Consolidated Role Definitions

Overview

This page is a consolidated list of the roles that are defined across all the IT Planning and Management Guides. These roles represent key individuals or groups that participate directly or indirectly in the activities described in the guides.

It should be noted that the words "State" and "HS Agency" used in this Web site implies the 50 States, five Territories (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands [CNMI], Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands), and the District of Columbia. The domain for the guides is a typical State Human Services (HS) information technology (IT) domain.

The roles (i.e., organizations) in the model are virtual. They may be implemented differently in each State. They may exist as a single organization or have their function dispersed across many entities within a State or local Government. See the Guidelines for Applying for information on mapping these roles to individuals or groups within your State.

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Role Model

Diagram showing relationship of different roles within an organization. Four environment of interest are shown: State External, State Context, HS Agency Internal, and HS Agency Externmal. Roles and organizations associated with these areas of interest are depicted and described in the text and tables below.

The environment figure depicts the roles and primary relationships assumed by the activities in the guides. The possible set of participants in the activities is separated into the following contexts:

State External Environment. This environment represents the world outside the State. These entities have the ability to independently influence or exert control over some State-wide decisions. The State also may exert some influence over these entities. These entities are the source of change that may affect State-wide decisions.
State Context. This environment represents the world inside the State. The model assumes a set of key entities and an organizational structure in which individuals fulfilling typical State-wide roles interact. These individuals represent the executive leadership and management, as well as those that are affected by the definition, development, and use of the technology-related assets.
HS Agency Internal Environment. This environment represents the context in which HS Agency executive leadership can directly influence and control HS Agency-wide decisions. The perspectives of these individuals within this environment should be considered when making technology-related decisions to ensure success and buy-in. Individuals in this environment may participate directly or indirectly in the activities defined in the guides.
HS Agency External Environment. The external environment represents the world outside the State HS Agency context. The HS Agency operates within the context of the State and therefore inherits all or part of its context, as well as the applicable portions of the State's external environment. The HS Agency external environment is the source of circumstances and conditions that interact with and affect the State HS Agency, such as economic, political, cultural, and physical conditions. Individuals or groups within this environment can affect the direction or operation of the HS Agency and its technology decisions.

The HS Agency internal and external environments are of principal concern when defining the strategic direction for the HS IT, defining an HS Agency-wide Technical Architecture, and managing and executing the HS IT to meet IT Division obligations. Key roles of individuals or groups within the HS Agency internal environment are described in the first role table. Key roles of individuals or groups in the HS Agency external environment are described in the second role table. Some roles that are of a general nature, where the responsibilities are dependent on the context, are provided in the third role table.

