Administration’s Shared Services Push Starts In Familiar Place: Payroll

TarikVision/Shutterstock.com

Officials said the NewPay payroll and work schedule system will be a case study for rolling out other shared services across government.

The administration’s big push on shared services will look familiar to many. But that’s by design, according to two officials leading the effort.

Shared services—a single agency managing systems for commons needs across government—was listed as one of the administration’s Cross-Agency Priority, or CAP goals, giving the initiative the weight of the White House and milestones to achieve.

Agencies already share some services, like fleet and property management, through programs offered by the General Services Administration. Most agencies also have their payroll managed by one of four agency shared service providers: GSA, Agriculture, Defense or Interior departments.

The administration is doubling down on sharing payroll services as part of the NewPay system, which will also cover work schedule and leave management. There are more than 108 work schedule systems used by federal agencies, with only half using systems provided through shared services providers, according to the solicitation for the NewPay contract.

GSA awarded a 10-year, $2.5 billion contract in September to teams led by Carahsoft and Grant Thornton. Those teams will work with the shared services providers to build relevant software-as-a-service payroll and scheduling systems and help agencies migrate to the new systems over time.

GSA officials expect the new method to lower payroll and scheduling costs by 75 percent governmentwide.

If this sounds familiar to past shared services initiatives, that’s because it is.

“We’re going to start with some of the things we’re already doing and elevate them, do them well and ensure agencies can actually understand what that success model looks like,” Suzette Kent, federal chief information officer, said during an event Thursday hosted by the Association of Government Accountants.

Kent was joined on the panel by GSA Administrator Emily Murphy, who agreed that an undertaking like shared services should begin with an area that everyone agrees on and where there are already lessons learned. One such lesson is how the slow drip of customization leads right back to a complex, disconnected system, as seen with government’s travel system.

“How do we avoid letting it turn into a bunch of different systems all over again? Every federal agency that I’m aware of uses the same travel management system. We all use a different version of it,” Murphy said. “We have over 40 different versions of that travel system, which means we can’t share data. We don’t actually have a shared service working, even though we all have the same software.”

Murphy, GSA and the CAP goal team hope to avoid that situation with the NewPay system while still ensuring individual agencies and offices get their unique requirements filled.

“It’s making sure … that we’ve got the focus on customer experience so that people don’t feel the need to go and build their own system on top of something to get what they need. And that they’re seeing the savings and the ability to reinvest in their mission,” she said.

Kent, who spent 27 years managing financial and payment system overhauls in the private sector, said the return on investment will be there, even if it’s not evident right away.

“Having worked with many private-sector companies and large, global companies that have gone through this journey, I am passionate about the value that comes out of it. But it doesn’t happen in six months, per se,” Kent said. “There will be early-stage value. But the longer-term value will come in increments.”

Beyond NewPay, Murphy said as an acquisition professional, she is looking forward to seeing a single contract writing system that could be used across government.

NEXT STORY: FCW Insider: Nov. 1

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.