The Modernizing Government Technology Act (MGT) has ushered in a new era of IT innovation within the federal government, and provides an unprecedented opportunity to update the government's legacy IT infrastructures. However, with this ongoing movement to transform the government's digital infrastructure, the digital transformation of acquisition infrastructure cannot be forgotten.
Procurement process innovation and the modernization of an organization's IT infrastructure go hand in hand. Historically, commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) applications have seemed like an obvious answer. Instead of building systems from scratch, each agency would seek to license already available software specifically designed for the need they have.
Procuring a COTS solution is easy -- but organizations fail to get what they really need, because they have to sacrifice the agility needed to best support the mission over time. However, when looking at modernizing your organization's acquisition management platform, reducing duplication, increasing efficiency and improving reliability can be accomplished--without sacrificing speed or ease of use. The answer lies in leveraging a custom built application to accomplish your specific organization's mission goals and objectives. Nowhere is this more obvious than in acquisition management.
Appian's application platform centralizes processes, systems, and data to improve productivity and ease the burdens of government IT. Appian for Acquisition Management allows federal agencies to modernize acquisition services by consolidating information from multiple systems into a single view, automating approval processes, and providing efficient task management in a collaborative environment. The best part? Custom applications through the Appian platform can be created and deployed at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional COTS.
Looking for examples of success with custom applications? Take a look at the Defense Acquisition University, which leveraged the Appian platform to build a Micro-Purchase Management System. This system reduces their requisition processing time, utilizes web forms to eliminate repetitive data entry, delivers reports that can be used to identify process bottlenecks. Perhaps most importantly, the consistency of reporting that Appian delivers is a huge benefit, ensuring that reporting data is accurate, which enables less time and effort on data validation and cleansing, and more focus on strategic business issues.
The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) also needed to improve efficiency and drive automation in its procurement processes. The Agency wanted increased collaboration through a single web-based system for customers, contractors, and administrators to manage all pre-award, award and post-award activities. Using Appian, DISA created the cloud-based and mobile-enabled Integrated Defense Enterprise Acquisition System (IDEAS) ñ the largest and most comprehensive BPM-based acquisition management solution in the United States Federal Government. IDEAS connects procurement operations, systems, and DISA personnel (including over 300 Contracting resources) in a single end-to-end procurement solution that manages all aspects of procurement work from pre-award to award and post-award activities. Appian has allowed DISA to drive improvements in productivity and work quality by automating complex agency processes and providing real-time access to critical government information and applications.
The benefits are clear - an application platform is the way to go over a COTS. Ready to start modernizing your acquisition management process? Visit our Acquisition Management Resource Center for more information on how your organization can digitally transform their acquisition processes.
Brian Chidester
Industry Marketing Lead - Public Sector
Appian is a software company that orchestrates business processes. The Appian AI Process Platform includes everything you need to design, automate, and optimize even the most complex processes, from start to finish. The world's most innovative organizations trust Appian to improve their workflows, unify data, and optimize operations—resulting in better growth and superior customer experiences.