Next Phase Solutions
Next Phase Solutions
IG Risk Score
Regardless of whether you are responsible for a new program or manage a legacy enterprise, chances are an Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has oversight jurisdiction of your program. They are tasked with ensuring tax dollars are being spent efficiently and effectively, and importantly, in accordance with regulations and laws. Your Inspector General (IG) Risk Score is a calculus of your program’s funding sources, governing policies, management mechanisms, performance metrics, and your ability to demonstrate compliance. It’s been my experience after 37 years in the IG Community that programs with the most robust data/business management systems, particularly if they are tethered to performance metrics that reflect updated mandates, are positioned to come through an OIG engagement successfully. That means no findings and no recommendations, and often a statement in the report that “all is in order”. The availability and accessibility of program data, coupled with well documented performance metrics, go a long way toward demonstrating to OIGs, the public, and even funding sources, that all is being managed well.
IG Responsibilities
There are approximately 73 Offices of Inspector General (OIG) across the Federal Government, each responsible for identifying fraud, waste and abuse through audits, evaluations and investigations. They’re not the bad guys but are charged by law with identifying opportunities to realize efficiencies, improve effectiveness and ensure compliance across the missions they oversee.The results of their work can spell trouble for managers who are out of compliance, and their presence in your space brings risk! Seasoned managers wisely engage their OIGs early on, but unfortunately, many managers have had unpleasant experiences with OIGs. How to deal effectively and smartly with your OIG is advice I’ll be happy to share at another time. The results of OIG audits and evaluations are provided in public reports to agency heads and are reviewed by Congressional staff—authorizers and appropriators, and other oversight committees. OIG reports and findings can affect contractor award fees. They are accompanied by recommendations that often leave managers scrambling to get into compliance and avoid difficult communications with senior decision-makers and congressional staff. Whether you are an experienced or brand-new manager, do you know your IG Risk Score?
Compliance
Federal and contractor managers work hard to ensure they are meeting or surpassing Federal mission performance metrics. Experienced managers know that the Federal regulatory and legislative landscape is ever-changing and that their program can fall out of compliance before they know it. If you’re a contractor managing any part of a Federal program, this principle applies to you as well. Federal program management involves risk! This is particularly so if a program involves public-facing data, as there are recent new laws mandating changes. New mandates often require changes to program automated data or business management systems, but these changes are often overlooked or regarded as low priority by managers. And that brings higher risk!
Limit Risk
Next Phase Solution, LLC, a woman-owned small business, offers Federal and industry customers OnBase by Hyland, a versatile data content management solution developed here in the United States. Next Phase can help you evaluate your IG Risk Score and prepare your organization for a visit by the OIG. OnBase is a COTS, low-custom-code solution that is cloud architecture-friendly and can merge legacy data systems into user interfaces to provide an enhanced seamless automated data/business capability. Flexible, scalable and secure, OnBase evolves as customer requirements change. With enterprise data encrypted on the move or while at rest, OnBase is secure and helps counter insider-threat risks. On the GSA Schedule, Next Phase Solution, LLC is ready to help you manage your programs and maintain a healthy IG Risk Score. Contact us at (407) 440-1411 for a demonstration or reach out through email at npscorp@npsols.com.