Ensuring Success for Our Clients
When the time approaches for a corrections agency to make the commitment to procure a new or replacement Offender Management System (OMS), or specific components of an OMS, such as Community Supervision Case Management or Electronic Health Record (EHR), there are generally four options to consider:
- Software custom designed and coded by a vendor
- Software designed and coded by the agency IT staff or another government IT agency
- A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software package modified and configured for corrections by a vendor
- A COTS (Commercial off-the-shelf) software solution already developed by a solution provider
Although there are pros and cons for each of the above options, in the corrections OMS market there is consensus (supported by a review of awarded contracts by state corrections agencies over the past five years) that procuring a COTS solution is the preferable route. The reasoning behind this trend is that a COTS solution provides several benefits over the traditional methods of software development or a typical CRM configuration model:
- Project risks are substantially mitigated by acquiring software that is coded, tested, deployed into production, and currently used by corrections staff in one or more corrections agencies.
- Typically, years of development, enhancements and fine-tuning are invested in the solution, therefore the agency procuring the solution benefits from the experience and effort of both the solution provider and corrections agency clients before them.
- An agency procuring COTS software will be supported by a solution provider team that has specialized in delivering corrections software. This “Corrections Software Support Team” will have experience unique to corrections in data conversion, interfaces, gap analysis, agency organization, infrastructure & operations, staff training, etc.
- A COTS solution is considered a “mature” solution, having gone through multiple iterations and deployments. With a “mature” solution, an agency benefits from extended and integrated functionality utilizing the latest in technology but with proven reliability.
Once an agency decides to take the path of procuring a COTS solution, there are numerous considerations to take into account. These “considerations” may include infrastructure, back-end software, hosting, networks, hardware, change management, etc. However, one of the most critical but often not discussed “considerations” is the solution provider’s software delivery methodology once the COTS solution is procured.
All mature COTS solutions normally meet a significant percentage of an agency’s functional requirements “right out of the box”. These requirements are generally standard across the industry for correctional agencies in areas such as inmate counts, disciplinary infractions, chronos, case notes, incident reporting, health encounters, etc. There may be differences in nomenclature, field names or drop-downs, but there is general commonality. However, as with any software, there will be gaps in functionality and design that will need to be filled by the solution provider though configuration or coding revisions.
The complete replacement of an agency’s OMS is typically a three to five-year project, depending on the scope of the modules deployed and the size of the agency. During these 36 to 60 months, numerous iterations of multiple modules are deployed multiple times. From the point that a decision is made that a portion of functionality requires modification, a process begins to ensure that the original software, as designed, is appropriately modified as requested, does what it is intended to do for the users, and continues to interact and affect the remainder of the system appropriately.
The Marquis Delivery Model
As described above, the process of modifying COTS software to bridge a gap in desired functionality or to meet new functional requirements, occurs numerous times over the lifetime of an OMS project. To ensure prompt delivery of software builds, improve accuracy of revisions, reduce time to production, and reduce defects, Marquis utilizes a unique, agile, team focused methodology.
Utilizing this approach, Marquis does not limit itself and its clients to fixed, limited, software deliveries, such as quarterly. With the Marquis approach, motivated teams from the client and Marquis deliver software in a much timelier fashion, typically on a biweekly basis. This provides for smaller but faster builds, which are easier for clients to consume and deploy and are more responsive to the client’s needs. In turn, the project stays truer to its schedule, consumes less resources, and most importantly, provides agency line staff with proof that the project is advancing!
Combining a proven COTS solution (eOMIS®) developed through years of evolution, across multiple corrections jurisdictions, with an SDLC model that provides quick configuration and software revisions to adjust to requirements, is the Marquis Delivery Model…Ensuring Success for Our Clients!