SSA IT Modernization Proposed Plan

July 12, 2016

CONTENTSAbstractExecutiveSummaryOutcomesScopeRoadmapandCostsApproachOversightandManagementGuidingPrinciplesStaffingConclusionAppendices

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AbstractThisproposaldescribesthescopeandapproachrequiredtomodernizetheSocialSecurityAdministration’sITinfrastructureintoasetofdigitalservices.Thisproposedplanprovidesjustificationandestablishesoversightforthe$300MrequestedinthePresident’sFY17budget.Inthepagesthatfollowwedefinetheproblem,establishtechnicalandbusinessoutcomes,andestablishaseriesofscopedproducts.Wesuggestauser-centricagileapproachandoutlinetechniquestooverseethisapproach.Weprovideasetofguidingprinciplestohelpusattaintheoutcomes.WedescribearoadmapwiththemodernizationofourTitleII,TitleXVI,Enumeration,Notices,andEarningsapplications.Wedescribeongoingeffortstomodernizeourdatainfrastructureandeffortstodeploytheseapplicationsanddatabasesinthecloud.WesuggeststepstomodernizeourITstaffalongwiththetechnologyandmodernizeourbusinessprocessesatthesametime.Weprovideapreliminarycostmodelthatlaysoutspending.

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Executive SummaryTheAgencyviewsITModernizationasacriticalpriority.Therearethreereasonsforthis:

– TheITstaffwhodevelopedtheselegacysystemsareretiringandwemustretirethesystemswiththestaffbyretoolingtoensurethatwecancontinuetoprovideservicetoourcustomers;

– WecannotsignificantlyreduceeitherITcostsorstaffcostswithoutmodernization.Intoday’sfiscalenvironmentweneedaninvestmenttoprovideareturn;and

– Weneedtoretoolandusetechnologytobetterservethepublic.Thisistherealreasonfortherequest.Themoderntechexpectedbythepubliccannotbeembeddedinto25yearoldlegacysystems.Wecanengagethecustomerbetter,evendelightthem,ifweretool.

Forthe$300Mrequested,wewillmodernizefivecriticalapplicationsandthedatainfrastructureunderthem.Wewillextendourdatacentersintothepubliccloud,developanonpremisecloudcapability,andthentiethemtogetherintoahybridcloud.Importantly,wewilldevelopthesenewdigitalserviceswithacustomerfocusbasedontheprinciplesofuser-centricdesign.

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• BusinessOutcomes– Reducedoverpaymentsdueto

improvementsinautomatedQualityAssuranceprocessing

– Improvedemployeeproductivityduetoamodern,user-centric,userinterface

– Self-serviceapplicationsreduceworkloadsandmakestaffmoreefficient

– AutomatedsupportforoutliercasesreducesProcessingCenterworkloads

– Automatedassistfordeterminationsreducesadjudicationwaittimes

Outcomes

• TechnicalOutcomes– Cloudcomputingreducescoststooperate

modernsystems– Serviceorientedarchitecturereducescosts

tomaintainandextendapplicationlogic– Sharedservicesand/ormodern

programminglanguagesreducestheamountofcodetobedevelopedandmaintained

– Built-insupportforanalyticdataextendsabilitytosupportdata-baseddecisions

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IT Modernization is often a technology-focused endeavor where legacy IT systems are refactored into modern infrastructure with little or no modification to the business process or to application functionality. The Agency’s business processes are out of date, thus we believe simultaneous modernization will yield positive business and technical outcomes.

ScopeFiveapplicationswillbemodernizedinthescopeofthisprogram:•TitleII•TitleXVI•Notices•Enumerations•EarningsForeach,thedataandsystemsinfrastructurewillbemodernizedalongwiththeapplication(seeApproach).Inaddition,thefundswillbespenttomodernizeouremailinfrastructurebymovingitintothecloud.Eachoftheseapplicationsconsistsofaseriesofinter-connectedbusinessprocesses.AppendixAlistseachofthesebusinessprocessesasafine-graineddescriptionofscope.

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Thepicturebelowrepresentsourpreliminaryestimatesofcostsforthefivemodernbusinessapplicationsandfortheunderlyinginfrastructuretosupportthem.Includedisthecostforeachannualincrementforeachproduct,aswellasthenumberoffederalFTEsandcontractorFTEsestimated.WewillcontinuetorefinethecostmodelandreplacethesenumbersaswebegintheModernizationProgram.

