USDANEWS VOLUME 56 NO. 7 - AUGUST 1997

Our Test Lab Will Result In "Better Ways To Do Things"

by Pat Cecil, Service Center Test Lab Team

"We don't simply want to automate; our intention is to use this test lab to experiment, and to look at new and better ways to do things."

Owen Unangst was describing the purpose of USDA's Service Center Test Lab, which opened in Riverdale, Md., in May. Unangst, a Natural Resources Conservation Service information technology specialist who is project leader at the Lab, explained that it was specifically created to test business solutions--which include testing hardware and software packages--for use in USDA's field service centers across the country, that will ensure compatibility in programs at all service centers.

"That, in turn, will ensure that 'one-stop shopping' is more of a smooth transition for our USDA customers nationwide," he emphasized. "And it also benefits our employees--who can then concentrate more on field work rather than on administrative chores."

Acting Assistant Secretary for Administration Pearlie Reed noted that the activities of the Service Center Test Lab also support the Department's related effort toward "administrative convergence." That is the effort to consolidate the administrative functions--currently defined to include financial management, human resources management, property and contracting, civil rights, and information resources management--for the Farm Service Agency, NRCS, and Rural Development offices at headquarters and field locations.

In fact, in a memorandum dated July 10, 1997 and titled "Administrative Convergence for the County-Based Agencies," which was sent to appropriate subcabinet officials, Secretary Dan Glickman noted that "I applaud, encourage, and endorse current efforts [to simplify and standardize administrative systems and procedures and to make better use of technology] such as those being pursued by the service center implementation team and the deputies for management of [FSA, NRCS, and RD]. These activities will certainly assist in the transition to centralized administrative services and should continue."

George Aldaya, FSA's deputy administrator for management, said that the Lab's activities currently focus on the needs of the three agencies which staff the Department's 2,556 field service centers: FSA, NRCS, and RD.

Tom Weber, NRCS's deputy chief for management, said the current system for providing administrative needs to employees at USDA's service centers remains primarily paper-driven. Where computers are used, issues of computer compatibility remain a problem.

"That contributed to the decision in 1996 to initiate a Departmentwide moratorium on any new information technology purchases--computers, hardware, software--until these problems got resolved," he said.

Chief Information Officer Anne Reed granted an exception for the Lab. "The reason was because the Lab has the right focus on reengineering business processes in advance of making technology investments," she said. "Its mission has a potential impact Departmentwide."

And that mission includes these goals:

(1) to replace the current paper-driven administrative systems--at the three USDA service center agencies--with an efficient, on-line, automated administrative system which integrates human resources, property management and procurement systems, and financial management;

(2) to increase the efficiency and value of the administrative operations--at the service center agencies--by cutting costs, by further automating, and by reducing "cycle-time," which is the time it takes for an administrative task such as filling a vacancy;

(3) to enhance interaction and cross-pollination between USDA service center agencies by meshing their administrative processes;

(4) to ultimately implement a "self-service business model" that provides USDA customers--as well as every USDA employee, both at headquarters and field locations--with the ability to access relevant and appropriate information on-line and in real-time.

Unangst noted that USDA employees at a sample of the service centers were surveyed.

"They told us," he said, "they want a new way to do business; they want new technology made available to them; and they want new and better ways to get their business done."

That information was then used to help develop the aforementioned four goals.

So what has the Lab accomplished in its first three months?

Karen Amorose, director of NRCS's Human Resources Division, noted that the Lab was recently authorized to test "commercial off-the-shelf software"--called "COTS"--in the area of human resources, which will help streamline human resources processing. This includes such personnel actions as updating payroll information and changing employee benefits.

She said that a critical input to the project will also be from customers, managers, and other "non-human resources participants," such as engineers and technicians at USDA. Employees will also be brought in from field locations for 'hands-on' testing of the new software.

"They are the users," Amorose advised, "and it is their input that will ensure the success of the new system." ¤

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