Describe in detail the most important difference in the development of the VistA system and the SENTINEL system before using AGILE that is responsible for their very different outcomes.
The vistA and Sentinel systems were both developed to improve performance in various organizations. However, during there stages of development, these two system were faced with different challenges during there development. The sentinel system was designed to provide FBI agents and analysists with an advanced efficient procedure to manage evidence, expand search capabilities and give way for automated review of documents. On the other hand the vistA system was designed to computerize and improve health service administration in that enhance medical documentation, interfaculty networking, data sharing and specialized central support and technical tools.
VistA system which was initially known as The Decentralized Health Computer Program evolved from the VA medical centers and field offices. It development involved a number of stake holders such The National Center for Health Service Research and Development. Department of Defense, Indiana Health services among others. This was contrary to the development of the Sentinel system before the era of agile development whereby Lockheed Martin was the primary contactor of the project.
During the initial phases of developing the Sentinel project, evaluation was based on the outcomes and improved performance of systems at various levels of implementation. There was no significant surveillance and monitoring of the progress during establishment of the project. This was a different case during the development of the VistA project whereby a number of agencies such as the Health education Welfare, Health Services and Mental Health Administration ,U.S Public Health Service and National Center for Health Services Research and Development and other independent researchers launched and engaged in several research projects in order to analyze how these systems could improve the quality of care, contain costs, and provide health-services data in a consistent way across many institutions.
2. Describe in detail the most important similarity in the development of the VistA system and the SENTINEL system that is responsible for their very different outcomes.
One of the significant similarities in the development of the two systems is that, both experience reforms during certain stages of development whereby these reforms aimed at minimizing operational costs, increasing the speed of development and improving the quality of output at every stage. For instance in the Sentinel project, the FBI issued a stop work order to Lockheed Martin to stop working on phases three and for of the project after delays and operational costs increased tremendously. The FBI then employed the agile team to facilitate the completion of the project with minimal time and resources.
This was the same case during the development of the VistA system whereby the Office of Data Management and Telecommunications aggressively responded to the issues of delay and increase in cost by stopping the development of the decentralized Hospital computer program, dismissed workers, reduced the DM& computer related budget and removed computers from hospitals. Three production systems were then introduced and implemented in various departments such as, medical records, nursing, radiology, and surgery among others. Later the congress men dictated that installation of commercial hospital information system was necessary in the other three VA medical centers.
During the development of the two projects, state stake holders strives to employ measure that were cost effective, improved service delivery and keep track of the current advancement in technology. The developers of the systems strived to maximize the outcome of the project by undertaking rigorous planning. Development of the two projects was put into four categories. This facilitated evaluation of development, re-planning and reorganization of resources Sentinel was categorized into phases one, two, three and four. However the VistA project was categorized into various ages and this include: The Age of Cooperation that is evolution of the vistA strategy and Architecture, the Age of struggles that is evolution of VistA software, Age of expansion that is widespread adoption and improvement and finally the modern Age of Achievements and Contradictions.
3. Under the latest Office of Inspector General Audit (#12 for December 2011) for the FBI Sentinel System, development is now done under Agile. Describe the most important problem discussed in the audit including the page number where the problem is detailed.
According to the problem discussed in the page number 5 of the article, the major issue of development under agile is that the estimated budget did not include the cost of maintain the Sentinel system for two years after its completion. Consequently, completion of Sentinel under the agile development approach required at least $351 and additional six years. Conversely, the technical requirements that were included in the initial budget might have been outdated due to advancement in technology. The FBI therefore faced with a challenge of analyzing whether there are new and cost effective and cost effective measures of achieving their goal.
4. Describe in detail the most important aspect of program management that you found deficient in the pre-Agile Sentinel case including why you think it is the most important.
The most vital aspect of program management was that was deficient was appropriate planning. This is because the pre-agile period experienced quiet a number of inefficiencies. For instance lots of funds were consumed and yet the project had even gone beyond halfway. By August 2010 $ 405 million of the $451 million budgeted for the sentinel project had already been spent and yet only the second of the four phases was in progress. If there had been appropriate planning by the stakeholders expenditures ought to be congruent with the level of the project. Planning of funds involves designing an appropriate budget and this acts as a important tool for management of funds an eliminates deficiencies during the project.
There was inadequate planning in terms of time. Despite the fact that sentinel provided number of improvement to the FBI case management system, much of what was intended to be delivered delayed so much. The project was established in March 2006 where it would be undertaken in our phases and the completion was dated to approximately December 2009. However by July 2010 the project was only in its phase 2 of development. This illustrates inaccuracy in planning. Appropriate timing and planning is vital in ensuring that objective of the program are achieved in time and eliminates delays.
5. Describe in detail what was the most important reason for Agile’s success on the FBI Sentinel System.
One of the fundamental reasons as to why agile development team succeeded can be attributed to the fact that the FBI leant from the mistakes of the initial primary contractor that is Lockheed Martin. This means that by reviewing his strengths and weaknesses the FBI was able to establish the basis of progress. For instance the FBI were able to make amendments from the failures of Lockheed Martin When he failed to deliver four additional forms and their associated work flows and the four form include, intelligence bulletin, search result document, payment Authorization and the export form. Consequently, Lockheed did not deliver the interfaces between sentinel and additional FBI IT system, the document conversion Laboratory, the Financial Management system and the ability to create standardized management reports based on the data stored in sentinel. ( U.S. Department of Justice 2010. P. 12)
One of the most crucial lessons leant that enhanced agile success was to avoid deploying new software on an outdated hardware. The consequence for this was identified during October when the system, during the four-hour text that involved approximately 734 user, suffered outages. The FBI went wrong at this point by running the test on legacy hardware, where it was later forced to upgrade prior to a broader rollout that resulted to delay just as the IT team was almost completing. Finally it can be said that agile development teams succeeded due to the fact that there was an already established basis for the project from which they were supposed to carry on from
Reference
U.S. Department of Justice (2010) STATUS OF THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION’S IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SENTINEL PROJECT
