Optimizing the Management of Infrastructure

Projects in State and Local Government

The 2009 economic stimulus package that has been dubbed by President-elect Obama “the
biggest public works investment since the federal highway system” marks a unique opportunity
for state and local governments to enhance capital project performance while creating jobs and
expanding regional infrastructure. This white paper describes how government agencies can
maximize funding capacity through increased project automation and visibility.

In this paper:
• Challenges in managing public works projects
• Automating processes to achieve cost savings
• Increasing visibility to optimize performance
• GoalMindTM improves infrastructure project management

Challenges in managing public works projects

State and local governments face numerous challenges when initiating and overseeing public
works projects. These include the rising cost of administrative overhead, poor visibility into
project operations, and inaccurate forecasting of project cost. Unaddressed, these challenges
lead to runaway cost escalation and loss of control over project operations.

Administrative overhead includes payroll processing, vendor payment processing, and time and
expense tracking. These activities require compliance with Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and union requirements. The resultant business
requirements increase the complexity of management and shift attention away from mission-
focused projects. In addition, as the private sector largely automates these processes, they
become relatively more expensive for public agencies to execute in a manual fashion.

Even larger contributors to cost escalation are inadequate project visibility and inaccurate cost
forecasting. One staggering example is the Big Dig in Massachusetts, originally budgeted at
$2.6 billion but ballooning to $22 billion. Smaller projects also exceed budget. Since 2005 in
Massachusetts, 84% of highway projects required more time, 61% came in over budget and
21% of projects more than doubled their original cost. In these cases, cost escalation and
schedule delays were caused by scope creep and systemic underestimation of project costs.

Rising administrative costs, poor project visibility, and inaccurate cost forecasts result in a
seemingly insurmountable risk of project failure. These challenges can be addressed, however,

vDoc ID 167 Page 1 January 5, 2009

Proprietary and Confidential © 2009, Vecna Technologies, Inc.

by implementing systems and practices that automate administrative processes and expose
essential project data in real-time, enabling early problem intervention.

Automating processes to achieve cost savings

To reduce both the complexity and the cost of administrative activities like payroll processing
and time and expense tracking, state and local government agencies can automate these
processes electronically. Time and budget saved can be redirected to mission-focused projects,
maximizing funding capacity of the expected 2009 economic stimulus package.

In 2006, Vecna Technologies successfully automated time reporting processes for the Maryland
Department of Transportation (MDOT), reducing what was once a manual and complex process
into a simple web-based system. Prior to Vecna’s help, MDOT underwent a costly and manual
process every 2 weeks that required the printing, completion, and storage of 8,500 paper time
sheets in triplicate. The process was simplified with an electronic time entry system that tracks
the time of over 9,000 employees according to project and work performed.

Solutions like MDOT’s quickly reduce costs by simplifying and automating complex processes
and by managing staffing schedules in real-time to reduce indirect and overtime charges. This
solution also builds a solid foundation for increased project visibility by collecting and making
available essential project performance data.

Increasing visibility to optimize project performance

Once administrative processes are automated, state and local agencies can use captured data
to gain deeper visibility into project performance. This visibility can lead to significant benefits,
including increased contractor accountability, early alerts of performance issues, and more
accurate cost forecasting for future projects.

Increased contractor accountability is achieved by requiring contractors to capture time and task
completion via the public agency’s system. As this data is exposed, activity-based and project-
based costing along with Earned Value Management (EVM) can accurately measure project
health. EVM has been a requirement for federal projects over $20M and is gaining adoption
amongst state and local governments. In addition, hierarchical tasking and drill-down
capabilities help identify and isolate cost escalation issues early in the project lifecycle.

Capturing project performance data at a granular level also enables better forecasting of project
costs in the future. By implementing activity-based costing, a reference class of cost data
categorized by activity, project, and vendor is created. Government officials can use this data to
more accurately plan for project costs and to achieve a higher project success rate.

vDoc ID 167 Page 2 January 5, 2009

Proprietary and Confidential © 2009, Vecna Technologies, Inc.

GoalMindTM improves infrastructure project management

GoalMindTM is a solution platform developed by Vecna Technologies that enables automation of

administrative processes and deeper visibility into project operations. It is a versatile solution
that has been utilized in state government agencies, military hospitals, and professional
services firms. GoalMind includes the following features:

• Time and expense modules automate the capture of essential project data and simplify
payroll processing, vendor payments, and compliance to labor rules.

• Project and task management functionality utilizes essential project data to enable
cost accounting by project and task, and project tracking methodologies like EVM.

• Historical costing data is also stored and intelligently categorized to enable more
accurate forecasting of future project costs.

• Issue and case management modules track and allow searching of project issues
centrally, reducing response times and automating workflows.

Combined, these modules help reduce project costs, enhance project performance, and ensure
a higher likelihood of success for state and local infrastructure projects. Vecna Technologies
looks forward to working with your organization to optimize project management and maximize
the funding capacity of the 2009 economic stimulus package.

About Vecna Technologies

Vecna Technologies is a CMMI Level 3-certified provider of IT and management consulting

services for the public sector and healthcare organizations. Vecna is a woman-owned small
business and one of the few small businesses to have achieved CMMI Level 3 certification via
external certification from SEI evaluators. Vecna employs an expert management team with
proven experience in creating, integrating, and managing effective teams and complex projects
of all sizes. As a prime contractor, Vecna has managed and supported large, medium, and
small contractor teams while successfully completing hundreds of task orders exceeding $54
million in total contract value for civilian, Department of Defense (DOD), National Institutes of
Health (NIH), Veteran Affairs (VA) and other Government agencies. Our projects encompass a
wide range of strategic initiatives, to include: Systems Engineering & Enterprise Architecture, e-
Health Portals, HIPAA Compliance & EDI, and much more.

For more information about GoalMind, please feel free to e-mail Ron Urwongse at
rurwongse@vecna.com or dial at 617-682-4670.

vDoc ID 167 Page 3 January 5, 2009

Proprietary and Confidential © 2009, Vecna Technologies, Inc.