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Charting VA’s Success with TechStats
By Kathy Gallant and Elena Smyly, VA TechStat Leads
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Information Technology (OIT) manages IT programs through the Project Management Accountability System (PMAS), which provides increased visibility of projects and programs across the Department for the CIO, Mr. Roger Baker. Under PMAS, projects must deliver smaller, more frequent releases of new functionality to customers. This is in direct alignment with how we at the VA approach IT development, which uses an agile methodology: requiring customer- facing deliverables in increments of 6 months or less.
PMAS mandates that specific program resources and documentation be in place before development begins and that approved processes be used during the system development life cycle. Most importantly, PMAS mandates strict adherence to achieving project milestones, and implements strong corrective measures if a project misses multiple milestones. This ensures that customers, project members, and vendors working on a project are aligned, accountable, and have access to the resources necessary to succeed before work begins.
PMAS provides near-term visibility into troubled programs, allowing us to provide help earlier and avoid long-term project failures. Frequent software deliveries allow customers to provide earlier feedback on system functionality, eliminates “big bang” program/project failures, and increases the probability of successfully developing and deploying IT systems.
PMAS is not just a way to track deliverables for IT programs; it also features an internal dashboard that is a self-reporting tool for IT program managers to update their progress for senior leadership, allowing visibility and insight across the entire IT portfolio. This PMAS dashboard drives two very important milestones of the VA TechStat process – Red Flag reviews and TechStat reviews.
Red Flag and TechStat reviews use the PMAS framework and dashboard data to form a comprehensive approach to IT project reviews, while simultaneously improving our IT project delivery and increased emphasis on customer-focused outcomes. Mr. Baker drives this process.
Any project in VA OIT can raise a Red Flag, defined as significant issues or risks that may jeopardize the project. These Red Flags are reviewed every Wednesday at the Red Flag meetings with the CIO and Executive leadership team. At the Red Flag meeting, as one of the options to resolve a Red Flag issue, Mr. Baker can request a TechStat for the specific project, if he decides that the issue is serious enough and that the project needs a detailed analysis.
In addition to the projects selected by the CIO during the Red Flag meeting, the projects that missed customer-facing milestones or increments, as indicated by the PMAS Dashboard, are scheduled for a TechStat as well. TechStat meetings are face-to-face, evidence-based reviews of the project data. The participants at the meeting ask project-related questions and discuss the impacts of various decisions.
The TechStat meetings are conducted weekly, on Thursdays, to identify issues early and make informed decisions about corrective actions. The Project Managers (PMs), senior executives, and program staff, as well as Business Sponsors and Major Initiatives Leads are present at the meeting. This approach to customer-focused outcomes and early identification of issues form an underlying principle of VA OIT project management and TechStat reviews.
Under the leadership of Mr. Baker, we ensure that VA’s TechStats are:
- project/increment-focused (as needed, whole programs are reviewed)
- identifying issues early
- scheduled: a TechStat meeting time is reserved every Thursday, 9am, in person, at Mr. Baker’s office, but can occur earlier if needed
- organized: a team organizes, manages, tracks, and documents the process within 2 weeks of a missed date (but we can schedule a TechStat in 24 to 48 hours if critical) responded to quickly, with efficient follow up to ensure the completion of action items
Below is a comparison of the OMB TechStat process and the VA PMAS TechStat process. As you can see, our approach is tailored to our specific IT environment, but also complies with the OMB‘s TechStat model.
At the TechStat meeting, the PMs present their case using the TechStat PM Brief Template and address details on project cost, schedule and scope, project risks and dependencies, information on contracts and acquisition, and other additional and relevant information. The CIO, Executive Leadership Team Project Managers, senior executives, as well as Business Sponsors and Major Initiatives Leads are present at the meeting.
At the conclusion of the TechStat, the CIO determines whether or not to issue a Strike. A Strike occurs at the increment level and refers to a missed product deliverable date. The CIO discusses a Plan of Action with the PM, which becomes the basis for the Outcome Report. The CIO Action Officer takes official notes with the Action Items, discussion, and decisions. The Action Items will then be followed to completion and reported out at the next Red Flag meeting.
Within 10 days after the TechStat is conducted, the PM completes the TechStat outcome report. This report is stored electronically and feeds into the VA OMB MAX submissions on TechStat outcomes. The Outcome Report formalizes action items and a decision made by the CIO. In addition, the PMAS Database is updated to reflect whether a Strike has been issued against the Project.
This complete process, from the identification of the projects for review, to issuing decisions on the project, takes about two weeks. Early identification of the issues prevents major problems later on.
We here at the Department follow all of the OMB-defined TechStat processes, but customize them for the uniqueness of VA IT investments. The integration of the OMB TechStat principles within the PMAS process results in a very diligent, disciplined, and documented approach to the stewardship of the taxpayer’s money.
