Software Methodology Development and Implementation

Client

One of the largest, cabinet level federal agencies of the United States government. A Government Agency which administers programs for applying conservation and utilization practices to natural resources of the national forests and national grasslands. The Agency works with the cooperation of states and private landowners for promoting sound practices. This Agency also carries out extensive forest and range research.

Project Overview & Objectives

The IT infrastructure of the agency had been de-centralized across 65 locations (9 Regions). Each region had developed its own customized applications and purchased COTS based on regional needs. A CIO directive was released which stated that all application related services should be provided by a centralized data center. All 9 regional data centers are due to close by FY09.

Our Involvement

Initially, Synaptitude advised on the development of the agency specific software development project methodology that would be used by the Agency to execute all application related projects. Phases included Proposal (with appropriate submission of mandatory Artifacts), Mobilization, Development, Deployment and Operations & Management. Synaptitude obtained buy-in to the new methodology and assisted in the roll-out and training of the methodology. Once individual projects started utilizing the methodology, Synaptitude assumed Program Management Office (PMO) responsibilities. Our team contributed to efforts managing work flow, determining opportunities for process improvement, updated methodology as needed, sharing best practices, monitoring timelines and budgets, and reporting to the CIO.

Results and Benefits

The Agency had an audit finding around the implementation of controls around project implementation. The methodology developed was a critical component of the audit response. Having an Agency-wide project methodology allows the organization to more accurately predict LOE and budget needs for the project. It also allows the Agency to track and manage artifact created to meet governance standards. It provided the Project Teams existing methodology so they could focus on project execution vs. creating individual project procedure.