ARS REE Administrative Portal Modernization:Overview of the New Portal

Karen BrindleDeputy Director for

Accountability and Organizational PerformanceEastern Business Service Center

Administrative & Financial ManagementAgricultural Research Service

13-14 NOV 2013

• The current AFM Customer Service Portal is a custom application built on the MS SharePoint 10 platform.

• The Office of the Chief Information Officer currently manages the portal on behalf of AFM.

• An outside service contract, FutureNet, provided maintenance support and enhancement services through the end of FY13.

• The current portal has varying levels of utilization by customers and business service center employees.

Overview of the New PortalBackground

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We worked through challenges with the Portal Version 3.0 as we came to the end of FY13:

• Implications of contract for development and support ending

• Alternatives• Considerations

Overview of the New PortalThe Challenge

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• Cloud-based application with expected lower maintenance and operating costs

• Access through eAuthentication, allowing for better document security

• Built-in dashboard and performance analytics tools

• Simpler and more intuitive work request & service delivery tracking functionality

Overview of the New PortalThe Solution

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AFM has finalized an Interagency Agreement with USDA WCTS – Washington Communications and Technology Services – for the development of the AFM Customer Service Portal on the Salesforce ‘Force.com’ platform. The new portal will have several improvements:

• Work Request and Service Delivery Tracking – Service Request Entry– Service Request Assignment – Service Request Tracking – Service Request Closeout – Customer Satisfaction Feedback Loop – External Links – Data Analytics – Mobile Device Support

• Service Team Collaboration Sites • Role-based Document Sharing and Collaboration • Process Automation• Workflow Management • Workflow, Form and Data Integration

Overview of the New PortalPriority System Features

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The new portal development project kicked off on 12 September. Completion and production release of the new customer interface is tentatively scheduled for March 2014, due to delays incurred by the furlough.

Overview of the New PortalTimeline

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Tasks Schedule Approx. End Date

Task 1 – Project Initiation/Project Management Week 1 - 22 Sep 2013 – Mar 2014

Task 2 – Iteration Planning Week 1 Sep 2013

Task 3 – Iteration 1 ImplementationIncludes Requirements validation and Application design, System Implementation and Configuration, Data Migration, Application testing support, Application training, and Production Cut-over.

Week 2 – 7 Nov 2013

Task 3 – Iteration 2 Implementation Week 8 – 11 Dec 2013Task 3 – Iteration 3 Implementation Week 12 – 16 Jan 2014Task 3 – Iteration 4 Implementation Week 17 – 21 Feb 2014Task 4 – Additional Iterations (TBD) N/A N/ATask 5 – ARS Staff Development and Training Week 22 Mar 2014Task 6 – Portal Management and Enhancement Support Starts at the end of Iteration 4 Beginning Mar 2014

• Iteration 1 Business Line: Information Technology

• Current Project Status• Questions?

For further information, please contact Karen Brindle at karen.brindle@ars.usda.gov.

Overview of the New PortalWhere We Are Today

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