OSEHRA Architecture Work Group Meeting
January 19th, 2016
Discussion on Veteran-focused Integration
Process (VIP)
Jack Taylor, M.D., Chief Medical Information
Officer, BITS, Co-chair AWG
Introduction
• The revision of the PMAS has been much discussed, and has
now been published
• Ms. LaVerne Council outlined the approach in her briefing to
the Veterans Small Business meeting in Pittsburgh in early
November
• Now it is fact and policy, and as it settles in, it is likely to
affect all who are engaged in VA OIT business
• The document (Guide) has been out and provided on the AWG
site, and in a message from Dr. Seong K. Mun of OSEHRA
• We are hosting this session to start a discussion
Recent direction in RFP
From a recent (this week) RFP:
• OI&T intends to transition projects from the Project Management Accountability System (PMAS)
project management process into the Veteran-focused Integration Process (VIP) project
management process in the 2016-2017 timeframe
(https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=4371). VIP is a Lean-Agile framework
that services the interest of Veterans through the efficient streamlining of activities that occur
within the enterprise.
• VIP is the follow-on framework from PMAS for the development and management of IT projects
which will propel the Department with even more rigor toward Veteran-focused delivery of IT
capabilities. The VIP framework unifies and streamlines IT delivery oversight and will deliver IT
products more efficiently, securely and predictably. The VIP framework creates an environment
delivering more frequent releases through a deeper application of Agile practices. In parallel
with a single integrated release process, VIP will increase cross-organizational and business
stakeholder engagement, provide greater visibility into projects, increase Agile adoption and
institute a predictive delivery cadence.
• VIP is a significant evolution from PMAS, creating a more flexible process that has fewer
documentation requirements and milestones, and delivers products in shorter increments. VIP
is currently undergoing a Pilot Program and is currently in a draft state and will continue to
evolve. Once the pilot is complete, requirements outlined in this PWS may be transitioned to the
VIP framework during the Period of Performance of this contract.
Why we are discussing this
Appendix A – VIP Overview One-Pager
Veteran-focused Integration Process (VIP) Fact Sheet
VI P Overview
The Project Management Accountability System (PMAS) was VA’s initial effort to facilitate on -time
delivery of usable IT functionality to VA customers. Prior to PMAS, VA’s on-time project delivery rate
was approximated at 30 percent. Subsequent to implementing PMAS, VA has sustained an on -time
delivery rate of 84%. However, even with these successes, well -engineered systems like PMAS
demonstrate room for improvement.
The Veteran-focused Integration Process (VIP) is the follow-on framework for the development and
management of IT projects which will overcome the gaps of PMAS and propel the Department with even
more rigor toward Veteran-focused delivery of IT capabi lities. The VIP framework unifies and
streamlines IT delivery oversight and will deliver IT products more efficiently, securely and predictably.
With VIP, VA takes another generational leap forward in its commitment to serve our nation’s Veterans.
The VIP framework creates an environment delivering more frequent releases through a deeper
application of Agile practices. In parallel with a single integrated release process, VIP will increase cross -
organizational and business stakeholder engagement, provide g reater visibility into projects, increase
Agile adoption and institute a predictive delivery cadence.
Transitioning to the VIP framework offers several benefits:
Deliver capabilities to our Customers more frequently with a three month release cycle
Bring OI&T closer to the full implementation of Agile across the enterprise
Give more active roles to release oversight organizations by shifting away from document review and
toward greater proactive involvement in the delivery process
Keep the OI&T oversight process focused on security and FISMA compliance
VA will retain practices which remain critical to successful delivery, such as:
External reporting responsibilities (OMB 300Bs, on-time delivery statistics, etc.)
FISMA compliance
Risk management to resolve immediate obstacles toward achieving Veteran -focused delivery
Opportunities to gather lessons learned
From the Guide:
1.3 Characteristics
VIP is a significant step forward for VA, allowing greatly needed IT services to be delivered to Veterans
more frequently, via a three-month release cadence and a minimally invasive oversight process. It differs
from PMAS in the following ways:
From (PMAS) To (VIP)
58 Artifacts Data Driven (7 Data Categories + ATO)
5 Phase Gates/ Milestones 2 Critical Decision Events
Multiple Release processes 1 integrated Release process
6 month delivery cycle 3 month delivery cycle
Ad-hoc hierarchy of programs and projects Portfolio-based management
Waterfall Agile
Security + Architecture late in the process Security + Architecture standards leveraged during
the planning phase
Project-centered (tactical) Portfolio-centered (Strategic)
Details: The following table offers guidelines to assist the Portfolio Manager in
assessing a project’s risk and visibility.
Agile Terminology What It Means…
• Build The measurable period of time to deliver functionality—maximum length is three months
• Build Plan The prioritized list of functionality that will be delivered in a three month build
• Epic A large customer-facing initiative that can be broken down into multiple user stories
• User Story High level definition of a requirement
• Daily Scrum Daily 15-minute meeting for the team members to communicate progress by answering three questions, including:
1. What did you accomplish yesterday?
2. What will you accomplish today?
3. Do you have any impediments?
• Scrum of Scrums Cross-team meeting to communicate progress; follows the same format as the Daily Scrum
• Grooming Reviewing, adjusting and reprioritizing a backlog to ensure the customer’s highest priorities are continually being
met
• Sprint A regular work cycle that is typically 2-4 weeks in length
• Sprint Plan A prioritized list of work a team commits to completing during a Sprint
• Sprint Review A review of the output and product at the end of a Sprint to ensure customer acceptance
• Critical Decision (CD) Events Two coordinated OI&T review points within the VIP framework that determine if a project is
ready to move forward
• Integrated Release Process One unified release process
One Slide to talk to – with the VIP Guide open
Agenda for Next Week – January 26
• Title: Object Chronicles as a Foundation for Integrated Informatics
Architecture
• Presenter: Keith E Campbell MD PhD, Director of Informatics
Architecture at U.S. Veterans Health Administration
• Description: SNOMED CT changed its release formats in ~2010 to
support uniform representation of change over time across all
components. Given the interdependency between architectural layers
(terminology, assertions, rules, and more), having a uniform
representation of change over time, and a system of modules for
managing dependencies between components is critical to achieving
manageability and scalability of informatics-enabled systems. This
presentation will describe our experiences implementing this uniform
representation by providing a persistent representation of object
chronicles.
