New PIEE tool replaces legacy options

FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. -

Defense Contract Management Agency's FIRM center continues its modernization initiatives with new tools becoming available within the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment, or PIEE. Agency employees can begin accessing the new Audit Tracking and Action Tool, or AT-AT, April 29.

Functional Information Resources Management, or FIRM, falls within the agency's Contracts Directorate while also working closely with the agency's Information Technology Directorate when developing tools like AT-AT.

DCMA's Chief Information Officer Karen Schultheis said in a video interview that the AT-AT launch modernizes current processes and supports the agency's second line of effort to modernize with enhanced tools and standardize contract administration actions and data accessibility across the agency.

"With these enhanced tools, the DCMA team can continue to delivery critical goods and services to the warfighter on time, on budget and at the best value to the taxpayer," Schultheis said.

The AT-AT dashboard is designed to consolidate various legacy systems and provide a more unified and efficient environment to manage audits and track actions to support contractor compliance. The FIRM team redeveloped the "now-obsolete eTool legacy platform" and the contract business systems, or CBS Tracker. The new dashboard will include: contract audit follow-up, or CAFU; forward incurred cost rates; overhead negotiations; sub records; FORM 1, which is used when contractors request relief from the agency; and cost accounting standards.

"I'm very excited for AT-AT to come to fruition after so many DCMA employees have worked so hard on it," said Pam Meyers, the policy owner CAFU action officer with the Contracts Directorate. "I think the largest improvement is the ability to create and track sub-records for questioned direct costs. All those monthly follow-up calls and emails will be a thing of the past."

The legacy system's limitations, including several unfulfilled updates and non-compliance with regulatory requirements such as FAR 4.16 Unique Procurement Instrument Identifiers, highlighted the need for a more robust and compliant system.

"The new Audit Tracking and Action Tool will make the contracting officer's work life easier," said Tony Gaglione, a contracts specialist with DCMA's Eastern Regional Command. "Currently, they must go into five different applications to track and document the many actions making up a large part of their administrative workload."

Gaglione said these redundancies and inefficiencies with the old systems will be gone with the launch of the AT-AT dashboard. Users will be able to use an intuitive interface designed for easy navigation, real-time collaboration, and efficient task management. It will also provide advanced analytics into work patterns and performance metrics, enabling data-driven decisions to optimize productivity with the following capabilities:

• A modern interface

• Centralized collaboration features

• Advanced task management

• Document sharing with version control

• Customizable workflows

• Integration flexibility

• Advanced analytics

"Creating this dashboard has taken a village, but the arrival of AT-AT will give administrative contracting officers a 'one-stop-shop' module application within PIEE for all their ACO actions," said Lisa Cvilikas, a contract specialist with DCMA's Eastern Regional Command.

The FIRM and AT-AT working group have provided training and recordings, which are available on the process resource page and the PIEE homepage. The AT-AT page will also provide on-going training resources for all users.

"The long-awaited launch of AT-AT represents a leap forward in how audits and contractor compliance are managed within DCMA and external entities, which will positively impact our daily working lives," said Grace Andriliunas, a DCMA Special Programs contract specialist with the AT-AT PIEE working group. "These tools will enhance and refine our ability to manage and track our audit workload across multiple functions and customers."

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