a Task Order Manager/Program Manager you may have other needs. For instance, in larger organizations each Task Order may have to go through an Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) check. Or, you may want to integrate with you HR recruiter system to manage resource allocation. These needs can be accommodated also leveraging the same platform. Knowing that this is possible, the trick is to observe which cross-organizational activities are a) the highest volume of activity and b) can become bottlenecks or get lost in the shuffle. Your system can then be enhanced to streamline the work for this supporting activity. Over time you end up with a vastly more efficient and effective Task Order process and a more efficient organization.
william
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