Jason Miller just filed new story for GCN discussing how the Financial Management Line of Business (FMLOB) and Grants Management Line of Business (GMLOB) are working together to figure out how they intersect. Yours truly is quoted in there (I’m an “expert” now? God help us all), as are Mary Mitchell of the FMLOB, Charles Havekost of the GMLOB, and Grice Mulligan of Infoterra, who’s providing software to the USAID/State grants effort. The upshot is that FM and GM integration is difficult, and that progress in each LOB is stymied in its own way. In grants, Havekost notes,

“One thing that has been a bit of a hindrance in all of this is naming the second round of consortia members. Agencies are hesitant to choose a consortia provider because they know more [providers] likely will be named. Once we have the full set, it will be easier for agencies to make a choice and come up with a migration plan.”

He’s quite right, but I wonder whether the next three selections will be the very last? There’s some talk already that the providers selected won’t round out or be able to service all grant-making agencies.

Anyway, the question of FM and GM integration is one that we at TCG have been investigating for some time, with a white paper in the works that looks at the problem based on our experience in government. There’s no fixed deadline for its publication — we’re working on it in between doing the work that keeps us fed — but if you’re interested in it let me know and I’d be happy to send it to you once it’s done.