EPMO Portfolio Manager

Scope of Work
Contractor shall provide the Secretary of ADS/CIO an independent expert review concerning the following State information technology activity: the DCF Child Development Division (CDD) DCF Child Development Division (CDD) Child
Development Division Information System, Phase II In accordance with 3 V.S.A. § 2222, the IR shall include:

• an acquisition cost assessment;
• a technology architecture and standards review;
• an implementation plan assessment;
• a cost analysis and a model for benefit analysis;
• an analysis of alternatives;
• an impact analysis on net operating costs for the agency carrying out the activity; and
• a security assessment.

The Requirements/Capabilities & Methodologies for Contractor's services are as follows:

• Identify acquisition & lifecycle costs
• Assess Wide Area Network (WAN) and/or Local Area Network (LAN) impact
• Assess risks and/or review technical risk assessments of an IT project including security, data classification(s), subsystem designs, architectures, & computer systems in terms of their impact on costs, benefits, schedule & technical performance
• Assess, evaluate & critically review implementation plans
• Adequacy of support for conversion & implementation activities
• Adequacy of Agency/Department & partner staff to provide Project Management
• Adequacy of planned testing procedures
• Acceptance/readiness of staff
• Schedule soundness
• Adequacy of training pre & post project
• Assess proposed technical architecture to validate conformance to the State's "strategic direction "
• Insure system use toolsets & strategies are consistent with the State's CIO policies, including security & digital records management
• Assess the architecture of the proposed hardware & software with regard to security & systems integration with other applications within the Agency/Department, and within the Agency/Department & existing or planned Enterprise Applications
• Perform cost & schedule risk assessments to support various alternatives to meet mission need, recommend alternative courses of action when one or more interdependent segment(s) or phase(s) experience a delay, & recommend opportunities for new technology insertions
• Assess the architecture of the proposed hardware & software with regard to the state of the art in this technology
• Assess a project's backup/recovery strategy & the project's disaster recovery plans for adequacy & conformance to State policy
• Evaluate the ability of a proposed solution to meet the needs for which the solution has been proposed, define the ability of the operational & user staff to integrate this solution into their work

Contractor shall complete an Independent Review Report using the form attached to this SOW Agreement covering the above and present it to the State of Vermont's Chief Information Officer (CIO) for approval/sign-off. The report must be in the required format and be provided to the State EPMO Portfolio Manager at least 5 business days before its presentation to the CIO.

Approach:
The State Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO) will assign an EPMO Portfolio Manager (EPM) to be the direct contact for the Contractor during this engagement. All IR work will be coordinated through this SOW Agreement. The Contractor will also provide a project manager (PM) to work as the primary point of contact with the State. The PM will work directly with the EPM to define, manage, and control the IR scope, timeline, issue escalation and resolution processes. The EPM requires a verbal (or written) progress report once a week on the status of the IR work from the Contractor PM.

The Contractor PM tasks and activities to complete this engagement include:

• The Contractor must leverage a State provided SharePoint site for receipt and delivery of any collateral related to conducting the independent review.
• A Project Planning and Independent Review kickoff meeting with the primary goal to introduce the players and discuss the IR process going forward.
• The State will develop an independent review stakeholder contact list and provide the list to the IR Contractor within the first 2 days of the project. (example: State Agency resources and Contractor resources including name, role for project, role during IR, email and telephone number).
• Review of all pertinent materials, contracts, SOW's, project work plans and other documentation such as necessary to establish an understanding of the project(s) and proposed work being reviewed.
• On site meetings: Approximately 2 days remote at State offices in Vermont collecting information and interviewing stakeholders.
• A teleconference-call with the selected system vendor.
• Identification of risks and cataloging them into a risk register (State can provide template if required).
• Facilitation of a discussion of strategies to mitigate risks with EPM, Project Sponsor and Stakeholders.
• Work with the various stakeholders to develop specific responses to each risk identified. It is the State's expectation that out of the risk analysis effort come specific plans/strategies and actions that are taken or planned to be taken to address those risks (i.e. accept risk, mitigate risk, transfer risk, etc.).
• Work with EPM to ensure the Risk Response Plan is finalized with Sponsor before final review with CIO.
• Conduct other meetings and collect other information as necessary.
• Create an Independent Review Report according to the Scope of Work and deliver the draft document to the EPM.
• The IR report produced should be all in one document. (For example, the State does not want one report, a separate Excel cost sheet and another document that is the risk register).
• The State's Agency of Digital Services (ADS) office has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Joint Fiscal Office to provide them copies of the draft IR reports used for discussion at the IR meetings. As a result, the IR report provided to the EPMO for the IR meeting should be watermarked "Draft & Confidential". The watermark should be removed for the final version that the EPM will routing for CIO e-signature/approval.
• Hold an [remote/on-site] meeting with the State EPMO Project Manager, State ADS Deputy Secretary, Sponsors & State CIO to present the final review report and answer any questions
• Update the final report incorporating feedback and submit the final report for CIO approval. EPM will "close" out IR with CIO once all Risk response plans have satisfied the CI

Project Schedule
Project Week 1
• Contractor Requests all IR Materials
• Contractor Reviews the IR Materials / develops interview questions
• Contractor works with the Contracting Agency contact to schedule initial interviews with State resources

Project Week 2
• Contractor conducts initial interviews with key State resources
• Contractor develops Findings, Risks and Issues
• Contractor schedules State meetings to develop the State's response to all identified risks and issues

Project Week 3
• Contractor conducts follow-up interviews with State resources via phone
• Contractor refines and evolves Findings, Risks and Issues
• Contractor develops Risk and Issue mitigation recommendations
• Contractor provides preliminary IR Report to Contracting Agency contact and State (EPMO) for initial review

Project Week 4
• Contractor facilitates onsite State meetings to develop the State response to all identified risks and issues
• Contractor incorporates the State responses into the IR Report draft
• Contractor submits the IR Report draft to the State EPMO for review

Project Week 5
• The State EPMO provides IR Report feedback to Contractor
• The State EPMO schedules the CIO meeting
• Contractor incorporates State EPMO feedback into the IR Report and resubmits the final version to the State EPMO.
• Contractor presents the IR Report findings to the State CIO, Contracting Agency Representatives and the State EPMO.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.