Farm credit agency looks to cloud

The small agency that oversees financial firms that loan money to the nation’s farmers is looking to make the jump to the cloud for some of its financial reporting capabilities.

In a Jan. 6 solicitation, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation (FCSIC), said it is “looking for a 100% cloud-based solution” to help it facilitate, automate and streamline its financial reporting duties.

The turnkey service the agency wants will pull data from Excel financial reports, meld it into the chart, table, graphics and text formats necessary for financial reporting and audit management, as well as track changes, provide comment capabilities and generate reports.

FCSIC is an independent federal government-controlled corporation which shares board members with the Farm Credit Administration.

The FCSIC wants the software-as-a-service tools to replace its tedious, manual process of compiling weekly, monthly and annual business intelligence reports from financial data. The agency called its current process "inefficient and risky" because of its "limited audit tracking and control management."

FCSIC said it wants the system for 15 users, with customizable administrative and user roles, but the software itself should be managed by the ultimate vendor. The agency wants the solution to have Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) moderate approval and be ready to go six to nine weeks after contract award.

Bids are due Jan. 27.

Correction: This article was updated Jan. 10 to reflect the scope of the solictiation and the governance structure of FCSIC.