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Internal Roles

Acquisition Team	This team consist of individuals with acquisition policy and procedure expertise. The Contracting Officer and Project Officer are typical members of this team. The team may be augmented with experts that have legal, financial, risk, technical, or other specialties that can be applied to an acquisition.
Change Control Board	These individuals are responsible for evaluating, approving, or disapproving proposed changes to items after they have been baselined. They are responsible for ensuring that approved changes are implemented.
Chief Architect	This individual has technical leadership and team management responsibilities for the Technical Architecture Team.
Configuration Management Team	This role denotes CM specialists that are part of the support organization. They perform CM activities for the projects.
Contract Manager	This is the individual in the Agency Organization, that is responsible for the day-to-day management of a specific contract. May be the Contracting Officer, the Project Officer or others as determined by each State.
Contracting Officer	This individual is an expert in the contracting process, providing legal expertise and able to obligate funds to an acquisition.
Data or BR Specialists	This role denotes a part of the Architecture Team specializing in the description of the data sources, message formats, or business rules and associated processing technology (e.g., DBAs or business analysts).
Estimation Analyst	This individual is responsible for providing cost, schedule, effort, or other estimations in accordance with a documented estimation process.
HS Agency Decision Makers	This represents the HS Agency's program leadership team (e.g., the Executive Director or Commissioner). They have ultimate decision authority and responsibility for overseeing the definition and use of IT within the HS Agency.
HS IT Division	This is the organizational unit that has the resources and responsibility to define, implement, and maintain the automated assets on which the HS programs depend.
HS Program Staff	These are the staff that support the separately funded HS programs such as TANF, Child Support Enforcement, Child Welfare, and Child Care. These represent one source of HS IT functional needs.
IT Decision Makers	These individuals represent the HS Agency IT Leadership Team. They are responsible for making Agency-wide decisions affecting the implementation and maintenance of HS Agency automated assets, such as the decision to release a new system for general use.
IT Evolution Management Team	This team has overall tactical responsibility for the development of the IT Evolution Plan and management to it. The IT Evolution Manager leads this team. Other roles on the team include a Risk Analyst, Estimation Analyst, and Planning Analyst.
IT Evolution Manager	This individual is responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing the overall IT evolution and migration activities across the HS Agency. This individual leads the IT Evolution Management Team.
IT Manager	The IT Manager works in a dynamic environment of multiple HS programs, each with stakeholders and users with specific and sometimes contradictory needs. The IT Division Manager is responsible for the HS IT Division.
IT Project Manager	This individual is responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing the development, migration, deployment, and support activities organized as a specific project. This individual leads an IT Project Team.
Project Officer	This individual has the day-to-day responsibility for an acquisition, providing technical oversight and direction.
IT Project Team	This team has overall responsibility for the management, technical, and development support activities for a specific IT project. The IT Project Manger is a member of this team.
IT Staff	Any group or individual that participates in the creation or maintenance of IT-related assets. These individuals are part of the HS IT Division.
IT Strategy Team	This team is composed of individuals that represent both the HS programs and IT Division. They lead the strategic analysis efforts, collecting, organizing, and presenting the analysis to the HS Agency Decision Makers. This team creates and maintains the IT strategy and ensures that the strategy addresses both the HS program and IT needs.
Legislature	The term legislature in this usage refers to individual legislators, committees and subcommittees, staff members, and task forces receiving their authority from the State legislature or its equivalent.
Networking Specialists	This role denotes a part of the Architecture Team specializing in the networking disciplines.
Pilot Team	This team consists of experienced individuals with in depth technical and business skills and knowledge. They directly support the stakeholders in their usage environment when individuals begin to use or operate the deployed products. The team may contain contractors as well as internal HS Agency staff.
Planning Analyst	This individual is responsible for maintaining and controlling the planning information on a specific project or initiative.
Platform or Solution Specialists	This role denotes a part of the Architecture Team specializing in the types of platforms, equipment, and prepackaged solutions integrated into the architecture.
Program Manager	This individual manages the separately funded HS programs such as TANF, Child Support Enforcement, Child Welfare, and Child Care.
Quality Assurance Team	This role denotes QA specialists that are part of the support organization. They perform QA activities for the projects.
Risk Analyst	This individual is responsible for analyzing the risks, such as for a strategic initiative, an evolutionary plateau, or a specific project.
Service Area Specialists	This role denotes a part of the Architecture Team specializing in category of services that are being defined, such as presentation, data access, workflow, or an application functional area.
State Chief Information Officer(CIO)	The CIO has executive-level authority for State-wide IT -related investment decisions and generally reports to the Governor. The CIO provides advice and assistance to all State elements (e.g., Agencies, legislature, and executive offices) and other senior managers to ensure that IT is acquired and information resources managed in a manner that implements the policies and procedures of legislation, as well as the priorities established by the Governor. This role coordinates and articulates a shared vision and perspective among the information activities and champions. The CIO provides direction and monitors oversight by setting IT policy, standards, and guidelines to maximize interoperability and information system integration. The CIO is considered the head of a State-Wide Information Technology Organization (if one exists). See ( NASIRE 2000b) for additional information.
State HS Agency	This HS Agency is the collection of boards, departments, groups, and individuals that has responsibility for administering State and Federal programs for health care, social services, public assistance, job training, and rehabilitation. The State HS Agency is the assumed context for the guidelines, specifically the programs dealing with the TANF. The State HS Agency is assumed to have and manage its own unique automation assets.
State Procurement Personnel	These individuals are responsible for administering the procurement or contracting policies for the HS IT Department. These individuals may be part of the HS organization or part of another State organization.
( State-Wide) Information Technology Organization	In some States, the overall responsibility for IT may be aggregated and reside within a State-wide organization. If so, the State-wide IT organization will impose constraints on the HS IT Division. The State CIO heads this organization.
Study Teams	This role denotes a part of the Technical Architecture Team that participates in an architectural study. It is led by a Study Lead. The size and skill of the team varies depending on the nature of the study.
Support Organization	This role denote specialists or organizational entities that perform support functions such as configuration management or quality assurance. These specialists and their management are involved in most of the plateaus and projects.
Technical Architecture Team	This team consists of senior technical and business professionals drawn from HS or other Agencies. This team is responsible for developing the HS Agency-wide Technical Architecture in harmony with the HS IT Strategic Plan. The Technical Architecture Team formulates the migration technical approach. These team members collectively represent the technology and business viewpoints for the functional areas covered by the scope of the migration.
Technical Operations Support Team	This team consists of experienced individuals with technical and business skills necessary to operate and sustain the deployed technical assets for the HS Agency. The team consists of computer operators, database administrators, network operations, help desk, and other specialists. The team may contain contractors as well as internal HS Agency staff.

