DOI recognizes need for financial data management

The Interior Department needs to better establish how and what financial data its agencies and bureaus gather. It then plans to award a five-year contract to set up a master data management solution.

The bureaus use different data elements to track funding and expense data for reporting purposes, such as emergency events and congressional reporting. But Interior's Financial and Business Management System needs to enforce standardization and common business rules and processes to make the expense reporting a less labor-intensive process.

The department wants a master plan tool or software to help its FBMS, a key element of its financial modernization strategy.

DOI noted that it cannot set up a single, department-wide management approach on its own, but it intends to award a contract to implement a system of enhanced grouping and auditing of master data elements.

The contract will include task areas:

• Identify appropriate master data management software
• Determine implementation approach and project management plan
• Provide master data management software license and maintenance
• Deliver technical implementation support
• IT planning and installation
• Support functional implementation
• Provide technical, functional and end-user training and materials
• Annual maintenance and support

DOI released the solicitation May 23. Responses are due by June 23.