The Integrated Acquisition Environment is facing an expanding customer base.

While the name of the system is focused on acquisition, the General Services Administration quickly is realizing a broader cross-section of federal workers that work in everything from grants to agency specific programs to legal offices are relying on the systems and its data to make decisions.

Memi Whitehead, the deputy assistant commissioner for GSA’s Integrated Award Environment, said the program is trying to meet all of their customers’ needs by reducing the burdens around compliance, data sharing and functionality.

“We are seeing increased satisfaction. We are seeing that they’re able to do the things that they’re coming to our systems to do,” Whitehead said in an interview with Federal News Network at the recent ACT-IAC ImaginationNation conference. “No one may start out wanting to come to the systems, but in order to accomplish, in order to get the contract, in order to get the grant, in order to apply for the loan, they need to come through these systems and provide that data. We want to make it a smoother and easier process for them, but we also want to make sure that they can accomplish the reason they’re here.”

One way GSA is doing that is by improving its content management system.

Whitehead said GSA spent the last year and a half trying to better understand what their customers need and how IAE can serve different sectors of customers.

Through surveys, in person interactions and user testing, IAE is building capabilities based on that feedback.

“What we’re really looking to do is take those and build out useful things that show that not only did we hear you, but then we’re delivering things that have improved the experience … that are making it easier and reducing burden,” she said. “One of the things that we heard from users was that they needed a better way to interact with and find the information to help them through challenges and help them through problems. So finding and incorporating a lot of our help material and our knowledge material into a searchable content management system is something that we’re building out because we’ve heard from users that that will help them.”

Content management system coming soon

Whitehead said the content management system sites behind the SAM.gov platform that lets users search and find not just data about a contract opportunity or data about an Entity Registration, but help data content, like web page content, information that’s contained within the site that may not be a specific data entry.

The content management system is just one of several ongoing projects to continue to improve IAE based on user feedback.

Whitehead said GSA recognizes agency and industry customers all want more tools and want them as soon as possible.

“For industry, one of the ways that we were able to collect information to help build out our understanding of what they need and what they’re asking for is to actually embed a survey within the registration process and have them describe what it is they’re trying to do,” she said. “After they’ve gone through that survey, then we can marry up that data with other pieces that we already had and connect that user experience with what they’re trying to do with the actual metrics and the quantitative values as they go through the process.”

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