Resource Management in the State of Nirvana

Case Study

 

Overview

One of the functions of resource management in Nirvana SACWIS (NSACWIS) is to maintain detailed information about state and community resources and service providers, such as the services they offer, their eligibility requirements, their hours of operation, and their fee structure. 

Due to a state requirement, the state of Nirvana needs to enhance the NSACWIS resource management function to allow users outside of the application, such as providers, clients, and prospective clients, access to NSACWIS in order to provide them with the most current resource information available.

Nirvana needs to schedule JAD sessions to identify the needs and requirements of prospective stake holders.

 

Constraints

            Technical:

q     J2EE/ORACLE is the state standard

q     Must be internet accessible

q     Must have Internet Explorer Version 5.5 or higher

q     Security is based on the role within NSACWIS

q     Application must maintain an audit trail of users

            Business:

q     Total budget for the project is $1.5 million

q     Access must be available by January 2007

q     Access must be 508 compliant

 

Requirements Gathering

            Method:

q     Joint Application Development (JAD) session

Traceability Matrix:

q     Text based (MS Word)


Participant Roles

 

Facilitator:

q     Lead the JAD session

q     Create and maintain the proper environment for discussion

q     Establish a parking lot for unresolved issues include the referral assignment and, preferred turnaround time, to the appropriate person for mediation/resolution

q     Objective – come out of the JAD session with detailed requirements which have been verified (time permitting)

q     One-time funding of the system of $1.5 million.  No clear direction on cost allocation or funding source for ongoing maintenance.  (This initiative is the brainchild of your boss, the Deputy Commissioner, who convinced the Governor of this earmark at a wild cocktail party).

 

Commissioner (Executive Sponsor):

q     Ultimate authority for budget, legal, and policy issues

q     Resolve conflicts

 

Design Lead:

q     Continue to promote a solution throughout

 

(NSACWIS) Business Team members:

q     Ensure that the requirements meet the needs of the child welfare system

q     Ensure that the requirements are consistent with law and desired business process

q     Concerned about the timeliness and accuracy of information on community providers

q     Client data must be protected at all costs

q     Your division director is concerned about spending time and money on this initiative as it will take away from other development efforts needed to meet the ACF SACWIS requirements

 

(NSACWIS) Case Workers

q     Concerned about the timeliness and accuracy of information on community providers

q     Want the ability to do referrals and schedule appointments through the system

q     Want Internet access to the system from anywhere

 

Foster Parents Association:

q     Do not want foster parent information published or available through the system

q     Capability of searching for services by neighborhood

q     Want information about cost and rates for services in the community

 

Happy Kids Day Care

q     You want the ability to update information about your organization including the number of available child care slots, rates, and advertising for employees as you have a turnover problem.

Substance Abuse Counseling

q     You want the ability to update information about your organization but do not want to publish information about rates because many of your clients are subsidized through federal and state resources. 

 

Technical Team:

q     Current state IT consolidation underway where all infrastructure responsibilities including application hosting are being moved to a central department

q     There is a freeze on the purchase of new server hardware

q     New standards for web application development have been published

q     There is a special earmark in this year’s budget for development of $1.5 million; however, because of consolidation, neither the maintenance rates nor a funding source for ongoing maintenance have been identified.

 

Security Officer:

q     Concerned about HIPPA and PHI

q     Client data should be restricted and very concerned about scheduling and referring clients through this system because of confidentiality rules

 

Scribe:

q     Record and synthesize the conversation in real time to help move the process along

 

Timekeeper:

q     Track time and keep session within agreed upon time limits

Glossary

 

508

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was amended to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that help achieve these goals

 

ACF

Administration for Children and Families

 

HIPPA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

 

J2EE

Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition

 

JAD

Joint Application Development

 

Nirvana

A place or state of oblivion to care, pain, or external reality; in our case study, a fictional state in the US

(Similarities to actual states is purely coincidental)

 

NSACWIS

Nirvana State Automated Child Welfare Information System

 

ORACLE

A popular database product of the ORACLE Corporation

 

PHI

 

Personal Health Information

Synthesize

In the requirements process, taking the raw stakeholder needs, eliminating duplication, combining related needs, and weighing their importance.

 

Traceability Matrix

In a software development process, a traceability matrix is a table that correlates any two baselined documents