> **In te g r a t ed A c q u isit io n Env i ro n m e n t**
>
> **Business Partner Network (BPN)**
>
> **IAE Bulletin No. 3**

**December 6, 2002**

> **Registering an Agency in the BPN**
>
> **Does your agency engage in buying or selling with other federal
> agencies ?**
>
> **I**f your agency engages in buying or sell- ing with other federal
> agencies, it needs to be registered in the Business Partner Net- work
> (BPN) by January 31, 2003 as per the OMB memorandum at *http://www.
> whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/m03-01. html.*
>
> **E**very agency has a designated Agency Registration Official (ARO)
> who is re- sponsible for BPN federal agency registra- tion. For more
> information refer to Infor- mation for Agency Registration Officials
> at www.bpn.gov. Click on Federal Agency Registration.
>
> **T**his bulletin will provide helpful informa- tion to get you
> started in the registration process.
>
> **Will training be provided?**
>
> Hands-on training for AROs to learn about BPN registration will be
> held on December 19, 2002 at the GSA FSS Training Center in Crystal
> City, Arlington, VA. For more information go to www.bpn.gov. Click on
> Federal Agency Regis- tration.
>
> **What is the BPN (Business Partner Network)?** The BPN is your source
> for trading partner infor- mation. It expands the existing Central
> Contrac- tor Registration (CCR) to include government business
> partners and offers all agencies access to validated supplier data
> from one central point.
>
> All records in the BPN are identified by the use of a Dun & Bradstreet
> identification number
>
> (DUNS). Go to www.bpn.gov for more informa-

**How does an agency register in the BPN?**

The BPN Federal Agency Registration site will be available in late
December, 2002. AROs will be issued a password at training to ensure
that only authorized users have access to the site. Af- ter training,
registration can be done online at www.bpn.gov by clicking on the
Federal Agency Registration button. A form needs to be com- pleted for
buying and selling offices. Prior to registering in the BPN, all
agencies must obtain their DUNS family tree from Dun & Bradstreet, and
ensure that all DUNS records are accurate and up-to-date.

**I have obtained a copy of my DUNS tree, what are the next steps?**

The tree lists the bureaus and offices in your agency that have DUNS
numbers. Every office within your agency will have a unique DUNS number
(i.e. a row to themselves on the spread- sheet). Verify that the
information on your tree is accurate and current. If there is
out-of-date, inac- curate, or missing information, call Dee Marie Davis
(703/807-5077) or Shannon Williams

(703/807-5077) at Dun & Bradstreet. Bring the DUNS information for your
agency to BPN Fed- eral Registration Training on December 19.

If an office needs to be added to the tree, you will need to obtain a
new DUNS number. Call Dee Marie or Shannon with the office's name,

address, phone and its relationship with reporting offices in the agency
(i.e. the parent office or region).

> **More**
>
> **I n te g r a t e d A c q u isit io n E n v i ro n m en t**
>
> **Page 2**
>
> **I thought only buying and selling offices needed DUNS numbers. My
> tree shows a re- cord for every office. Should I delete them?**
>
> No. D&B keeps a record of every office in your organization because
> commercial firms use the DUNS number in their internal systems to
> iden- tify suppliers and customers. Your DUNS tree represents the
> universe from which you may pick when completing BPN registration.
> Only delete records for an office that no longer exists.
>
> **Why do I have to register in both Dun & Bradstreet and the BPN?**
>
> The DUNS number will be used as the unique identifier for each office
> you register in the BPN Federal Agency Registration system. The BPN
> will pull data from your DUNS record to com- plete the registration.
> This will save you time and ensure data consistency. The more accurate
> your DUNS tree, the easier your BPN registration will be!
>
> **What is the difference between a Bureau and an Office?**
>
> The registration system is organized into three tiers: Agency, Bureau
> and Office, which incorpo- rate all levels of the organizational
> hierarchy. For example, Department of Commerce\|Census Bu-
> reau\|Atlanta Regional Office. All offices or re- gions within a
> Bureau will be designated
>
> "Office" and may be registered.
>
> **Does every office in the agency need to regis- ter?**
>
> Every office that engages in buying and selling with other federal
> agencies may be registered in the BPN. At a minimum, there must be a
> record created for every agency and all of its bureaus (or equivalent
> major component). In addition, each selling office must have a record.

**What is a "selling office"?**

A selling office is an office that receives in- tragovernmental orders.
This is not necessarily the office that fulfills the order. For example,
an office that receives an order for airplane engines needs to be
registered. The warehouse that ful- fills the order does not have to be
registered.

**What information will be collected in the BPN**

**registration?**

The data required to register your office is listed in Information for
Agency Registration Officials

(IAE Bulletin No. 2) at http://www.bpn.gov. Click on Federal Agency
Registration. Details regarding each item will be covered in training
and in online help documents.

**I clicked "Start Registration" on the www.ccr. gov home page and I
don't understand what I should do.**

The "Start Registration" button on the Central Contractor Registration
site is for commercial vendors only. Federal agencies will register
through the BPN at www.bpn.gov. This option will be available in late
December, 2002.

> **For information on BPN Federal Agency Registration Training contact
> Annette Shinafelt**
>
> **703-872-8627 annette.shinafelt@gsa.gov or**
>
> **visit www.bpn.gov**