broaden the scope of GSME involvement to improve the quality of software tests and product releases for Soldiers.
Once the software construction phase is complete, the release phase begins; it includes test preparation and software validation (beta event) conducted primar- ily at GSME sites. During the beta event, GSMEs have the opportunity to execute their own test scenarios with hands-on access to the latest RCAS release.
Using the Agile methodology for beta events, the RCAS Quality Assurance Division Team also has greatly reduced the time needed to test a new software release from weeks to days, as well as reducing the number of personnel. Soldiers are no longer experiencing the software for the first time now that they have reviewed and exercised with it during sprint demonstrations. Tis iterative, collab- orative approach ensures that the release is intact with functions optimized for the Soldiers’ unique environments, allows multiple sites to comply with the soft- ware baseline, and heightens Soldiers’ confidence in the software.
CONCLUSION Customers who have worked with the RCAS team have found the Agile approach to be very helpful in terms of its usability, flexibility and speed.
“Tis has been the easiest testing we have had,” said Cindy Marshall, U.S. Army Reserve Command (USARC)
systems
team chief, G-3/5/7, Force Manage- ment Main and a GSME for the RCAS Force Authorization (FA) application.
“Everyone was ready to do whatever was necessary to make the applications work correctly. I can’t say enough good things about the RCAS FA applications,” she said.
LATEST CAPABILITIES
Rita Bartholomew, RCAS release beta event facilitator, provides LTC Jeffrey T. Yon, chief of PD RCAS’ Infrastructure and Integration Division, with a hands-on overview of the new functionality and capabilities in the latest software release. (Photo by Pete Van Schagen, PD RCAS Strategic Communications)
LTC Steve Ballew, as Georgia ARNG state safety manager and GSME for the RCAS Safety and Occupational Health (SOH) application, said, “I have been trying to implement this enhancement into SOH for three years, and you all are accomplishing it in three to four months.”
Eric Engstrom, lead readiness analyst in USARC’s G-33 Readiness Division and a GSME for the Mobilization Planning Data Viewer application, offered this praise: “My thanks for a well-thought-out and rigorous process. I look forward to the next round of testing under the new development regime.”
For more information, contact Jim Cook at 703-806-3071 or
jim.n.cook.civ@mail. mil; or Rita Bartholomew at 703-806-3119 or
rita.g.bartholomew.ctr@
mail.mil.
MR. JIM N. COOK, who retired from military service in 1999 after nearly 22 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and ARNG, is the SSD chief for PD RCAS. He holds a B.S. in business management from Excelsior College and is a recent graduate of the Advanced Course of the Army Management Staff College. He is a Certified Scrum Product Owner, Level III certified in technology management and Level II certified in program management. He is also a member of the Army Acquisition Corps.
MS. RITA G. BARTHOLOMEW is a contractor who provides release manage- ment and quality assurance support to PD RCAS for Team NCI, Metova Federal. She has an M.Ed. from Virginia Tech and a B.S. in education from James Madison Univer- sity. She is certified in the Kirkpatrick levels of evaluation.
ASC.ARMY.MIL 33
ACQUISITION
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