NIC : Delivering Citizen-Centric Services Using Agile

Agile has swept the development realm, overtaking traditional project management models. Agile approaches are a fundamental element of helping state and local governments achieve high quality results and speed to market of digital services that they provide their citizens.

NIC Inc. recently hosted a webinar to showcase how we are helping government to deliver citizen-centric services using Agile. The intention was to show examples of how this model is working and working well to provide value to our partners.

Let's take a deeper look at the challenges, benefits, adoption and outcomes of going completely Agile or using a hybrid model to complete any scale government IT project.

THE CHALLENGE

There are a lot of benefits associated with Agile, so why is the government so reluctant to adopt the framework? Much of the issue pertains to availability of resources, and quite frankly trust. Some claim the method is a poor fit due to the strict requirements, budgets, and scope from the outset of government IT projects. However, the biggest barrier to adopting agile in the public sector is the requirement of contracting offices to gather detailed deliverable for the exact cost.

Unfortunately, Agile is not a silver bullet that guarantees success of an IT project. I think Ben Moore, Director of Operations at NIC Wisconsin Interactive said it best, 'Agile won't solve all your problems, it simply points out where your problems are.'

The Agile framework provides exceptional visibility and strategic insight to the stakeholder from the outset and throughout the project. Being able to see and test products early in the lifecycle allows for adjustments to be made that are not possible in traditional waterfall methodology. The customer is in complete control over the product every step of the way. These things make the method an excellent fit for government projects.

THE BENEFIT

There are many benefits to the Agile approach including increased quality, greater transparency, risk mitigation, and ability to course correct to stay on-time and on-budget. Improved quality comes from continuous testing starting day one. With Agile, testing happens throughout the project not just at the end when the project is nearing completion. Testing during each sprint provides the team with the flexibility to quickly adjust as they go vs. doing a complete rework after months of development. This type of continuous activity provides feedback early and often. Giving the team and the customer greater insight into the project reduces the risk of going over budget or needing more time.

GETTING STARTED & SEEING SUCCESS

A recent survey conducted during the mid-year NASCIO conference, identified that only 59% of government IT teams are using Agile practices when implementing IT projects. The question that comes to mind is why such a small percentage? Well it boils down to four key areas.

1. Commitment to Agile Partners must be willing to commit to the Agile approach. Agile success is dependent on full participation and open communication throughout the project.

2. Procurement
Many states do not have a method for contracting Agile software development projects, so determining if a IDIQ (indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity) or MSA (master services agreement) will be sufficient for the project is key to securing the funding.

3. Culture Shift The organization should agree that the leader (Product Owner in many Agile frameworks) can make decisions, and accept that these decisions are final.

4. Resources & Training

Agile requires dedicated resources that are properly trained in principles and methods of the framework.

NIC Wisconsin has leveraged Agile Scrum to create high performing teams that deliver software projects of varying sizes. The Wildcard team has delivered over 45 services in three years, with 6 people. Operating in two-week sprints, every two weeks the team meets to discuss their plan and commit to delivering a certain amount of work.

'In my opinion, there are two factors that are critical to successfully implementing Agile, first the team must remain the same. Secondly, a single list of prioritized work should be assigned to keep projects on task, minimizing interruption from outside sources.' said Ben Moore, Director of Operations at NIC Wisconsin Interactive.

NIC's Texas portal has implemented Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe), which is a knowledge base of proven, integrated patterns for enterprise-scale Lean-Agile development. The Texas Online Private Security project was delivered using this methodology. The team integrated agency partners with the internal team to define product increment objectives and aligning them to quarterly milestones. From here an architectural runway was built enabling the delivery of all product objectives and demonstrable, fully tested, working software for 6 consecutive quarters.

The entire Texas.gov portfolio uses SAFe, focusing on the outcomes, not the process. Process should be light, just enough to enable efficient work, not hinder it.

Want more information about agile methodology? Contact the local NIC General Manager in your state. For a complete listing, visit egov.com.