Centralized Professional Services System ePortal: Assessment Framework

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Background

In 2006, the Office of the Auditor General identified a requirement (Management Action Plan) for the establishment of a process to monitor and control the use of the Professional Services (PS) Online System to ensure federal departments and agencies:

This requirement was met in 2008, with the implementation of an assessment framework (process) developed by:

In 2009, the PS Online Assessment Framework was used as a baseline to develop an assessment framework (process) for Temporary Help Services (THS) online.

In 2010, the Office of Audit and Evaluation established a mandate:

In 2011, in response to the mandate of the Office of Audit and Evaluation, a pilot assessment project for THS was completed, based on the assessment framework developed for THS online in 2009. This work involved the Client Engagement Sector: Office of Small and Medium Enterprises—Strategic Engagement (OSME-SE) and the Online Services Division.

In 2011, the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman (OPO) completed a review of the PS online automated procurement tool, including the assessment framework (process) used to monitor and control the use of this self-serve procurement tool. A report was released re-affirming the need for and the benefits of an assessment process.

Report: Procurement Practice Reviews—Professional Services Online

In April 2012, revisions to the PS Online Assessment Framework (process) were made to respond to the OPO report and assessments of the PS online automated procurement tool were carried out and completed in fiscal year 2012 to 2013.

In fiscal year 2013 to 2014, further revisions were made to the assessment framework (process) for assessments completed on 3 departments using THS online. These changes reflect the experience gained in carrying out the PS online assessments, as well as recommendations made by OPO.

Objective

To monitor and control the use of the self-serve procurement tools accessed through the Centralized Professional Services System (CPSS) ePortal.

Scope

In fiscal year 2015 to 2016, as part of the Professional Services National Procurement Strategy an assessment framework (process) will be implemented for the methods of supply (MoS) in the CPSS ePortal.

The annual process is to involve the assessment of files (call-ups and contracts where applicable) from all method of supply (MoS) in the CPSS ePortal:

Documentation

Assessments will be based on the harmonized business rules for the MoS in the CPSS ePortal.

Guidance document

The assessor guidance document provides specifics such as a description of how assessment findings are to be established and the type of finding. The types of findings are:

The assessor guidance document may be amended from time to time.

Draft final report

Once the assessment is completed, a draft final report on the findings, covering each call-up/contract assessed, will be provided to the federal department user and their manager, with a timeframe to respond by accepting the findings or appealing the findings. The appeal must be in writing and include rationale and evidence to support the appeal.

To be considered, any appeal must be made within 60 calendar days of the date of receipt of the draft final report. Failure to respond within the stated timeframe will result in the findings being deemed as having been accepted and a note to this effect will be included in the final report.

Final report

Based on the outcome of discussions on the draft final report, a final report will be prepared and sent to:

Selection process (files to be assessed)

Step 1

The initial list of potential assessments will be selected by using any or all of the following criteria:

Step 2

Federal department users will be notified of the requirement for an assessment and, within a stated timeframe, will be required to:

Failure to respond/provide the above information within the stated timeframe will result in the federal department user's CPSS ePortal account being de-activated until a response is received. The MoS business owner will be informed of the de-activation carried out by the CPSS division and the resulting re-activation.

Step 3

The call-up/contract information provided under step 2 will be reviewed to identify the potential files for assessment, using, but not limited to the following criteria:

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