Providing clarity for DWP by delivering a GDScompliant Discovery Phase

Our Approach

Project Summary

ATAS2 (Audit Trail Analysis Service) is DWP’s strategic platform for the storage of business audit data that was remediated to On-Premises Hosting in 2018 and is currently being migrated into the cloud, supported by the BetterGov team.

At The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with digital services being delivered at high velocity and new technologies, current ATAS2 services require updating and complimenting with new approaches/ patterns to consume and serve data.

Customers were seeking new ways to integrate their new services with ATAS2. Having successfully delivered the ADaaS (Audit Data as a Service) Cloud migration Discovery Phase, BetterGov were engaged to conduct the ATAS2 Discovery Phase, in line with the Government Digital Service (GDS) guidelines, to validate the need for the product and to affirm DWP’s intention to evolve ATAS2 firmly into the SRA space.

Mobilising our SC-cleared Discovery team swiftly and assigning BetterGov team members with prior DWP experience allowed us to make an immediate impact and begin adding value from day one. Our focus was to understand the current landscape, problems faced and risks and outline goals which will inform an approach for the Alpha phase, prioritising the key problems/value areas anticipated. Using an Agile approach and working in sprints allowed BetterGov to quickly clarify perceived confusion about Business Audit, ranging from terminology and remit to the purpose and goals. Working collaboratively with key DWP staff and having a good understanding of governance structures and internal approval processes meant that BetterGov were able to effectively draw out the desired information from stakeholders and users to ensure the proposed options, recommendations and plans were as efficient as they could be.

Key Outcomes

Through the blended team approach, we were able to organise workshops with various stakeholders to develop a problem statement and define the Operating Model for the SRA Business Audit Product. BetterGov delivered a detailed document on standardised data pattern based on the stakeholder engagement, to identify the scope for reuse for other approved SRA products. As part of User Research, we produced a user journey map to demonstrate how the data could be onboarded and queried in different ways; determined the non-functional requirements to cover aspects such as accessibility, telemetry, security, performance, resilience, stability, monitoring and logging to ensure these are well documented; provided an end of discovery report with recommendations on how to progress to the next phase, including a high-level Delivery Plan for Alpha Phase and Architecture Roadmap. Succesful delivery of a Discovery with a 10-day mobilisation turnaround, 12-week delivery period, and delivering under budget by 35%! L