U.S. Office of Personnel Management www.opm.gov - Recruiting, Retaining and Honoring a World-Class Workforce to Serve the American People

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Provider Assessment

Background

After the launch of the HR LOB in the spring of 2004, the HR LOB Task Force, now known as the HR LOB MAESC, established a work group to develop the HR LOB Common Solution(s): White Paper and Concept of Operations (CONOPS). This CONOPS, published on June 30, 2004, established a "phased approach to delivering HR services via Shared Service Centers based on a common, reusable architecture that leverages 'Plug and Play' architecture concepts". The CONOPS also stated that the HR LOB MAESC will review and assess the SSCs through a Management Improvement Program (MIP), similar to the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP) which is now known as the Financial Systems Integration Office (FSIO).

When the MAESC was formally recognized through its charter in 2005, Attachment A to the MAESC Charter - HR LOB MAESC Governance Structure Roles and Responsibilities - established in writing an MIP to help the MAESC fulfill its responsibilities to:

• Review operations of the SSCs to ensure the delivery of state-of-the-art HR solutions and services
• Ensure that HR LOB information systems and processes are based on and comply with all appropriate OPM HR legal, regulatory, and policy requirements
• Review results from requirements validation laboratory to assess the functionality, interoperability, and integration of potential HR management system solution sets

In August 2005, the OPM Director and each SSC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with OPM to establish the agreement between OPM and the SSC Agency for the continuation of HR service delivery by the SSC Agency to other Federal agencies. According to the MOU, OPM responsibilities include:

• Conduct reviews of HR SSC service delivery against established measures and metrics which may include:
  • benchmarking reviews
  • quality assurance reviews
  • compliance reviews and audits
  • review of SSC organization to ensure that all functions necessary to implement the HR LOB common solution and vision are effectively represented, promoted, and managed
  • progress reviews to ensure that the SSC Agency is progressing toward the long-term end-state HR LOB service delivery model
• Provide information to customer agencies to assist in evaluating service offerings to SSCs

Over the years, a number of ideas have been considered regarding the process for assessment of HR LOB service providers and their ability to deliver services:

• e-Payroll demonstration laboratory (2002-2003)
• J-HRMIP requirements validation laboratory (2004)
• SSC solutions certification process (2005 - 2007)
• Provider Capability Model (2008)

The above were conceived based on existing sources in the Federal government - such as Financial Systems Integration Office - and in the private sector - such as Carnegie Mellon - and evolved over time from an initial focus on system certification to a focus on best practices and innovation. The Provider Capability Model (PCM) was formally presented to the MAESC at their monthly meeting in September 2008. At the meeting, the MAESC recommended that the HR LOB develop an alternative to the PCM emphasizing that the HR LOB should investigate reuse of existing assessment methods already in place to reduce the burden to providers and customer agencies.

Since the fall of 2008 the HR LOB Program Management Office has been collaborating with both customer agencies and the HR LOB service providers (SSCs and Payroll Providers) to develop a provider assessment program. This assessment program will appraise HR LOB service providers on their ability to deliver services to their customers.