Case Study
The client is responsible for information technology (IT) within a sub-departmental agency. IT activities within the agency had recently been reorganized, a new IT group established, and a new Chief Information Officer (CIO) appointed.

The HW&W team assisted in developing processes to improve the IT planning cycle. The project involved the development of a capital planning and investment control (CPIC) process that facilitated investment decisions and was compatible with the overall CPIC process followed by the Department.

An integrated approach to information management with a maximum business orientation was taken to assure that the CPIC process was consistent with the Strategic Plan and Enterprise Architecture.

HW&W was selected for this project because of its experience supporting CPIC reviews for agency senior management review boards in addition to four years supporting the CPIC process for other Federal agencies.

The HW&W team developed and presented guidelines and a process to support CPIC within the agency. These included specific criteria for investment decision-making based on:

Legislative mandates
Requirements
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance
Aligning investments with strategic goals and objectives and the agency EA

The CPIC process included:

A charter for the CPIC Board
Policy for the Board’s operations
Procedures for Board meetings
A requirement for cost/benefit analysis
A technical review process
A procedure for perfecting proposals not meeting Board approval
Pre-screening and post-implementation review processes

The investment analysis guidance and process has requirements specific to the level of investment. This accommodation was made to lessen the documentation burden for small projects while at the same time ensuring a review for technical compatibility and redundancy. In addition, projects considered a major investment by the OMB are required to comply with the departmental CPIC process.

HW&W designed and documented the process through interviews and discussions with agency staff, followed by facilitated sessions. The process documents were modified per the recommendations of the agency Executive Committee, the CPIC Board, the CIO, and the IT staff. A session was then held with the CPIC Board to discuss Board and IT staff responsibilities. The HW&W team made presentations to the agency Executive Committee and the CPIC Board during the project to inform them of progress.

The HW&W team developed a white paper and a model for integrating CPIC and the agency’s enterprise architecture. This in turn, was extended to include interface with the strategic plan.

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