ALEXANDRIA, VA, Nov. 9, 2006 -– Plexus Scientific Corporation has been awarded a contract to begin the second phase of its implementation of the Visual Performance Suite (VPS) software platform at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

This contract will build upon the pilot version of VPS installed at AHRQ from July to December, 2005. The second phase will enable AHRQ to view and analyze its budget and grantee information and generate custom reports. It will also include a customized Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) reporting system, VPS training and the development of user manuals.

“We’re very excited to continue working with AHRQ,” said Plexus Scientific Information Sciences Division Manager Michael Reingruber. “The second phase of the VPS installation will bring even more advantages to managers and employees at AHRQ and will continue to help enhance the performance of the agency.”

VPS is a leading performance management software system that bridges the gaps between strategic planning, activity based budgeting and strategy execution. It helps eliminate the effort required by managers to compile and interpret performance data, and to increase the overall success of the strategy.

Budget and Performance Integration (BPI) is one of the five government-wide initiatives implemented as part of the President’s Management Agenda. This initiative integrates performance review with budget decisions, which supports performance-based budget submissions. Using the VPS software tool, staff will be able to track the progress of activities associated with achieving the long-term and intermediate goals and compare the outcomes achieved at AHRQ against national trends. Ultimately, AHRQ will be able to integrate more completely information about costs and the performance of programs.

Plexus Scientific is an experience-based consulting firm, featuring experts in management, information technology, regulatory affairs, engineering, remediation, science, and environment. Plexus provides support to federal managers responsible for program implementation, business leaders who are responsible for program design and oversight, and the military. The interwoven structure effectively combines the resources of our experts, producing uncommon service levels and above standard results for clients. Plexus is both CMMI Level 3 and ISO 9001:2000 certified.