Challenge:
In 2023, the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration (DPA) embarked on modernizing the state's 40-year-old payroll system. This legacy system was outdated, inefficient, and potentially prone to errors. The challenge was not just to update the technology, but to do so in a way that would improve efficiency, reduce errors, and ultimately allow state employees to focus more on their core responsibilities rather than administrative tasks.
Solution:
The Colorado Digital Service (CDS) partnered with DPA to enhance the agency team's already strong efforts in the payroll modernization project. This collaboration fostered an environment of creativity and innovation, significantly increasing the likelihood of project success. By combining DPA's deep understanding of the state's payroll needs with CDS's expertise in modern software development practices, the partnership led to the implementation of cutting-edge approaches rarely seen in government IT projects.
Key innovations resulting from this creative partnership included:
- Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP): CDS introduced this robust risk management tool, adapted from federal government best practices. The QASP redefined "done" for the project, emphasizing not just functionality, but also security, scalability, and user satisfaction.
- Automated Testing: CDS worked with the DPA team to implement automated testing, a practice often overlooked in public-sector projects but crucial for maintaining quality and enabling rapid iteration.
- Assumptions Mapping: CDS facilitated an exercise to align stakeholders on key performance indicators and success criteria for the payroll modernization project. This revealed that quality was prioritized over speed in stakeholder priorities, informing the project's overall approach.
Implementation:
The CDS team worked closely with DPA, acting as a bridge between agencies, the Office of Information Technology (OIT), and vendors. They advocated for quality and accountability at every step of the process, while empowering the DPA team to take ownership of these new practices.
Results:
While the project is still ongoing, several positive outcomes were already evident:
- Increased vendor accountability
- Accelerated release cycles
- Improved confidence in the system's stability and reliability
- Enhanced focus on quality, security, and user satisfaction
Impact:
The partnership between CDS and DPA has set a new standard in Colorado for how government technology projects can be approached. By emphasizing quality, automation, and user needs, the project is on track to deliver a payroll system that truly serves the needs of state employees.
We're not just coders. We're a bridge between agencies, OIT, and vendors, advocating for quality and accountability at every step.
Shashank Sundareshan, CDS Team Lead
Lessons Learned:
- Automated testing gives teams the confidence to iterate rapidly without sacrificing stability.
- Cross-agency collaboration and bridging gaps between different stakeholders is crucial for project success.
- Adapting private sector best practices, like automated testing, can significantly improve public sector technology projects.