Roadmap and Costs

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Approach: AgileWeintendtodevelopusingAgilemethodsandaproductframe-ofmind.

Takingaproductapproachmeansthatwewillnotsuggestthereisanendtotheprogram.Itisnotaproject.Wewillcontinuouslyimprovetheproductaslongastheimprovementstobedevelopedjustifytheexpenseofthedevelopmentteam.

User-centric

Agilesuggeststhatwewilldevelopiterativelydrivenbytheusersofsystemswiththeaimofdeliveringsignificantnewfunctionalityinreleases2-4timesayear.Aseachreleasecomestoaclosetheusers– ouremployeesandourcustomers- willhelpuschoosethenextmostimportfunctionality.Thisagilitytoiterativelychoosewhatisimportantasyougoallowsustoadapttochangingpriorities…butitintrinsicallymakestheendgameamovingtarget.InthesectionCostControlwewillsuggestanapproachtomanagethisdynamicmethodology.

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Approach: Agile and the First ReleaseThebestpracticearoundagiledevelopmentsuggeststhatthefirststepistobuildaskeletonforabusinessprocessend-to-endandthentostartaddingfunctionality,meat,tothosebones.Thismeansthatthefirststepistoidentifythecoreconcepts,theskeleton,foreachmodernizedprocess.Forexample,manyofourprocessesarebuiltaroundtheconceptofacase.Filingfordisabilitybeginswithestablishingacasetobeworked.Fortheseprocesseswemightbuildorbuysoftwareinfrastructuretomanagecasesandthenstartbuildingfunctionalitytoopenacase,processacase,makeadetermination,andcloseacase…fromfront-to-back.Ourexperiencewithmoderndevelopmenttoolsandprocessessuggeststhatwecanbuildoutaminimallyviableproduct(MVP)end-to-endin12-24months.OnceanMVPisinplacefunctionalitycanbeextendedusingagilemethods.

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Oversight & ManagementThenatureofanAgiledevelopmentprocessrequiresanewapproachtotrackprogressandensurefiscalresponsibility.

ExecutiveManagementattheSSA

TheDeputyCommissionerforSystemswillmanagethismodernizationeffortthroughaspecialprogramofficewhoseleadhastheauthoritytomanageacrosstheAgency.OutsideOversight

Congress,theOIG,GSA,andOMBrequiremechanismstomonitoragileproductdevelopment.Thesemechanismsinclude:•RunRateandBacklogValueProposition•MeasuringVelocity•IterativeReviewofDeliverables,and•MeasuringStoryPointsInthepastwehaveprovidedoutsideoversightquarterlyupdatesandweproposetodelivermeasurementsfromoneormoreofthesemechanismsduringtheseupdates.

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Guiding Principles: Customer Connect

NinemonthsagotheAgencystartedconsideringadramaticproposition:whatwouldourcustomersconsiderfirstrategovernmentservicesinfiveyears.Weaskedouragencycolleaguestoconsider:•CustomerengagementenvisionedwithnoneofthecurrentITsystemsconstraints…wewillrewritethesystemsaspartofITModernization;•Customerengagementfromourcustomer’sperspective…notfromtheAgency’sperspective;and•Customerengagementinaworldfiveyearsoutwherewhatweseeascuttingedgetodayisbythenpassé.

Theresultwasremarkable…

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StaffimaginedaWorldwherewewoulddispatchdriverlesscarstopickupcustomerswithdisabilitiesandtransportthemtoandfromrequiredcontinuingdisabilityexams…TheyimaginedaWorldwhereartificialintelligencewouldassiststaffinsortingthroughmedicalevidencetomakefasterandmoreaccuratedeterminations…TheyimaginedaWorldwherecustomerswouldoptintoallowtheAgencytofilloutcomplexapplicationsusingdatafromotherGovernmentandnon-governmentsources…ThisNewThinkiscriticallyimportanttoourmodernizationefforts…itinformsusaswemodernizeanddrivesusindirectionsthatwemightotherwiseoverlook.TheAgencyisreadyforthis…

