IRS chooses 6 for $181M system testing support pact
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By
Ross Wilkers
Awardees will work with the agency to help carry out a “Final Integration Test,” which is intended to be all-encompassing and the last check before tax filing season begins.
The IRS has awarded six companies places on a potential five-year, $181.6 million blanket purchase agreement for testing services across the agency’s portfolio of applications and systems.
Under the Enterprise System Testing BPA, awardees will work with the IRS to assess the fitness for purpose of each system with an eye on user acceptance and validation.
IRS officials made their selections on Monday and Tuesday with 46 bids submitted, according to Federal Procurement Data System information.
FPDS calls out these companies as winners so far:
- AccelGov
- Golden IT
- Gunnison Consulting Group
- Harmonia Holdings Group
- Peraton (incumbent)
- Syneren Technologies Corp.
The nature of BPAs means more awards could be in the works, so we will update that list as need be.
Peraton currently performs the work under a delivery order issued in September 2023 with a $36.2 million ceiling. GovTribe data indicates the IRS has obligated $21 million in order volume to-date.
Solicitation documents issued in May 2024 outline how work under the BPA will aid in a process the IRS calls a “Final Integration Test,” which is intended to verify and validate requirements across multiple systems.
The FIT approach starts with the creation of primary source inputs and ends with tracing them to the final outputs. These tests typically take place each year before the start of the annual filing tax season.
For this new BPA, the IRS is particularly interested in automating testing activities with the intent to carry those out earlier in the delivery cycle. Awardees will also work with the IRS on implementing more efficient processes for managing the test data.