Task Order Management System (TOMS)

The client - a government contractor - managed a complex task order lifecycle involving multiple stakeholders: internal contract staff initiating and estimating work, and government customer staff reviewing and approving task orders. The existing process was manual, error-prone, and lacked transparency - with task descriptions, cost estimates, labor allocations, and approval chains managed through disconnected documents and email. They needed a secure, web-accessible, role-based task order management system (TOMS) that could automate business processes from the initial task request by the customer through cost estimating and task approval. The system had to support both internal contract staff and the vendor's government customer staff - with distinct permissions, workflows, and visibility for each user group. Key requirements included ease-of-use with intuitive navigation, automated workflow processes with email notifications for specific tasks and process steps, role-based access to reports and data, and the ability to maintain accurate cost estimates as labor rates, burden factors, and staffing assignments changed over time. The system also needed a document repository for monthly contract technical and financial reports, sortable by date and task, with rollup capabilities for government monitors tracking contract performance.

Periscope Labs delivered end-to-end architecture design, database engineering, frontend and backend development, unit testing, and QA for the TOMS platform. Task Description Management & Approval Workflow. The system enables users to enter, modify, and maintain task descriptions and automatically forwards them through the government approval chain. Each task moves through a defined workflow - from initial request through internal review, cost estimation, and government approval - with automatic email notifications at each stage. Role-based permissions ensure users only see and act on tasks appropriate to their authorization level. Dynamic Cost Estimation Engine. A comprehensive cost factor database maintains employee labor categories, rates, indirect burden factors, handling fees, and other cost components used for accurately estimating task costs. The system allows administration of all underlying databases - employee names, labor categories, rates, on-site/off-site status, salary increase dates and amounts - ensuring that task cost estimates remain accurate as staffing and rate structures change over time. Cost calculations are automated and auditable. Search & Browse Capabilities. Users can browse and search across tasks and resources using sensible search criteria - viewing subsets of tasks by status, date range, cost center, or resource allocation. This enables both operational management (what needs attention today) and portfolio-level visibility (how are we tracking across all active task orders). Role-Based Reporting. The system generates reports that give snapshots at varying levels of detail - depending on user access privilege - covering task descriptions, cost estimates, and staff allocations. Internal staff see operational detail; government monitors see contract-level summaries and rollups. Document Repository. A structured repository stores monthly contract technical and financial reports, sorted by date and task, with rollup capabilities. Government monitors use this to track contract performance over time without requesting ad-hoc reports from the contractor. Technology stack. Built on ASP.NET with C# and Entity Framework for the application layer, Microsoft SQL Server for the database, Microsoft Reporting Services (SSRS) for report generation, deployed on Windows Server. JIRA for project management and Git for version control throughout the development lifecycle.

TOMS replaced a disconnected, manual process with a unified web-based system serving both internal contract staff and government customer staff from a single platform. The automated approval workflow eliminated manual hand-offs and email-based approvals, reducing the time from task request to government approval significantly. The dynamic cost estimation engine ensures estimates remain accurate as rates, labor categories, and staffing assignments change - eliminating the spreadsheet-based estimation process that previously introduced errors and delays. Role-based reporting gives government monitors transparent visibility into contract performance through the document repository and reporting system - without requiring ad-hoc requests to the contractor. Internal staff benefit from search and browse capabilities that provide real-time visibility into task status, resource allocation, and cost tracking across the entire portfolio. The system's role-based access control ensures both internal and customer users see only the data and actions appropriate to their role - maintaining security and compliance for government contract management.