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Optimizing how VA OIT Delivers Enterprise Products

  • Customer Story
  • Agile Transformation
  • Veteran & Enterprise Technology

Background

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Information and Technology’s (OIT) Veterans Experience Services (VES) delivers world-class, veteran-centric IT capabilities that securely, seamlessly, and cost-effectively deliver healthcare, benefits, and other services to veterans and their families.

Over the past few years, OIT has worked to change the way it approaches IT development, operations, and deployment by shifting to a Product Line Management (PLM) structure and DevSecOps-based approach. In 2019, VES was one of the first portfolios to adopt this PLM model and drive a DevSecOps approach across its products. Currently VES includes the following product lines- 1. IT infrastructure and Services; 2. Data Analytics and Knowledge Management; 3. Cyber Security and Access Services; 4. Trusted Information Sharing; 5. Platform Management; 6. End User Operations; 7. Contact Center; 8. Eligibility and Enrollment; and 9. Customer Master Data Management.

Understanding the Need

VA OIT is in the middle of the most significant transformational period in its history and due to increasing demands, a growing user base, aging systems, and COVID-19, it’s had to accelerate several modernization initiatives.

Given its role in improving customer experiences, increasing the speed and frequency of deployments, and identifying innovations to lower costs without sacrificing quality, VES is essential to OIT’s modernization plans. VES needed a teammate with experienced staff acting as partners during challenging product initiatives. VES’s partner had to understand the enterprise-level impacts of its work and have the resources to quickly adjust for emerging technology needs such as platforms and cloud smart initiatives, cybersecurity, and analytics.

Image shows a woman holding a mobile phone up next to a man, both who are looking at the screen and smiling. Related to: Veterans Experience Services, VES portfolio, Integrated agile management, Scalable Agile Management Framework, agile strategic planning, agile architecture, agile engineering, project managment, product managment, and portfolio management.
300+
Management and technical certifications held by GovCIO resources.
50+
Products supported simultaneously across nine product lines.
2,795+
Product epics successfully decomposed and delivered.

Our Solution

Since 2017, GovCIO has served as a dedicated partner to VES and VA OIT, providing invaluable thought leadership, knowledge, and expertise to guide portfolio leadership through all its major initiatives and transformation efforts. GovCIO has embraced the VES mission, leveraging and improving our proven Integrated, Scalable Agile Product Management Framework to meet OIT and external customer needs across a broad range of services including strategic planning, architecture and engineering, project, product, and portfolio management, communications, and capital planning.

Portfolio Management Services

Agile Delivery and Product Team Services

Architecture and Integration Services

DevSecOps Implementation

Results

GovCIO successfully helps deliver Veteran-centric and Enterprise technology solutions. Per our most recent customer feedback, GovCIO consists of high performing, high skilled staff who consistently deliver a premium level of service, including comprehensive oversight, management, and thought leadership across products and product lines. Some of the most notable impacts GovCIO has had on the VES portfolio include:

  • Establishing effective and sustainable Agile project management practices- our team has conducted 1,918+ elaboration sessions, decomposed and delivered 2,795+ epics, and supported 640+ sprints.
  • Developing VA’s Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) migration strategy and intake process and successfully completing Wave 1 and 2 of VAEC’s cloud migration plan, included 51 applications.
  • Implemented a fully automated DevSecOps pipeline and processes for the three product lines we currently support.
  • Achieving PLM Level II maturity across product lines
  • Transitioning VES to Managed Services and the Open API Pledge.
  • Establishing DVP API Gateway to provide a new platform that eliminates multiple silos and provides interoperability between VA and commercial applications for a cohesive Veteran-centered experience.
  • Providing foundational identity and access management services that addressed requirements of the MISSION, Colmery, and Blue Water Navy Acts, functionality critical to rolling-out the EHRM /Cerner initiative, as well as functionality critical to the rapid delivery of COVID-19 services.
  • Led the modernization of VA Profile, the system that manages and processes data from a Veteran’s master data record for 14,793,241 Veterans with 191,680,551 transactions to date, to a DevSecOps delivery model.