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External Roles

Advocacy Groups	These groups include individuals or groups that have interest in the HS Agency services or the way they are delivered. They may exert pressure or influence that should be addressed by the IT strategy or its implementation.
Clients	These individuals or groups receive assistance from the HS Agency.
Contractors	These individuals or groups provide specific IT-related products or services to the HS Agency IT organization in accordance with a formal agreement, such as a Statement of Work. Contractors may provide specific solutions to meet HS Agency-specified needs and are subject to oversight while they develop these solutions. They also may provide technical services to fulfill the IT Staff roles, as needed.
County Commissioners	These represent the State's county governments that administer State HS programs or otherwise interact with the State HS Agency.
Courts	This includes any of the courts that may influence the direction and implementation of particular social services policies or activities.
Governor	The Governor is the State's Chief Executive Officer. An individual also fulfilling this role may be the duly empowered delegate of the Governor's office. Examples include the Governor's Budget Director, Governor's IT Policy Director, or Chief of Staff.
Federal Courts	Any of the Federal-level courts that may render decisions influencing policy and or activities in the social services arena.
Federal Health and Human Services	The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its Agencies that provide funding and direction to the State HS Agency programs. Agencies include the following: ACF AHRQ AOA ATSDR CDC CMS FDA HRSA IHS NIH OS PSC SAMHSA
Other Analysts	Generic role for individuals that understand the Agency programs and can provide insight into the applications needs, user settings, and other aspects of the business environment.
Other Federal Agencies	Other U.S. government agencies with which the State must interact to deliver HS services.
Other HS Divisions	Other organizations within the State HS Agency with which the HS IT Division may interact. This interaction can range from coordination of IT activities to interfacing and sharing information or services.
Other Reviewers	Generic role for individuals that either formally or informally review the results of an activity (e.g., a portion of the A-TARS, or the IT Strategic Plan work products).
Other State Agencies	These denote other State Agencies outside the State HS Agency context. The automated and nonautomated elements of the State HS Agency may have to interact with groups, individuals, or automated information systems managed by these other Agencies.
Other States' HS Agencies	HS Agencies in other States with which the State HS Agency may interact.
Other States' Non- HS Agencies	Non-HS Agencies in other States with which the State HS Agency may interact.
Other Technical Specialists	Generic role for specialists that provide technical assistance in many disciplines across the A-TARS element descriptions, such as security, performance, reliability, or human factors.
Service Providers	These are the private or other commercial organizations that deliver HS services to the clients on behalf of the State HS Agency. Services include child care, job training, medical care, and housing.
Supplier	A general term for an individual or group that provides a product or services to the HS Agency. Can include contractors, vendors, or other State Agencies or organizations.
Vendors	Individuals or groups that sell IT-related products or services to the HS Agency IT organization. Generally, the purchased items are not tailored or otherwise modified by the vendor for a specific use within the State. Contrast with Contractors.

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General Roles

Architects	Individuals that perform design-related actions as members of the Technical Architecture Team.
Approval Authority	Individual or group that has the final authority to approve an item for use. They are usually at an executive level in the organization and oversee enforcement of the use of the approved item. They may issue waivers for the items they approve, as necessary. An example of such an item is the Agency Technical Architecture Reference Set.
Customer	Individual or group that receives or uses the output of a process. The customer may be within the State HS Agency context (e.g., a caseworker) that uses the technology as a basis of further services. The customer also may be external (e.g., the client) or the ultimate receiver of HS services.
Employee	Individual or group that is employed by the State or one of its Agencies. Considerations of the employee-employer relationship may be important to the planning and delivery of IT. Obligations such as union contracts, responsibilities, job descriptions, or other commitments may be important to characterize.
Partner Organization	Any organizational entity (Federal, State, county, or private) with which the State HS Agency (or part) must interact to achieve common shared objectives. The relationship can be formal (e.g., contractual) or voluntary (e.g., an interagency working group to define interfaces or message formats).
Team Facilitator	An individual that Facilitates and helps administer the duties for each team, ensuring that the team retains its mission, focus, and sense of purpose.
Team Lead	A member of a team that has full responsibility for the team achieving its mission. May also serve as the facilitator for small teams.
Stakeholder	Any person, group, or organization that has a vested interest in or will expect certain levels of performance or compliance within the HS Agency. They may influence the HS Agency's allocation of resources or outputs (e.g., case managers, HS Agency administrators, the State CIO, the State legislature, Federal agencies that fund programs and related information systems, and Advocacy Groups).
User	These are the individuals who will use a technology product to support their work tasks (e.g., a caseworker). They may be represented by others during the development of a technology product.
User Representative	A special type of customer. This individual or group represents those that will use a technology product to execute a business process (or part).

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