EVM Solution with DecisionEdge Software

We are very excited about our partnership with DecisionEdge Software to bring government contractors a comprehensive but easy-to-use earned value management (EVM) solution. Government contractors need to have an EVM solution in place in order to comply with ANSI standard 748,  and most are looking for the easiest, least intrusive solution to meet compliance. We have found that the DecisionEdge Earned Value Manager is an excellent complement to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV for Government Contractors financial management solution and gives our clients what they need to comply.

PVBS and DecisionEdge will be demonstrating the complete solution at a lunch seminar on September 10 at the Microsoft Technology Innovation Center in Reston.  This event will be a great way for government contractors to see the breadth of solutions available for them to meet DCAA and EVM compliance. Click here to register for the seminar.

The DecisionEdge EVM solution produces reports and graphics that help government contractors mine rich data to make sound business decisions about their contracts.  And it integrates with Microsoft Office Project and Microsoft Dynamics NAV for Government Contractors to generate the comprehensive reports that the government requires.

To learn more about EVM, send Bernard Mustafa an email and he’ll send you a copy of the NDIA’s Earned Value Management Systems Intent Guide which discusses EVM in detail.

Three Things to Do to Prepare for EVM

 

Rob Hirschmann, Corporate Vice President with Projility, a Vienna, Virginia based 8(a) government consulting firm focused on implementing effective project portfolio management and earned value management solutions, is a good friend of PVBS.  Projility’s ‘Easy EVM’ suite is based upon a complete Microsoft solution platform. Here’s an interesting article he submitted to us concerning EVM preparation for government contractors.

Over the past twelve months, we’ve seen requirements for ANSI-compliant Earned Value Management (EVM) systems in almost every new procurement coming from the Federal government, small and large.  The message is becoming clear: contractors who cannot come to the table with a solid approach, qualified staff, documented processes and integrated technology solutions (defined together as a system) will not be awarded new work.  This is becoming the status quo across all areas of government – going beyond EVM’s roots in the Department of Defense, now mandatory across Civilian and Homeland Security procurements regardless of contract type.

So what can contractors do to proactively address these requirements? There are three key steps every organization can take NOW:

1. Identify a ‘top 10’ list of procurements you are most likely to bid and compete on.
2. Extract from information services such as Input what similar requirements for EVM have been placed on contractors winning similar awards in the same agency (by size and type of project)
3. Work to understand your organization’s current-state against these requirements, and build a roadmap that provides an integrated approach to EVM to include:
   1. Development of EVM-specific Proposal content
   2. A PM/EVM technical solution to be Piloted on current initiatives with similar requirements, so you are ready to roll into new awards (do it now, don’t wait)
   3. Identify who within the organization will own this capability – and make it part of their job starting immediately
   4. Implement an effective training program for your project managers – it will be their responsibility to own EVM on contracts, teach it as part of your core PM curriculum now (or, if you don’t have a program, it’s a great time to develop one)

The government is looking at EVM as a management tool to objectively determine the cost, schedule and technical status, key risks, and (most importantly) finish line (or lack thereof) for a given project. No matter what the contract type, be prepared with an EVM solution that integrates with your project management methodology and tools, and can incorporate financials from the project quickly and easily.  Be prepared, EVM is good management practice.

 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – Tax issues for Government Contractors

If you are wondering why it seems that there have been income tax changes every year for the last several years, the reason is because there have been income tax changes every year for the last several years.  Compound these changes with sales tax issues and court cases and you could end up spending your entire day reading to find the issues that relate to you and your company.  Meanwhile, business must go on.  In this article, our partners at Goodman have attempted to do some of the sifting for you and have identified three issues that will undoubtedly have an impact on your business. (more)

• Earned Value Management (EVM) Ably Supported in Dynamics-NAV

Most high-growth government contractors that are looking for a new project accounting and financial management solution want to know about the Dynamics-NAV earned value management capabilities.  Government contractors on many new contracts are required to manage and measure their IT projects using an Earned Value Management System (EVMS), per guidelines of ANSI-748. ANSI-748 lists 32 requirements for an EVMS. Many new RFPs hitting the street are listing EVM as a requirement, which means program managers are now being required to provide regular and consistent reports, so that the contracting agency can justify program and project expense and work progress, objectively per these requirements. Government contractors who have deployed Microsoft Dynamics-NAV from PVBS for their ERP, project accounting and financial management also need it to interface with both master scheduling and earned value management systems to achieve full compliance. PVBS has teamed with a number of Microsoft’s top certified project management solution providers to provide end-to-end master scheduling and EVM solutions that bring together the cost, schedule and technical performance data to provide the EVM reports they need. Click here to learn more about how we support EVM requirements.