Web app relieves grunt work

One of the Transportation Administrative Service Center's first concerns in setting up its new governmentwide program, dubbed Value Added Niche Information Technology Services (VANITS), was cutting down the time it takes for agencies to get contractors in place and working. Part of the solution was a Web-based procurement process that a TASC customer can launch from a desktop computer. The application begins with a template that uses a series of questions to guide that customer through the process of developing a statement of work.

The statement of work, once refined and ready, goes out to contractors who are represented on VANITS and the newer Specialized Technical and Technology User Services (STATUS) program in the specified technology area, which triggers a domino effect. Contractors respond by filling out a form based on that statement of work, and their response becomes the basis of any requisition and subsequent invoice. Once the customer verifies that the work was done as invoiced, TASC pays the contractor within 10 days. By using this series of Web-based templates, "we are telescoping this whole process together...which makes it easier for both the customer and the contractor," said Steve Sill, program manager for STATUS.