Page 11 - MILConnection_Spring2021

Dive into data with visualizations

Challenge
MIL supports the Comptroller of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) at the State Department
with a wide array of financial, budget, audit, and portfolio management processes. The Comptroller
provides very high-profile mid-year and year-end financial briefings to the DS Assistant Secretary
and Deputy Assistant Secretaries. The existing presentation took weeks to prepare, pulling in
data from multiple systems of record into a static slideshow presentation with hundreds of slides
representing financial data for each DS program office.
Solution

MIL recommended the implementation of data visualizations using PowerBI. MIL replicated
the primary visualizations in the original slide deck, primarily charts of the status of funds and
unliquidated obligations (ULOs). Whereas the static presentation required hundreds of slides
to display data for each program office, the MIL team was able to condense this down to two
dashboards that could be filtered by program office, as well as a multitude of other parameters such
as fiscal year, appropriation, transaction type, risk, and other key attributes. The preparation time
also reduced from weeks to just a couple of days since PowerBI could access source data directly
without the need for constant update, error correction, and format changes.
Benefit

This first data visualization was a huge success and has spawned a dashboard initiative at the DS
Comptroller’s office. The team has created dashboards for ‘deep dives’ into ULOs, internal audit
results, monthly financial reports, upward spending and over-expenditure research, error correction,
refund check reviews, and more. MIL uses visualizations tools such as PowerBI and Tableau on
multiple client projects and is seeing the use of dashboarding explode throughout the government as
it can truly bring to light patterns, trends, and outliers that can be quickly researched and corrected.
Data visualizations provide instant insights to management and can be used to present real-time
data that can be drilled down into and presented in a multitude of ways on the fly. MIL now has the
ability to immediately filter, drill down, and display the visualization to provide quick answers. The
implementation of data visualizations is a game changer for any financial operation and is quickly

conferences

Paying it Forward: Taking time to mentor small businesses

On February 22nd, MIL Vice President Bruce Corfield served as host to a GSA virtual industry day event
targeted at GSA OASIS small business contractors. Bruce’s hour-long seminar, entitled “OASIS OSIG
Industry Day: Success Stories and Lessons Learned on Team Partnerships,” presented tangible advice on
networking and effective team building for opportunities offered by the OASIS contract.

GSA OASIS is a government-wide, multiple award contract designed to support complex program
requirements in multiple technical disciplines using a variety of contract types (fixed price, cost-
reimbursement, cost plus, etc.). GSA OASIS offers government agencies ready access to cohorts of small,
8(a), and large businesses that have been pre-qualified in functional areas such as program management,
logistics, engineering, and financial services.
Bruce’s presentation and subsequent discussions with key executives from several small businesses shared valuable insight and advice
on identifying strategic teaming partners, and the value of relationship building. Bruce’s event was informative and well-attended
and provided an interactive platform for OASIS awardees to learn from industry decision makers and benefit from their real-world
experiences.

spring 2021 | The MIL Connection | 11