Guiding Principles: Technology & ArchitectureWhatisaModernITInfrastructure?ItisimportanttonotewhatwemeanbyITModernizationandestablishatargetfortheresultingtechnology.ItisnotparticularlyusefultotakealargemonolithicchunkoflegacyCOBOLcodeandproduceamonolithicchunkofJAVAcode.Webelievethatthetargetarchitectureneedstoexecuteonadistributedclusterofcommodityserversandbedesignedinascalablemanner.Inotherwords,amodernapplicationneedstorunsmartlyinacloudcomputingenvironment.Amodernapplicationshoulduseaservice-orientedarchitectureandshouldfavordeploymentincontainers.AmodernapplicationneedstobedevelopedinamodernopenprogramminglanguagecurrentlytaughtinthemajorityofcollegeanduniversitysystemsintheUSA.Amodernapplicationneedstoserviceonlinetransactionsinrealtimeandserviceanalytictransactionsinareasonabletimeframe.Buyvs.BuildWhenthereisvalueinbuyingsoftwareinsteadofbuildingit,thisshouldbethepreferredcourse.Butpurchasedsoftwareshouldfollowthesametenets:itshouldscale,runoncommodityhardware,andbewritteninoratleastbecustomizedusingcommonopenprogramminglanguages.Itshouldbeextensiblefromtheoutsidesuchthatallfunctionalityisavailabletocustomprogramsascallableservices.

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StaffingInordertomodernizeourITInfrastructureweneedtomodernizeourITstafftowieldtheassociatedmoderntools,languages,andsoftwarestack.ThebestpracticefortrainingITprofessionalusesafullimmersioncodingbootcamptechnique.TheSSAwillputnewhiresthrougha90-daybootcampandputcurrentstaffthroughafocuseda30-daycampdesignedforthosewithITexperience.Weareworkingtoreduceourspendonoutsidecontractorsinordertorampupourstaffinpreparationfortheretirementsweanticipateinthenextfewyears.Thirty-sevenpercentofoutITstaffareeligibleforretirementinthenextfiveyears.ThisproactiveapproachfurtherpositionsustoexecuteontheITModernizationprogramwerequire.Itisworthnotingherethatagilemethodsrequireamuchhigher,sustained,levelofengagementfromAgencybusinessorganizations.ThisITmodernizationeffortwillhavetheeffectoffundamentallychangingtherelationshipbetweenSystemsandourbusinesspartners.

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ConclusionThispaperpaintsseveralpictures.WedescribewhatamodernITinfrastructurelookslike.Weproposeamodernagileapproachtothedevelopmentofamoderninfrastructure.Wesuggestaroadmapwithdetailstoassureyouthatweknowwhatwearedoing.Wedescribehowwewillbuildonasoundmodernextensiblearchitecturetoenableustobuildsomethingthatwilllastawhile.Wesuggestaplanforbuildingupthestaffrequiredtoexecuteonalloftheabove.Mostimportantlywesuggestasetofambitiousbutimminentlyachievablebusinessobjectivesthatdescribeafuturestate3-5yearsoutwheretheSSAcoulddeliveracustomerexperiencethatisonparwiththeexperiencedeliveredtodaybythebestcommercialenterprises.Thisobjectiveisambitiousbutfeasible.Itisthisdelightfulcustomerexperiencethatweareaskingyoutofund.ITmodernizationisjustaplatformthatenablesthedeliveryofthisdelightfulexperience.TheSSAisprovingthattheycandothisnowbybuildingoutcloudinfrastructure,developingamoderncloud-basedapplication,anddevelopingamoderndataarchitecture.Butthisisjusttoassureyouthatwecanexecute.WeaskforfundingtomodernizeourITand,atthesametime,wewillmodernizeourAgency’sbusinessprocessestobetterserveourcustomers.

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APPENDIX ABusinessProcessesinScopeforTitleIIModernization

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Thefollowingbusinessprocessmapsoutlinethekeystepsandmainstakeholdersinvolvedineachprocess.ChrisisthenameoftherepresentationalcustomerofSSAinthisdocument.EachoftheprocessestypicallystartswithaneventinChris’lifeandendswithacommunicationfromSSAtoChris.

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Non-Disability Post-Entitlements

Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Changes Address (Title II)

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Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Changes Address (Title XVI)

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Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Has a New Child (Title II)

Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Changes Student Status (Title II)

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Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Gets a New Job (Title II)

Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Changes Student Status (Title II)

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Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Has a Not Received Payments

Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Changes Student Status (Title II)

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Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Has a New Child (Title II)

Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Changes Student Status (Title II)

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Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Receives a Large Sum of Money

Non-Disability Post-Entitlements Chris Earns (Title II Wage Reporting)

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Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Receives Overpayment (Title II & Title XVI) pt 1

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Non-Disability Post-Entitlements: Chris Receives Overpayment (Title II & Title XVI) pt 2

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Non-Disability Redeterminations

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Non-Disability Fraud