Bridging the gap between IT and business with an agile approach

For health and human services (HHS) agencies, the old way of implementing new technology and programs just isn't cutting it. Technology constraints and rigid legacy systems have hamstrung the business experts who understand the policies, regulations, and frontline realities for too long. By the time an agency's multi-year IT implementation finally goes live, the technology needs to be updated with evolving program needs. 

Solutions that are business-driven, not IT-driven

But there's a better path forward for HHS agencies that aligns agile business innovation with flexible, cloud-based technology solutions. It starts with reimagining the relationship between an agency's business visionaries and its technical architects and leveraging an adaptive, agile approach—a shift that enables agencies to quickly tailor solutions to meet specific business needs more efficiently and leverage the current technologies’ flexibility.

The well-understood reality is this: the business side should be empowered to drive the design of intuitive user experiences and streamlined program journeys based on the desired outcome rather than being forced to contort around the constraints of outdated technologies. At the same time, close collaboration with IT experts is essential to apply the best solution for translating that vision into reality. 

We often hear agency leaders reflect that they’ve gotten more effective at figuring out what they want a solution to do and how they are going to approach it. An evolution from very rigid waterfalls—defining all requirements years before go-live. Now agency leaders are focused on the outcome, creating requirements iteratively in a much more collaborative way. 

Technology as an enabler, not a constraint

Today's advanced technologies provide unprecedented opportunities for developing business-driven solutions, whereby technology acts as an enabler rather than a constraint. Advanced solutions—like CGI Transcend—exemplify this approach by offering more than just a platform or Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. It embodies an approach that allows agencies to adapt technology to their unique requirements, thus prioritizing business needs and objectives over technology limitations and closing the gaps in between.

For example, to modify eligibility criteria for a program, legacy systems would require months of effort for requirements, design, coding, testing, and release scheduling through rigid IT protocols. More advanced solutions would allow authorized business users to make those policy updates themselves in just an hour or two through intuitive configuration tools and then push them live immediately. 

This is the power of a transformative agile approach—one that bridges the agility and vision of the business side with the architectural rigor and technical enablement from IT. Low-code and no-code tools give business teams user-friendly mechanisms to rapidly configure customer experiences while leveraging IT's vital expertise across security, integration, and scalable infrastructure. 

Managed services: Redirecting energy towards what matters 

How can agencies adopt an agile approach quickly and efficiently? A managed services model can provide significant advantages, enabling HHS agencies to augment their capabilities and overcome resource constraints. Such a model allows agencies to access specialized expertise, scale resources as needed, and reduce the burden of managing complex IT infrastructures—leveraging a partnership with a trusted technology provider.

After all, governments should focus on the business of government. A managed services model makes this possible, enabling government to manage technology partnerships, instead of trying to manage all the ins-and-outs of the technology on their own. What’s more, such a model frees up agency resources so they can redirect their energy towards more impactful priorities, including: 

• Rapidly adapting to legislative changes or evolving social needs 
• Crafting seamless, digital-first experiences that are citizen-focused 
• Improving outcomes through insightful analytics and data-driven decisions 
• Embracing continuous improvement over rigid multi-year project schedules 

Unprecedented opportunities ahead for HHS

The old paradigm of IT driving technology decisions and implementations through an inflexible, waterfall approach is finished. With today’s advanced technologies that enable the business vision, HHS agencies can finally break free from the constraints of the past. Now is the time to align IT and business—opening the floodgate of opportunities for the modern health and human services delivery era. 

Adopting an agile, adaptive approach offers HHS agencies the ability to empower business stakeholders, leverage advanced technologies, and overcome resource constraints through managed services partnerships. By embracing these principles, agencies can be leaders in delivering more effective, efficient, and citizen-centric services in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Learn more about how CGI is helping HHS agencies modernize and transform services and solutions by visiting our health and human services page. Connect with us today.