Ambit provided PMO support to the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Technology Policy, Architecture, and e-Government (TPA&E) division to implement transformative Information Technology (IT) governance policy, procedures, and products. Ambit continually adapted its role within USDA's OCIO during the course of our partnership to provide comprehensive program management support consistent with evolving priorities. Ambit services included developing the department's IT Strategic Plan, facilitating the development of USDA's Open Government plan, operational support for all areas of the Department's implementation of E-Government initiatives, and improving annual performance planning and evaluation processes.
Ambit's support included ensuring that agency program managers had the guidance necessary to create OMB Exhibit 300, meet OMB's requirements for major investments, including alignment with Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) requirements, earned value management, and IT security standards. Ambit supported the development of enterprise-level business cases, including full analysis of feasible alternatives, comprehensive cost and risk analysis, and potential benefits for each alternative. This experience was carried forward to provide comprehensive review and recommendations for other business cases and supporting documentation in development throughout USDA agencies and staff offices. Strategic planning, including the USDA IT Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2010-2015, was another component of Ambit's support. This support included facilitation of content development meetings, meeting capture, document control, and editing. Ambit supported project planning and execution for USDA OCIO, including developing project plans and schedules, maintaining milestone tracking and updating project plans, performance management, and providing recommendations to project teams based on findings from internal and small group reviews. We provided analysis, recommendations, and lessons learned throughout all stages of project planning and execution. We provided deliverable review and recommendations for USDA OCIO and other USDA agencies for compliance with USDA enterprise architecture, security, and capital planning requirements, as well as deliverable requirements set by OMB, Congress and GAO.
Ambit's support for USDA's OCIO resulted in successful development and implementation of several projects and programs. As a result of Ambit's support, USDA's Open Government plan was ranked 4th best across the federal government by the independent advocacy group OpentheGovernment.org. Our support for all aspects of USDA's implementation of E-Government initiatives, including funding, policy, implementation tracking, and reporting, assisted USDA in meeting more than 200 E-Government implementation milestones between FY 2005 and 2009.