Recognizing that the delivery of digital services within the Federal space is often over budget, over schedule, or simply do not work well, the government has developed a ‘playbook’ that describes 13 plays that can help to improve the delivery of solutions.  (Note:  These are appropriate for non-government projects as well.)

The plays:

Each play includes a basic overview, a checklist, and key questions to help trigger the kind of thinking required for each play.  Check it out here: https://playbook.cio.gov/

The plays could be summarized in 4 key concepts:

• Mature Agile/Scrum Product Development – Leverage agile practices that engage the end user, produce minimally viable products on a regular basis, automate development, testing & deployment.  Establish a Product Owner that is responsible for the success or failure of the overall solution.
• Structure Contracts Appropriately – Bring experienced teams to bear, and modernize the methods to evaluate progress should include prototyping, the ability to refine requirements as the product is built, ensure frequent deliveries, leverage the cloud and open source alternatives.  Another resource is available in the TechFAR Handbook which describes the flexibility in the the FAR that can be leveraged to support agile delivery.
• Security – Build security into the development and maintenance of the service.  No longer a ‘phase’ at the end of the process.  Engage privacy and security in the agile process early and continue collaboration throughout the process.  The solution should start small, be secure, and validate the security through automation as the solution grows/evolves over time.
• Leverage the Cloud – Along with the flexibility and scalability found in cloud solutions, the technology stack tends to be more open, modern, and avoids vendor lock-in.  The ability to dynamically provision resources for development & testing, as well as deployment are vital for “leaning out” the dev and deploy practices, disaster recovery, and helps to reduces costs.

Although not overly detailed, and for many of us perhaps common sense, it is encouraging to see the Federal Government establishing an Agile approach through these 13 plays.