California trimmed more than 1,400 pages from its procurement documents when it decided to switch to agile for the state's child welfare system modernization, according to a federal strike team that advised the move.
A blog post from 18F says the group attended a two-day workshop in December where they worked with the Department of Social Services, the Office of Systems Integration, California Health and Human Services, and Code for America on the project's new modular approach for the procurement.
That led to another month of effort where the workgroup narrowed the documentation to a 10-page Statement of Work and another 60 pages of mandatory contracting language. The original contracting document was 1,500 pages.
"Besides shifting the focus from stakeholders to users, the drastically reduced length of this document matters because it enables a larger pool of vendors to submit a bid. Few companies are set up to analyze and respond to 1,500-page documents, and many (especially small businesses) don’t want the hassle. California’s new, shorter contract also included a revised Terms and Conditions section that was more friendly to non-traditional government vendors, which should help increase competition and improve the final product," 18F writes in the blog post, which explains the contract writing in much more detail.
Instead of the monolithic, “waterfall”-style approach that’s typical of many large-scale state IT projects, the Department of Social Services hopes a modular, agile approach for the child welfare system will make the project less risky and allow participation among multiple vendors.
Read more about the child welfare system on Techwire:
California Plans Modular Approach, Multiple RFPs for Child Welfare System Modernization
State Releases Two Bids for Child Welfare System Modernization
