OutsideVDOT Category: Improving State Operations Initiation date: February 2013 Completion date: November 2013 Nomination submitted by: Samuel A. Nixon Jr. Chief Information Officer Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia Information Technologies Agency
Executive Summary OutsideVDOT is a collaborative effort between the Virginia Department of Transportation s (VDOT) information technology (IT) and knowledge management divisions. At the beginning of the project, a stakeholder group was created that represented areas across the agency. VDOT works extensively with outside vendors and business partners across the state. Communication is critical and historically has been handled via email and file transfer protocol servers, causing document version confusion and delays with decision making and project deadlines. Emails often were lost or misfiled, and as employees left the agency, their emails could no longer be accessed by the right people. Large files often ended up being downloaded to individual computers. This lead to inconsistent information sharing, security concerns and duplication of documents. To solve these problems, VDOT leveraged SharePoint 2010 technology to build OutsideVDOT. This business partner extranet provides collaboration team sites for VDOT employees and external business partners. OutsideVDOT was completed for approximately $300,000. Most of the quantitative benefits come in the form of increased employee productivity. It is estimated that OutsideVDOT saves the cost of paying approximately 15 full-time equivalent (FTEs) positions per year to increase productivity. Assuming an average labor rate of approximately $70,000/FTE, roughly $1 million in increased productivity is realized over a year. OutsideVDOT has only been in production since November; its usage will increase over time. Additionally, it is anticipated that OutsideVDOT will allow VDOT to phase out two file transfer protocol servers over the next two or three years, enabling VDOT to avoid approximately $100,000 in maintenance costs per year, per server, or roughly $1 million over a five-year period. Over five years, the return on the investment is expected to be approximately $5.7 million. OutsideVDOT benefits other state agencies, federal and local government agencies, consultants and VDOT employees. It enables VDOT to increase collaboration with associations that represent its business partners. It facilitates better communication between VDOT and its partners in local governments and other state and federal agencies. This project is significant because it is the first business partner extranet of its kind in Virginia state government and has opened up new possibilities for online collaboration. 2
Description of the business problem VDOT works extensively with outside vendors and business partners across the state. Communication is critical and historically was handled via email and file transfer protocol servers. Emails can be lost or misfiled, and if employees leave the agency, their emails are no longer able to be accessed by the right people. Large files often end up being downloaded to individual computers, which leads to inconsistent information sharing and duplication of documents. Duplicative communication does not make it easier to find information. A SharePoint usability study indicated that more than 70 percent of respondents spent between two and three hours per week searching for information. More than 25 percent had doubts as to whether or not the information they found was current and complete. This historical process presents security concerns, as it relies heavily on email to communicate with external business partners. Email easily can be sent to the wrong recipient. Without a streamlined system, the agency may not be aware of where documents are stored and managed. A centralized document management system allows the agency to maintain security that is approved by the state. Further, the past process has been an issue when attempting to collaborate with external business partners on projects. This includes coordination, for instance, with consultants, contractors and other state agencies. The existing process also was an issue when attempting to manage versions of a particular document. Version control had often been difficult when emailing documents back and forth. Documents typically were managed in Microsoft Word, Excel, Project and PowerPoint. This was a challenge because many business partners travel and work in field conditions. Because many of VDOT s business partners work outside on construction projects, tablets and smart phones are becoming just as important as laptops to get work done on the job site. OutsideVDOT enables users to leverage many of SharePoint s functionalities from a variety of mobile devices. Solution To solve these problems, VDOT leveraged SharePoint 2010 technology to build OutsideVDOT. This business partner extranet provides collaborative team sites for VDOT employees and external business partners. The security model allows the business owners to control access to the information solely on their own sites, and prevents external business partners from accessing another partner s information. 3
Other solutions were considered. Document management and collaboration is a large part of VDOT s business. When VDOT made the decision to upgrade from SharePoint 2003 to SharePoint 2010, the ability to build a business partner extranet on the same platform was a big selling feature. By building OutsideVDOT on the SharePoint 2010 platform, VDOT was able to fully leverage the upgraded version of the technology. Given that the business was familiar with SharePoint, it was cost beneficial to use SharePoint in lieu of purchasing additional software for a business partner extranet. Communication plans for the project included user education and awareness promotion, and was provided via an OutsideVDOT team site. Significance of the project This project was conceived because of a need for VDOT to collaborate with its consultants and contractors. It facilitates better communication between VDOT and its partners in local governments and other state and federal agencies. This project is significant because it is the first business partner extranet of its kind in Virginia s state government and has opened up new possibilities for online collaboration. Project deliverables for the OutsideVDOT project include: A browser-based secure-access mechanism grants VDOT internal employees and authorized business partners network access to specific areas within the VDOT portal and upload, to contribute to or view documents with others. Secure access to OutsideVDOT remotely without the requirement of going through a virtual private network (VPN) connection Access to OutsideVDOT via desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones Beneficiaries of the project include VDOT employees and external business partners. Others include federal, state and local government agencies that collaborate with VDOT. The project has reduced the need for VDOT to issue computers to consultants who need to collaborate with VDOT employees on VDOT systems. Access is available from anywhere there is an internet connection. Communication between VDOT and its partners in local governments, and other state and federal agencies is enhanced. VDOT employees and external business partners can operate and share information as a true team, without having to contend with much of the red tape and security concerns that traditionally come with sharing information between separate entities via email. Because OutsideVDOT is a secure environment, once users are approved to work on a team site, they can collaborate and work on documents like a true team. 4
