Automated_Task_Order_Management_System_User_Guide.pdf

Automated Task Order Management System

(ATOMS)

User Guide

Table of Contents Overview

Task Order Requests

Mods

Task Order Plans

Maintenance

WBS

Orgs

Contract Years

Contract Prefixes

Approvers

Alternates

Overview The Automated Task Order Management System (ATOMS) provides a tool to facilitate the preparation and approval of task order requests and their corresponding task order plans. Additionally

ATOMS supports the creation of mods to task order requests, and tracks each mod as a separate item, preserving the history of the task order request over time.

Task Order Requests Any government user of ATOMS can create a task order request. To create a new task order request, use the Task Order Requests menu and select “Add”.

On the request form, the Request Number, Mod, and Initiator will be automatically populated when the record is saved. Additionally you must select the TM, BMO, COR, and CO that will be providing approvals for the request, and the Contractor that will be responsible for the plan that will eventually be created as a response to the request. An additional user can also optionally be selected that will be able to view the request but not make changes by choosing a “Guest”.

Once created, the task order request will be in the “New” queue, where it is able to be edited in the future or deleted. This allows you to save a request and come back to it later if you do not have all the information ready at creation.

When the request is complete, it is ready to move through the approval process with the individuals you selected in the request. To begin the approval process, click the “thumbs up” icon to the right of the request in the “New” queue. This will lock the request, preventing any changes and promote it to the “TM” queue. The TM will receive an email and can review the request. The TM may either accept or reject the request. If accepted, the request moves forward to the “COR” queue. In the event of a rejection, the request is placed back into the “New” queue where it can be edited and re-submitted to the TM, and you are notified via email.

The request will continue to move through the approval queues in the same way for the COR and CO, with acceptance promoting the request to the next approval stage, and rejection sending it back to the “New” queue where edits can be made before starting the approval process anew. Note that any rejection requires the request to go back through all approvals, as each approver must document acceptance of any changes. It is not possible to alter the order or number of approvals required.

Once the CO accepts the request, it is placed in the “Approved” queue, and the only options available are to view the request or generate a mod. The CO approval also triggers the creation of a task order plan where the contractor representative selected as part of the request will provide the response to the request.

Mods Mods may be created for approved requests. The creation of a mod results in the creation of a

“clone” of the request, with a new mod number. All the information from the request is added to the new request, and the new request is placed in the “New” queue where it can be edited and sent through the approval process like any other request.

The creation of a mod removes the existing approved request and the related plan, so that the new mod can move through the system and replace it. The “old” request and plan are kept, but hidden to reduce clutter and confusion. Retrieval and viewing of previous versions of a request and plan will be available at a later date.

Task Order Plans For each task order request, a task order plan is created to document the contractor’s proposal for handling the request. Plans are automatically generated when requests reach the “Approved” stage, and the contractor selected for each plan is notified via email as new plans are created.

The contractor users will see the list of plans they are responsible for when using the Task Order

Plans->List menu option. From this list, they can perform similar actions to those that were available to the task order request creator, only for the plan. Plans in the “New” queue may be edited until they are ready to be submitted for approval, and a report view of the request and plan can be generated at this stage as well.

Once the plan is complete, and ready to be approved, the contractor submits the plan using the

“thumbs up” icon to the right of the plan. This locks the plan to prevent editing, and moves the plan to the “TM” queue. The TM is notified via email, and is able to review the plan and accept or reject it.

Much like the approval process for the government users, the plan approval flow follows the accept / reject to “New” pattern. A rejection places the plan back in the “New” queue, where it can be edited and re-submitted for approval.

The plan will flow through the approval queues, until it reaches the approved queue, where it remains, unless a mod is created for the task order request. If a mod is created, that request and it’s eventual plan replace the approved versions.

Maintenance There are several lists that the system uses in the preparation of requests and plans. These lists are maintained under the “Lists” menu option.

WBS

The list of WBS codes used on requests can be managed here. While it is possible to delete codes, deleting a code that has been used will have a negative impact on the viewing of the data. Rather than deleting used codes, they should be disabled, which hides them in the application, but leaves the record intact for requests that use the code. The only codes that should be deleted are codes that were entered in error and are not used in any request.

Orgs This is used to manage the list of orgs that can be selected from when creating a request, and defines orgs that alternates (explained below) can be granted view access for. The same deletion/disable rules apply here, only unused orgs entered in error should be deleted.

Contract Years This is used to manage the list of contract year periods that can be selected from when creating a request. The same deletion/disable rules apply here, only unused orgs entered in error should be deleted.

Contract Prefixes This is used to manage the list of contract prefixes that can be selected from when creating a request. The same deletion/disable rules apply here, only unused orgs entered in error should be deleted.

Approvers This is used to grant approver functionality to government users of the tool. Assigning users to various approver roles allows the user to perform the approval for any items they are identified on when it reaches that stage in the approval process. The same deletion/disable rules apply here, only unused orgs entered in error should be deleted.

Alternates Organizational alternates are used to grant government users visibility to all items for a specific organization. This allows viewing only of all requests for an org defined in the Orgs list above.