Acumen Solutions Announces START to Help Government Track and Manage Stimulus Funding

Business Wire, April 29, 2009

Unique Application Built Upon salesforce.com’s Force.com Platform Enables Agencies to Gain Transparency, Oversight and Accountability for Recovery Act Funds Within 30 Days

VIENNA, Va. -- Today, Acumen Solutions, a leading business and technology consulting firm that specializes in bringing cloud computing to large enterprises, introduced their Stimulus Tracking and Recipient Transparency or START program for government agencies. START empowers agencies to rapidly track and manage the launch of programs enabled by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In addition, START gives oversight organizations such as an Inspector General’s office, instant visibility to all efforts so that they can comply with federal and state mandates for accountability and transparency.

Acumen Solutions, established in 1999, has eight of the fifteen cabinet level agencies as clients and holds a number of Federal contracting vehicles such as a GSA Schedule. The ARRA (more information at www.recovery.gov) allocates an estimated $280 billion in direct funding to federal agencies and requires unprecedented transparency to taxpayers by mandating that these Agencies post their program results with the OMB.

START is built upon salesforce.com’s Force.com platform and includes training and consulting services for a 30-day rapid launch. It is aimed at agencies struggling with how best to rapidly track, manage and comply with the requirements mandated by the Obama Administration for accountability, oversight and transparency of economic stimulus funds intended to spur jobs and economic growth at all levels of government.

START, an Economic Stimulus Tracking Solution

The START basic solution includes the following standard features:

• Ready to Roll - Pre-loaded block grant program data specific to each individual Agency.
• Simple Automation - Supports aggregation of data from an unlimited amount of funding recipients and vast amounts of quarterly report data submitted via a simple, easy to implement process.
• Instant Oversight - Executive dashboards and management reporting that complies with the OMB guidelines for accountability and transparency as mandated by The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

This solution empowers Agencies to get up and running fast without losing their ability to track and control the funds and the program results such as job creation or housing improvements. START allows Departments and Agencies to track recovery act funds whether they are distributed to non-federal recipients or are used internally by the organization on its own projects or activities.

“Government organizations at every level have been struggling with how to rapidly disperse funds and yet track, manage and control the programs so that they meet the Federal standards for reporting, accountability and oversight,” says Jay Tansing, Managing Director of the Public Sector Practice at Acumen Solutions. “Our START solution is a customized offering built on the Force.com platform and delivered in the cloud that provides the ability to launch tracking and reporting for Agencies and Recipients within 30 days. Building solutions in-house or using on-premise software cannot match this ability or the savings to be had from this on-demand platform.”

Because this solution is built upon the flexible cloud computing platform Force.com, further customization for specific Department or Agency requirements such as workflow automation or systems integration into other financial or tracking systems can also be delivered by Acumen Solutions to meet future needs.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocates over 280 Billion dollars in direct funding. A large portion of the Act funding will go to states, territories and tribes, which will in turn distribute funds through grants, contracts, subsidies, loan programs, etc. The Act also requires unprecedented transparency, oversight and accountability for thousands of recipients, their projects, and their contracts. For more details on the Act refer to www.recovery.gov.

More information about START can be found at these locations or upcoming events:

• Cloud Computing Conference, Ronald Reagan Building, on April 29, 2009. Acumen Solutions and salesforce.com are sponsoring this conference. Demos and more information can be obtained at our booth.
• Live demo Webinar about START will be hosted by Carahsoft, May 7th 2009 2 PM EDT. Registration for the webinar can be found at http://tinyurl.com/d8fmub
• Video demo of START can be found on www.acumensolutions.com/START.asp