Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V)

Services
IV&V assessments, recognized as an industry best practice in technology development, are an important risk mitigation strategy that identifies mid-flight project performance weaknesses. IV&V inspections conducted during a project effort can save organizations millions of dollars by identifying at-risk projects early and highlighting areas of systemic weaknesses in the technology development life cycles.

Our IV&V teams, led by highly experienced Project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Managers and technology experts, give you an unbiased look at the health and progress of your IT project and make substantive recommendations that will improve a project’s chances of meeting its schedule, cost, and functional/business objectives. We cater our findings to your organization’s specific needs, including evaluations of: return on investment, technical feasibility, project management and governance practices, and financial reporting. In the best case scenario, we confirm for your organization’s executives or sponsors that your project is healthy and sound. If your project is in trouble or at risk, we will tell you why and what to do to fix it.

In the case that your project needs remediation, and your organization wants help implementing Cirdan Group’s recommendations, we offer corrective action planning support, project management and technical coaching, and onsite assistance. These plans are catered to your organization’s specific needs whether you need fulltime project assistance or simply periodic direction at key stage gates.

Approach
Our project management evaluation approach is modeled after the PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge, an industry standard for project management best practices. Our toolkit also draws heavily on project research from a variety of industry sources including the Standish Group, MIT, PMI emerging best practices, and the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model.

Our IV&V technical approach includes methods and best practices gleaned from some of the leading Information Technology resources, including the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Models and IEEE.

Our approach to conducting IV&V assessments draws heavily on our proprietary IV&V toolkit. Compiled over several years, the toolkit is a standards-driven approach to project assessment. Your project will benefit from Cirdan’s firm assets and extensive IV&V knowledge base in the commercial and government sectors. Our experienced team of PMI-certified Project Managers, Technical Analysts, Business Analysts, and Technical Writers will efficiently and methodically review project artifacts and interview personnel to assess a project's current activities. Because our methodology is detailed and proven, we typically can conduct IV&V assessments more quickly than other firms.

Assessment findings are concrete, actionable, and contain an executive summary, detailed findings, and recommendations for improvement. Your delivery will be efficient and useful for all levels of project stakeholders.

We assure you that these assessments have significant, tangible impact for both organizations and project teams. Our IV&V approach, delivery, and findings were cited by the Maryland State Chief Information Officer’s office as catalysts for substantial improvements in high-profile state IT projects, including the $65 million Maryland Children’s Electronic Social Services Information Exchange project. Further, our IV&V team was retained to review the package selection of a multi-million dollar procurement for a new enterprise case management system. We investigated and identified serious deficiencies with the package selection process, and our findings resulted in the cancellation of the development funds for the project. The project team reopened the package procurement, thus saving the client $6 million on poor procurement selection.

Projects
State of Maryland Central Scheduling System (CSS), Maryland Department of Transportation, 2008

State of Maryland Highway Maintenance Management System (HMMS), State Highway Administration, 2007

State of Maryland Assessment Administration and Valuation System (AAVS), Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation, 2007

State of Maryland Enterprise Environmental Management System (EEMS), Maryland Department of the Environment, 2007

State of Maryland Child Care Administration Tracking System (CCATS), Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland Department of Human Resources, 2007

State of Maryland Maryland Automated Fingerprint Information System (MAFIS), Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, 2007

State of Maryland Maryland Imaging Data Access System II (MIDAS II), Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, 2006

State of Maryland Offender Case Management System (OCMS), Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, 2006

State of Maryland Maryland Children’s Electronic Social Services Information Exchange (CHESSIE), Department of Human Resources, 2005

State of Maryland Automated Statewide Support and Information System Tools (ASSIST), Department of Juvenile Justice, 2004