OutsideVDOT is an innovative use of the SharePoint 2010 technology because it allows approved users to access information from virtually anywhere. SharePoint traditionally had been used by VDOT employees to collaborate within the agency. However, the security features now available allow both internal and external users to collaborate securely. Documents open in the Web browser, which means that the user does not have to have Microsoft Office products to view them. Such mobile accessibility is particularly important at VDOT where much of the work literally takes place on the road. The architecture of OutsideVDOT allows approved users access to a secure collaboration environment. Only VDOT employees and approved business partners have access to OutsideVDOT. OutsideVDOT is constructed as a single security trimmed SharePoint 2010 site collection. Although there are currently 61 OutsideVDOT team sites, users only see the ones of which they have access. The SharePoint 2010 platform enables the site owner, which is always a business user and a VDOT employee, to control access to documents at the various permission levels. OutsideVDOT is compliant with security and accessibility standards. Since OutsideVDOT is not classified as a sensitive system, VDOT personnel and approved external business partners can log into OutsideVDOT from portable computers, laptops and internetwork operating system (IOS) and Android devices. Several NASCIO state CIO priorities are addressed. These include: Security Information is appropriately secured. Mobile services OutsideVDOT has been configured so that users can view team sites on IOS and Android devices just as they appear on a desktop computer or laptop. Consolidation An OutsideVDOT site acts as a central repository for all of the team s documents. Each team member can always view the most current version of the document. People no longer have to look through emails to find all of the documents related to a project, nor do they have to guess if what they re viewing is the most current version. This project is an innovative approach because it fully leverages SharePoint 2010 technology to create a secure collaboration space outside of the agency s firewall. VDOT staff can collaborate with approved business partners as if they were VDOT staff, and avoid the risks associated with sending documents via email. Further, OutsideVDOT utilizes desktop rendering to make these sites available on mobile devices. A 2012 survey indicated that less than eight percent of all businesses make SharePoint available on mobile devices. Best practices in the OutsideVDOT project include: 5
A stakeholder group was identified and provided crucial feedback on the design during requirements gathering and as the project was being developed. Each team site only allows authorized users access to materials. The business owner controls who has access and at what levels. The data is viewed but is not transferred, as is the case when files are emailed. This limits the exposure to security risks associated with data in transit. There is only one copy of each document -- the most current version. There is a central repository for all documents for a project. The quality of communication is increased by allowing all team members to utilize the same documents, calendar and announcements. The business owner controls the content of the site. OutsideVDOT aligns with two of VDOT s eight goals outlined in its 2013 Business Plan: develop unified and collaborative transportation planning and implementation processes and be an innovative pacesetter in technology, environmental protection and system management. Benefits of the project The project demonstrated several operational, quantitative and qualitative benefits. At the outset, staff envisioned ease of collaboration between VDOT and its consultants. The OutsideVDOT program also greatly increased collaboration with other government entities. It enables VDOT to increase collaboration with business partners associations. More than half of VDOT s districts and divisions now have team sites on OutsideVDOT, which speaks to the high level of interaction that VDOT has with itsexternal business partners. On average, each of the 61 team sites currently has more than 20 users who can be anyone with whom VDOT does business. For example, VDOT s research arm, the Virginia Center for Transportation, Innovation and Research, uses OutsideVDOT to collaborate with researchers at other departments of transportation and universities around the globe. VDOT s local assistance division uses it to communicate and share information with local governments. VDOT s construction division uses it to collaborate with contractors, consultants and other state agencies. Based on a usability study conducted prior to this project, 70 percent of respondents said they spend two to three hours a week looking for information; 25 percent said they did not have confidence that the information they found was current. If OutsideVDOT reduces search time by just a half hour a week for each of the average 20 users of 61 team sites, that equates to approximately 30,000 hours a year in regained productivity (about the equivalent of 15 full-time staff members). 6
On average, there are 50 documents per team site. Without OutsideVDOT, each of these documents likely would be emailed to all members, since the external partners cannot access VDOT shared drives. Doing so would create 1,000 files in email and that is for one average team site. If the same thing happened on each site, there would be 61,000 files existing in email and this assumes each file is sent only once. OutsideVDOT was completed for approximately $300,000. Most of the quantitative benefits come in the form of increased employee productivity. It is estimated that OutsideVDOT saves the cost of paying approximately 15 full-time equivalent (FTEs) positions per year to increase productivity. Assuming an average labor rate of approximately $70,000/FTE, roughly $1 million in increased productivity is realized over a year. OutsideVDOT has only been in production since November; its usage will increase over time. Additionally, it is anticipated that OutsideVDOT will allow VDOT to phase out two file transfer protocol servers over the next two or three years, enabling VDOT to avoid approximately $100,000 in maintenance costs per year, per server, or roughly $1 million over a five-year period. Over five years, the return on the investment is expected to be approximately $5.7 million. Some of the qualitative benefits include: Increased confidence that the data is accurate and current. Increased quality in knowing that everyone is always working from the most current version of a document. This also will result in increased productivity as it eliminates re-work created by version control issues. Better record retention, since the official copy is located on the team site. Better and more consistent communication; team site calendars and announcements help ensure that all team members receive the same information. Increased ability for VDOT staff to work closely with external business partners in a common electronic work space. OutsideVDOT benefits other state agencies, federal and local government agencies, consultants and VDOT employees. It enables VDOT to increase collaboration with associations that represent its business partners. It facilitates better communication between VDOT and its partners in local governments and other state and federal agencies. This project is significant because it is the first business partner extranet of its kind in Virginia state government and has opened up new possibilities for online collaboration. 7