CASE STUDY

Data Center Relocation Governance

CLIENT’s Challenge

Beginning in August 2019, VITA initiated the Data Center Relocation Program (DCRP) to meet its requirements for raised-floor data center space that would continue upon the expiration of the lease on the current Commonwealth Enterprise Solutions Center (CESC). The Governor’s Executive Order 19, which encourages agencies to adopt modern virtualization and cloud technologies, also served as an impetus for the program. The DCRP will result in:

• The relocation of the COV Data Center from its current location in Chesterfield, VA (CESC) to a new location in Henrico, VA (QTS).
• Server virtualization and reduction of the raised-floor data center square footage.

This project requires two Independent Verification and Review Reports of the VITA DCRP effort.

OUR APPROACH

In conducting the two IV&V reviews, Impact Makers employed a combination of structured interviews with VSP Team members and structured reviews of VSP documentation to gather information relevant to assessing each of the applicable IV&V tasks:

• Developed VITA DCRP IV&V Plan.
• Conducted structured interviews: a series of initial and follow-up structured interviews, as necessary, with VSP Team members.
• Conducted documentation reviews: review of existing project documentation and other artifacts.
• Produced a documented report In accordance with the VITA DCRP IV&V Plan.
• Provided and presented a final summarized report to the IOAC Committee.

skills & tech leveraged

IV&V

THE RESULTS

• Validated the strength of VITA’s project management
• Improved client communication and change management practices
• Facilitated understanding of issues between the IT and business sides of the project to improve delivery.
• Improved accuracy and success in mission accomplishment.
• Implemented new practices to include Performance Manager and Business Readiness and Communications Lead as resources for future project accomplishment.
• As a result of this successful engagement, VITA was encouraged to engage Impact Makers on two additional projects.