SMART UPDATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 219156 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AMGT AINF AADP ACOA ASEC KRIM SUBJECT: SMART UPDATE REF: A) STATE 152885, B) STATE 13048, C) 03 STATE 284912, D) 02 STATE 195704 STATE 00219156 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. Please provide wide dissemination of the information in this telegram. ¶2. This message is another in a series of updates on the status of SMART, the State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset. SMART is designed to consolidate cables, e- mails, and memos on a single platform integrated with a centralized searchable archive. The original SMART timeline called for systems development in 2003-2004, pilot testing at 15 posts in summer 2005, and worldwide deployment in 2006. Because of vendor delays, the contract has been amended (at no cost to the government) to stipulate completion of the first phase by January 31, ¶2006. ¶3. The Department's Steering Committee for SMART consists of Assistant Secretary- and DAS-level representatives from functional and regional bureaus department wide. it meets regularly to review the status of the SRT program and to provide program direction. The Under Secretary for Management, Henrietta Fore, opened the September 28 and November 9 meetings of the SMART Steering Committee. She emphasized the importance of the SMART program and the requirement for a new integrated messaging system for the Department. ¶4. In light of the delays of the SMART contractor in delivering a solution and the importance placed on this program by the Under Secretary, the Program Office updated a 2002 survey of existing messaging practices of 24 organizations, both public and private sector. IRM was also tasked to provide a contingency paper on how the State Department could complete SMART utilizing IRM as an integrator or in a general contractor role. ¶5. In September, an ad hoc Senior Review Group (Ambassadors Reis, Thomas, and Powell, Bruce Morrison and Frank Machak) was convened to review the updated survey, IRM's approach paper, as well as overall program status. The Senior Review Group's report to the Steering Committee concluded the following: - The best solution for the Department is that the SMART contractor succeeds. - The requirement for a new messaging system is more imperative today than ever. - There is not a SMART-like solution currently available in either the public or private sector. - Should the contractor fail to deliver, then the Steering Committee needs to prioritize the functionalities required to modernize the legacy telegram system. - IRM could serve as an integrator; however, this approach is not without some risk to the government. ¶6. At the November Steering Committee meeting, Under Secretary Fore announced that Steering Committee Chair Ambassador oe Lake will be joining the Office of the Inspector General as a WAE and has also accepted a position as president of the American Center for Mongolian Studies, a non-profit academic organization. She thanked Ammbassador Lake for his three years of service on the SMART program and reported that former CIO Bruce Morrison had accepted her invitation to serve as the chair upon Ambassador Lake's departure. ¶8. Usability demonstrations and evaluations were conducted September 14 - 20 and November 9 - 10, 2005. These sessions included 45 business users, system administrators, and Steering Committee members. Feedback from the demonstrations confirmed steady progress in the user interface of SMART; however work remains with system administrator training. ¶9. In addition to measuring usability factors, the contractor is conducting rigorous testing against functional, technical, and performance requirements under the watchful eye of State's Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) team. The IV&V team reports that bugs remain to be fixed and performance at Department specified standards has not yet been demonstrated. The contractor will continue testing and fixing bugs until late December. Final acceptance testing will take place in the latter part of December and January. The Steering Committee will STATE 00219156 002.2 OF 002 consider the results of acceptance testing in February and make a recommendation to the Under Secretary for Management on whether to continue with the current contractor. ¶10. In the event that agreed standards for a user-driven messaging system are not met by January 31, 2006, contingency planning is underway for an alternative to satisfy the SMART vision. ¶11. Visit http://smart.state.gov/ on OpenNet or http://smart.state.sgov.gov/ on ClassNet for the latest information on the SMART program. These sites contain a full description of the system being designed including features such as search and retrieval, instant messaging, and collaboration software. The site also includes a copy of the recent study examining messaging systems in 24 public and private institutions. ¶12. Minimize considered. RICE