The Do’s and Don’ts of Modernization Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Arnold

Introduction The Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) is organized under the Secretary of State, a Constitutional Officer elected by the Legislature. The Secretary of State also oversees the State Archives, the Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, and our own IS department. The Legislature’s Transportation Committee also has oversight responsibilities for the BMV, including our budget. This arrangement also gives us our own IT department, something most state agencies do not have in Maine. Secretary of State Corporations, Elections & Commissions State Archives Bureau of Motor Vehicles Information Services Office of Investigations

Two major modernization projects recently at Maine BMV: – Computer Migration Project Transition to different servers, upgrading our processes as well. Initiated in 2001; first version went live in 2005, but was reworked. Final version completed March – Document Management Project Goal is to rework how the Bureau manages our documents, eliminating antiquated processes and improving efficiencies without any negative impacts to our customers. The planning for this project was initiated in The RFP was recently awarded, so we will soon be moving into the implementation phase. Introduction

Goal was to transition away from BULL system. Planning completed in New system initially went live in Secretary of State suspended the development of the remaining components following widespread issues with the new system. A review team was convened to assess the Bureau’s technical options and to make recommendations for completion of the project. The review team decided to reduce the scope of the project, as some technology being used was adequate. Future implementation was to be done in phases by area. This approach worked much better and led to a successful deployment of the new technology. Finalized system went live in spring Computer Migration

Computer Migration Timeline **Resulted in positive and enthusiastic response from staff and no negative impact on customers. September 2005 to December 2005 – Reassessment of Project Resulting in a New Project Plan 2006 Resumed Project Based on Recommendations Made by the Project Assessment Team Including Key Management Position Changes, Significant Reduced IT Staff, Use of Different Platform and Improved Process for Development, Testing, Training with Emphasis on Quality. ** Go Live: 2/21/11**

Document Management We needed to reinvent the way the BMV processes and stores documents, as our current methods are antiquated:

Document Management One of our first steps was to get support for this project from the Legislature’s Transportation Committee. After explaining our current system and our needs, the proposal received overwhelming support and was included in the budget.

Document Management Request For Information (RFI) – Before planning the Request for Proposal (RFP), we initiated a Request for Information (RFI). – RFI written and distributed in spring/early summer – The RFI was purposefully vague, encouraging a variety of approaches from vendors who responded. – Eight vendors came and did demonstrations over five days in August – The responses gave us a good idea of what was available. – The RFI helped us to write the RFP, giving us more ideas about what exactly we needed to include.

Document Management Evaluate current processes: – As part of the planning, our business analyst worked with teams to evaluate the Bureau’s current processes. – This enabled us to identify areas where greater efficiencies were needed most, and to incorporate that into our planning. Scanning demo: – We initiated a demonstration of scanning technology in summer and fall of – We were able to temporarily set up scanners to use in areas where they would be most helpful. – This gave us a sense of the hardware options available to us in the implementation of this project. Both the current process evaluation and scanner demonstrations were key to internal buy-in.

Document Management Request For Proposal – The RFP included detailed requirements based on our internal evaluations and the RFI responses. – Staff from the areas that would be most impacted by the changes were involved with the writing of the RFP. – The RFP team was guided by the business needs of the Bureau and its impact on our customers. – We had 80 requestors and 13 actual proposals. – They were scored using a consensus approach. – The project was just awarded and no appeal was filed, allowing the Bureau to move forward.

Do’s and Don’ts: Do: – Get buy-in from stakeholders, both internal and external. – Gain familiarity with RFP process before doing a large project. – Get support from Legislature. – Limited pilot projects. – Issue an RFI before your RFP. – Include detailed requirements and expectations in RFP. Don’t: – Give up your authority, either to vendors or other state agencies. – Let the scope of the project become so broad that it distracts from your core mission. – Repeat prior mistakes. – Let any changes negatively impact the customer’s experience.