Case Study 1: DHS ICE OCIO – Enterprise Architecture

Challenge: The Architecture Division of DHS needed to develop a cohesive plan to bring together systems and technology tools from multiple offices which were originally designed to meet individual office missions but now needed to serve employees across DHS and other law enforcement agencies in an integrated fashion. First the Architecture Division needed a comprehensive assessment of current and planned information technology tools that support the Management functions across the agency. Second, the Architecture Division needed to guide the agency in technology investements going forward to ensure that the majority of agency resources could be spent meeting operational objectives.

PGPS Response: PG Public Services approach ensured that the Architecture Division was able to help DHS align operational missions between agencies and avoid unnecessary costs and ineffective use of resources.

PGPS performed an assessment of existing systems and technology through the following tasks and activities.

• Coordinated working sessions with stakeholders to review, refine, and validate processes and operational use cases
  
• Provided insight into the types of requests made by Agency offices along with documenting the major management initiatives so that aligned program, project and initiatives paths become more clear
  
• Identified gaps in needs assessment, process and systems planning, and acquisition documentation to help the offices learn how to ask for what they want and to understand what they are purchasing as they enter into various agreements
  
• Identified, compared and prioritized “pain points” and desired business capabilities so that ICE can better align resources across the agency rather than only focusing on one office needs per system.

Next, PGPS developed an Enterprise Architecture to guide the OCIO in the acquisition and investment into new technologies. This was accomplished with the following activities:

• Assessed the most effective and efficient way for areas to implement flexible Software as a Service (SaaS) initiatives while maintaining appropriate security and data integrity so that COTS/small investment/large impact tools can compliment core mission support systems.
  
• Drafted a notional implementation roadmap that aligns needs through alternatives analysis to fulfillment regardless of the method they want to acquire services
  
• Created comprehensive concept of operations and descriptions of process components that document the initiation, collaboration, impact analysis, review, approval, content management, and dissemination of agency policies.

In an ongoing role, PG Public Services has been working with DHS to figure out how to potentially migrate and integrate individual the remaining “organically grown” systems that serve over 8,000 DHS employees.

Case Study 2: DHS ICE OCIO – Records Management

• Define the Agency’s strategic vision for Lifecycle Management of this system and aligning that vision with operational objectives.
  
• Identify key legislative and departmental records management policy to ensure compliance.
  
• Gather information on current operations and aligning them to other Agency records management process lifecycles to identify the core processes.
  
• Draft a Lifecycle Future State conceptual diagram comprised of core scenarios.
  
• Develop a notional set of capabilities and service framework that supports the Future State scenarios.
  
• Identify gaps in technology, people, policy and process between Future State Lifecycle and current state.
  
• Identify and prioritize projects that will meet these gaps and assisting in the acquisition/program management of these projects.
  
• Draft a notional implementation roadmap that aligns key services to organizations and programs, and the capabilities to be delivered.
  
• Coordinate work sessions with all stakeholders to review, refine, and validate Digitization architecture and planning documentation.

Case Study 3: DHS OCIO – Program Executive Office

• Developed PEO Implementation Roadmap – this roadmap defined the path to establishing and implementing best practices in a way that fostered collaboration, standardization, integration and continuous improvements across the agency.
  
• Identified and sequenced key management activities for inclusion in the OCIO Enterprise Life Cycle Management Methodology (ELCM).
  
• Mapped and aligned ELCM activities against he Federal, DHS and Industry Best Practices and Standards.
  
• Facilitated ELCM working sessions with divisional representatives to promote the use of the ELCM and generate candidate improvements for future versions.
  
• Defined the Mission Needs Data Sets, and business requirements for the Enterprise Program Acquisition Management Services (EPAMS) Program.
  
  • Developed D-102-01 compliant acquisition documents to support EPAMS investment initiation and approval.
    
