Latest update includes:

MMARS Coding and the Protection of Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
The Commonwealth is responsible under G.L. c. 93H and 93I, Executive Order 504 and a variety of other state and federal laws and regulations to protect personally identifiable information and other confidential data.  For example, including the name of a client receiving services on an invoice to the provider of the service would be a breach of confidentiality since this information could be used to identify that the client was receiving certain state services (which are not always considered public information).  

MMARS payment transaction IDs, vendor invoice numbers, contract numbers, check descriptions, and any comment field MUST NOT contain personal information (such as individual’s names, SSN numbers, bank account numbers, date of birth, addresses etc.) or other information that could be combined with other available information to jeopardize privacy or facilitate identity theft.  MMARS document IDs and key comment fields may be printed on checks, sent electronically as part of remittance advice, and will appear on VendorWeb (and may be viewable under public records PIR - Public Information request / FOI - Freedom of Information requests).  Steps must be taken to ensure individual personal information is not used as identification for transactions.  In addition, even if the information may be public,   publicizing certain data may increase the risks of a privacy or confidentiality violation or a data breach.  While it is understood that tracking numerous cases is challenging, using this shortcut may create an unreasonable risk of a privacy violation at great costs to the Department and the Commonwealth.

MMARS Saturday Hours
MMARS and LCM will be available Saturday, October 20, from 9:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. The Help Desk will not be staffed and any Saturday Help Desk calls will be returned on Monday, October 22.

Supplier Diversity Program Fiscal Year 2013 Benchmarks
The Operational Services Division’s Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) is pleased to announce the issuance of the Fiscal Year 2013 benchmarks for the Supplier Diversity Program (SDP).  In an effort to increase the use of certified minority and woman-owned businesses in public purchasing, Executive Branch Departments are strongly encouraged to spend the following percentages of their annual discretionary expenditures with MBEs and WBEs:

Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) -   6%
Woman Business Enterprise (WBE)  - 12%

By issuing these benchmarks OSD is optimistic that Executive Branch agencies will be able to invest the extra time improving on Fiscal Year 2012 results.

The SDO publishes a directory of certified minority, women, and disadvantaged business enterprises and certified minority and women-controlled non-profit organizations. The directory is searchable online and may also be downloaded. To access this directory, please go to www.mass.gov/sdo  and click the Directory of Certified Businesses link on the right.

Attention:  All Users of MA Statewide Contracts
The Operational Services Division (OSD) is in the process of improving both new and existing OSD Updates – the standard guide for how to use the statewide contracts.  The revised document is now called the Contract User Guide.  The new user guide improvements make it easier for all customers to read and understand the key aspects of the contract, in order to make informed decisions and more easily place orders.

For each awarded contract there is an accompanying user guide that includes: 

  • Contract Summary (including Category Names)
  • Benefits and Cost Savings
  • Who Can Use this Contract?
  • Pricing and Purchase Options
  • Additional Information
  • Full Performance Specifications and Requirements
  • Contract Counties or regions
  • Vendor List and Contract Information

To locate the guide for a particular contract, and for any other questions, go to the Comm-PASS website at: www.comm-pass.com.   When you search for a contract, under the Forms and Terms Tab, you will begin to find the Contract User Guides as they get updated.  OSD is also distributing the guides via email to potential users as they are being revised and improved.

Currently the following contracts have updated user guides:

  • FAC71: Lawns & Ground Equipment, Parts and Services
  • HSP 34: Laboratory Supplies and Minor Equipment
  • HSP35: Major Laboratory Equipment, Furnishings and Related Services
  • ITS42:  Software Reseller
  • ITS47:  Information Technology Hardware, Project Management, Integration, and Maintenance
  • MED44: Reference Laboratory Services
  • PRF50:  New Media, Marketing and Advertising Services, plus Event Planning

OSD is committed to continuously improving our customer service.  For more information on OSD Programs and Services, visit the website at: www.mass.gov/osd.

Upcoming Training Sessions and Meetings

  • Intermediate MMARS Warehouse – Wednesday, October 24, 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Vendor Management – Thursday, October 25, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • CIW Report Building with MS Excel – Friday, October 26, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Recurring Payments for Beginners – Tuesday, October 30, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Risk Management – Tuesday, October 30, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Executive Conference Room
  • Appropriation Management – Wednesday, October 31, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Intro to State Finance MMARS Navigation – Tuesday, November 6, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • HR/CMS Fundamentals – Wednesday, November 7, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Encumbrance Management – Thursday, November 8, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Fraud Awareness and Prevention – Friday, November 9, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston 9th Floor Executive Conference Room

Register for these sessions via the Comptroller's Training and Meeting Schedule which lists classes scheduled for three months and Payroll User Groups through December 2012.

MMARS Hint of the Week - Discard a Document
Users with administrator security roles have the ability to discard documents on the Document Catalog. To discard a document:

  1. Search for and open the most recent version of a document using the Document Catalog.
  2. From the Action Menu selected Edit>Discard

Note that when you discard a document that has a version of Final, a Cancellation document is created to provide a trail for that document. You must submit the Cancellation document to Final. This will change the original document to Historical (Final). When you discard a document that has a version of Draft, the document is removed from the Document Catalog (a Cancellation document is not created because that document had not been submitted).