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R.I.P. PPIRS

First things first: sorry about the title of this article.
How contractor past performance information used to flow from CPARS through PPIRS and into FAPIIS.

The longer, alternate title would have been “Rest In Peace – the Past Performance Information Retrieval System Sleeps with the Fishes.” But that doesn’t have the same kind of obscure, punchy, epitaph-type quality that I’m aiming for. So instead, we give you get a garbled mess of an acronym to remind us that the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) – the system once used by the U.S. Government to house the final performance assessments for government contractors – is no more. As far as epitaphs go, most of us would agree that “R.I.P.” is just about what an acronym deserves.

There are various “past performance” reporting and accountability systems for contractors, including the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) (dating back to around 2007), PPIRS (first introduced around 2009), and the Federal Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) (finalized in early-2010).  There is a neat little picture to help demonstrate how data flowed through the various governmental systems.

These systems continue to evolve, and PPIRS is officially no more – formally rolling into CPARS. And, in time, CPARS will be no more, eventually rolling into the multi-functional, highly integrated, federal System for Award Management (SAM), available at SAM.gov (and currently available in a semi-upgraded fashion at beta.SAM.gov).

Keep reading this article at: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/rip-ppirs

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DHS wants AI to improve the contract performance assessment reporting system

The Homeland Security Department (DHS) wants proofs or viable prototypes that demonstrate how artificial intelligence can support contracting officers as they conduct past performance evaluations and make effective use of data from the Contract Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), according to a solicitation on the FedBizOpps website. 

Run through the department’s commercial solutions opening pilot program to competitively procure innovative items, the solicitation was originally posted in early August but amended this week to include the government’s answers to submitted questions.

“An AI solution for CPARS may significantly assist contracting officers conducting past performance evaluations by identifying relevant past performance assessment records in a more accurate, consistent, faster and useful manner, reducing the administrative workload on contracting officers while increasing the quality of the outcome,” the solicitation states.

When selecting services over the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers are required to consider vendors’ past performance. CPARS is the central system federal officials use to collect and share contractor and vendor past performance information. But according to the solicitation, anecdotal evidence indicates that contracting officers face challenges trying to use the data for past performance evaluations, due primarily to the “volume of records and the inability to rapidly identify relevant reviews.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/08/dhs-wants-ai-improve-contract-performance-assessment-reporting-system/159418/

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DARPA looks to procurement bots

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is looking for a few good bots to help with procurement.

In a request for information posted Jan. 23, DARPA said it wants information on off-the-shelf options for robotic and intelligent process automation tools that can increase efficiency and expand its ability to manage routine administrative tasks such as proposal evaluation, market research, cost and price analysis and documentation related to price negotiations.

DARPA is also considering integrating robotic process automation into Defense Department IT systems, including the System for Award Management, Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System and the Standard Performance System/Procurement Desktop-Defense. Respondents are asked to provide available information on the software’s security and any interoperability limitations it might have with existing government systems.

Keep reading this article at: https://gcn.com/articles/2019/01/24/darpa-rpa.aspx

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How to avoid vendor problems and reduce costs

What federal agencies don’t know about contractors and markets can hurt them.

OPMWitness the sudden disappearance last month of Imperatis Corp., the contractor renovating the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) computer network in the wake of last summer’s breach of the personnel and background investigation records of 21.5 million people. Imperatis announced it was ceasing operations due to financial distress on May 7.

OPM was caught unaware and, though it isn’t expecting termination of the company’s contract to affect operations, the situation has deepened already intense congressional and inspector general scrutiny at a time when the agency is seeking additional funds for technology upgrades.

Market ResearchDeeper understanding of the interactions, trends, constraints, behaviors and financials of vendors, their supply networks and buyers in the IT services market will significantly reduce the risk that OPM or other agencies will face incidents like this one.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/excellence/promising-practices/2016/06/how-avoid-vendor-problems-and-reduce-costs/128755

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OFPP tells agencies to get serious about tracking contractor performance

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy is attempting, for a third time, to get  agencies to use the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) more  consistently.

So instead of asking and encouraging, OFPP Administrator Joe Jordan is setting  specific goals for agencies.

In a new memo to chief acquisition officers and  senior procurement executives, Jordan sets three-year targets for agencies to  enter vendor-performance information into the governmentwide database.

This year, the goals vary depending on how often the agency is currently entering  data into PPIRS. For instance, departments inputting data for 60 percent or more  of their contracts, must improve to 85 percent by Sept. 30. For agencies using  PPIRS 30 percent to 60 percent of the time, their goal now is 75  percent. And for those agencies using PPIRS less than 30 percent of the time,  their goal is 65 percent.

“This required contract-administration duty can significantly reduce the risk to  the government on future awards, so agencies must take bold steps to ensure that  all critical performance information is made available in the Past Performance  Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) in a timely manner, and to the maximum extent  practicable, eliminate duplicative, paper-based past performance evaluation  surveys generated outside these systems,” Jordan wrote.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/517/3247234/OFPP-tells-agencies-to-get-serious-about-tracking-contractor-performance

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