e-QIP reopens for business

The news that the e-QIP system for background checks came back online this week brought a sigh of relief from contractors.

The Professional Services Council had been a strong voice of warning when the system was shut down in the wake of the massive data breach at the Office of Personnel Management.

But shutting down e-QIP, which is critical for contractors to do business with intelligence agencies and working with classified systems, brought the risk of challenges and delays in getting critical work done.

“We are deeply concerned that companies with contractual commitments to the government could be at great risk for non-performance because they may be unable to get the requisite number and quality of employees processed for new clearances or renewals," said PSC President and CEO Stan Soloway.

Soloway also wrote a column for Washington Technology about the e-QIP shutdown.

But with the joy of its reopening, there are still some words of caution from Soloway.

“The recent data breaches show that even the best protected systems are vulnerable,” he said in a statement.

e-QIP is restarting in a phased approach and will need to work through the backlog of waiting clearances.

OPM will need to balance moving the backlog with conducting a proper clearance process.