• Developed detailed business requirements in support of the Program Document Reporting Capability (PDRC) project

• Developing requirements to support and enhance the classification and traceability of documents and artifacts to promote efficiencies through increases in automation, standardization, normalization and collaboration. The end state solution will provide for:
  
  • An enhanced Enterprise Lifecycle Methodology;
  • Wider access to process assets;
  • A mechanism for OCIO users to categorize, upload and search content and documentation;
  • A system that supports automated workflow management (triggered by the uploading of user content); a series of dashboards capturing metrics from the content uploaded by users, and
  • A means to share information across reporting systems.
    
• Supporting the launch of the Sharepoint project, the first of the EPAMS projects, which is designed to provide foundational document management scheduling and reporting capabilities that can be re-used and leveraged to support the overall EPAMS program effort.

Case Study 4: DHS OCIO – Case Management Stewardship

Challenge: In 2006, the OCIO of DHS agency was tasked with leading the Case Management Portfolio for all seven DHS component agencies (ICE, CBP, USCG, FEMA, USSS, and CIS). The goal of this initiative was to harmonize all case management related investments and processes throughout the DHS organization, maintain outreach to a community of stakeholders across DHS, develop to-be architectures and provide oversight to 40+ case management applications in the portfolio.

PGPS Response: PG Public Services took a collaborative approach to working with stakeholders, understanding business processes, analyzing IT investments and underlying technologies. This resulted in the linkage of several agencies to modernize their case management systems, business architectures and develop a common portfolio of IT investments that could be used for tracking and decision-making.

Early in the initiative, PGPS held an off-site with the DHS stakeholders. The off-site had two important outcomes. First, it was the first time all key players from across the DHS enterprise each with a stake in case management, were sitting at the same table. A second key outcome was that PGPS created the business context and definitions for case management that still hold true today.

In the two years following this initial off-site, PGPS worked closely DHS to drill down deeper to understand the commonality in case management processes, capabilities, and investments across the DHS enterprise. PGPS developed and executed three different, but synergistic approaches to architectural development.

• In the first approach, PGPS focused on studying the business characteristics, processes and data across DHS for a type of case management. PGPS sought to find commonalities in the business process activities performed and the data consumed by the components across DHS.
  
• In the second approach, PGPS analyzed the IT investments within the case management portfolio, including how they support/align to the mission, cored data capabilities, and the financial investment (or burn) to identify the “Target” Investments for the portfolio.
  
• In the third approach, PGPS focused on understanding the core technologies underlying the IT investments within the portfolio with the goal to drive standardization, reduce maintenance costs, and increase reusability, and data sharing.

Case Study 5: ICE Office of Investigation

Challenge: In 2003, a DHSneeded help developing a business and technology architecture for replacing their aging investigative case management system. Faced with internal competition for funding, and external pressure from OMB and GAO, this Federal agency turned to the PG Public Services (PGPS) to formulate and execute a plan that could help them launch the program and obtain funding.

PGPS Response: Over a period of eight weeks, PGPS executed an aggressive and innovative approach to conceptualize, plan and develop the business case and supporting documentation for the next generation environment –Consolidated Enforcement Environment (CEE). The work included the facilitation of 25+ workshops, encompassing seven agencies within DHS and 70+ subject matter experts. The workshops culminated in the creation of three key architecture deliverables:

• Enterprise Business Architecture
  
• Technical Architecture
  
• Transition Plan
  

In the 18 months following the workshops, PGPS worked closely with this office to refine architectures and prepare the business case. PGPS created eight concepts of operations (CONOPS) to more effectively communicate the CEE vision and encourage information sharing between DHS and external organizations. PGPS inventoried existing DHS enforcement systems and performed a data analysis to better understand their operation capabilities. PGPS developed an approach for assessing the reusability of legacy systems and integrating existing OI applications and systems with CEE.

In parallel to the architecture development, PGPS managed a DHS-wide stakeholder communications program to reach out and communicate the CEE vision, mission and strategies in an effective consistent, and clear manner to the many and varied stakeholders external and internal to DHS. PGPS developed 15+ executive presentations, built and managed the CEE Intranet web site, and managed the development of several outreach materials.

In 2006 PGPS transitioned to a related initiative to help the OCIO of the lead agency to lead the Case Management (CM) Portfolio for DHS.