Software Accelerates and Standardizes Procurement by NASA

Virtual Procurement Office (VPO) is a Web-based application program designed for use by procurement professionals throughout NASA. Prior to the development of VPO, each of the 700+ NASA procurement pro- fessionals had to spend much time searching numerous locations on-line and off-line for the various software tools and other resources necessary to complete each procurement task. VPO accelerates and standardizes the work of these professionals by giving them accurate and efficient means for gaining access to all relevant on-line resources that support the procurement process. The resources include (1) rules (e.g., Federal Acquisition Regulations); (2) samples (e.g., prior procurement documents that might be useful as guides); and (3) “build tools” — application software, forms, and document templates that should be used to complete procurement tasks. In order to provide a familiar interface, VPO was structured following the matrix format of NASA Form 1098, Checklist for Contract Award File Content. Each row on the matrix represents a possible step in the contracting process, e.g., market research or acquisition plan. For each row on the matrix, VPO provides a column with the capability to include “rules,” “samples,” “build tool,” and “status.”