The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) today announced a nearly $2 million investment to modernize the U.S. AbilityOne Commission’s Procurement List Information Management System (PLIMS) software.
The U.S. AbilityOne Commission – an independent Federal agency – oversees the AbilityOne Program, which is one of the largest sources of employment in the United States for individuals who have disabilities. The PLIMS software connects employers of individuals who are blind or have significant disabilities with Federal agency customers.
The $1.78 million investment will enhance system accessibility, create a more secure technical system, and increase the commission’s ability to execute program oversight.
“AbilityOne is a small, independent agency with an extremely meaningful mission,” said TMF Board Chair and Federal CIO Clare Martorana.
“Many AbilityOne employees are designated as essential workers; their duties include staffing critical non-interruptible services, such as dining facilities and switchboard operations at military bases and VA hospitals, as well as call centers for the IRS and with the support of the TMF, this investment will ensure AbilityOne can continue providing these essential services without interruption,” she said.
The TMF Board said the current PLIMS “is obsolete” with troubling security risks and poor accessibility. With the TMF investment, the commission will leverage an Agile program management process to modernize PLIMS in a cloud-based Software as a Service environment.
“TMF funding will modernize critical software that supports employment opportunities for thousands of people, including more than 2,500 wounded warriors,” said TMF Executive Director Raylene Yung. “AbilityOne directly supports a variety of programs that connect veterans and others with disabilities to nonprofit agencies and other resources.”
AbilityOne provides almost $4 billion in products and services to the Federal government annually, and the TMF investment will help the commission to more easily connect Federal customers with program partners.
“AbilityOne is pleased to partner with the TMF to modernize our PLIMS system,” said Jeffrey A. Koses, GSA senior procurement executive at the Office of Government-wide Policy and U.S. AbilityOne Commission chairperson. “The investment will increase the Commission’s ability to execute its statutory oversight of the program and will benefit the Federal customers who depend on AbilityOne products and services, as well as the program’s 450 nonprofits, which employ 40,000 people on AbilityOne contracts.”
