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ADataManagementSystemThatIncreasesTransparencyandEfficiency

Highcost,manualprocess,andlittledatatransparencyIn2015,theRhodeIsland(RI)DepartmentofLaborandTraininglaunchedtheRealJobsRhodeIsland(RealJobsRI)initiative.RealJobsRIisastateandfederallyfunded,competitiveworkforceandeconomicdevelopmentgrantprogram.ItisdesignedtoensurethatRhodeIslandemployershavethetalenttheyneedtocompeteandgrowwhileprovidingtargetededucationandskillstrainingtoRhodeIslandworkersandjobseekers.RealJobsRIrecognizesthatthebestwaytoidentifytheworkforcechallengesemployersfaceistoworkdirectlywithemployerstoidentifytheirneedsandcraftsolutions.Workforcesolutionsaredevelopedbytheindustriesthemselves,inconcertwithstrategicpartners,andcanincludetrainingforjobseekerstofillvacantpositionsandcareeradvancementstrategiesforincumbentworkers.From2015-2016,thestatepiecedtogetherasolutiontoachievetheaboveprogramwithalotofmanualinterventionandlegacyprocessestogetthejobdone.Afterspending$1,000,000incostsperyeartooperatethisprogramthestateknewtheyhadaneedtooptimizeandre-architectthisprogramtoamoreefficient,scalableandself-servicesolution.CommunitybasedpartnershipIn2018,theDLTpartneredwithAmdocstoembarkonajourneytore-designandre-architectthesystemutilizingtechnologyandprocessesthatwouldenableselfservicecapabilitiesforthevariouspartiesinvolved.Amdocs,throughitsacquisitionofKenzan,hasbeenincloudconsultingbusinessformanyyearsandhadalargeRIcommunitypresence.TogetherthiswasagreatopportunitytohelpaveryimportantgovernmentfundedprogramwhichwouldbenefitallRhodeIslanders.WhyAmazonWebServices?TherewereafewkeyareasAmdocsdecidedtofocuson:

1. Providingmoreeffectiveandrobustself-servicecapabilities,sothattheDLTstaffcouldmanagemorepartnershipsandparticipanttasks.ManagedserviceswouldallowtheDLTstafftofocusonimprovingitsserviceandbusinessvalue,insteadofonadministrativeoperations.

2. Whilethegovernmentwasspending$1,000,000yearlytooperatethisprogram,wewantedtobeverycosteffectiveandonlyusecomputeandstoragewhenweneedittoavoidhighoperationscosts.

3. Theparticipantenrollmentprogramissubjecttorandomburstsoftrafficaspeoplewouldbeinstructedtosignupduringlargeevents,classesand/orworkshops.Wemustbeabletohandletheloadandscaleupanddownfortheparticipantenrollmentcapability.

4. Securityisfundamentalandmustbewovenwithintheentiresolution.Thereareimportantpiecesofinformationthatneededtobecollected

AbouttheRhodeIslandDepartmentofLaborandTraining

TheDepartmentofLaborandTraining(DLT)isRhodeIsland’sprimaryworkforcedevelopmentagency.Weanticipatedemandbyactivelyaskingbusinessandindustrytotellustheirneedsthenacceleratesupplybydoingwhateverittakes–beitbuildingprogramsorclearingbarriers–toteachthoseskillstopotentialemployees.

DLTalsoensuresthesecurityandprotectionofRhodeIsland’sworkersandbusinessesbyenforcinglaborlaws,maintainingworkplacehealthandsafetystandards,andprovidingincomesupporttothosetemporarilyoutoftheworkforce.

SolutionArchitecture

AWSServicesAPIGateway,Lambda,ElasticLoadBalancing,Cognito,RDS,S3,Route53,IAM,ECS,CloudFront,CloudWatch,EC2,DynamoDB,SES,ECR,QuickSight,KMS,SecretsManager,CodeCommit,CodePipeline,CodeDeploy

ResultsandBenefitsImplementingtheDataManagementSystem(DMS)onAWSbroughtanumberofbenefitstotheDLT,includingdatatransparency,integrity,andsecurityaswellasefficienciesintime,effort,andcost.Themanualprocessofcompletinganapplicationonpaper,whichusedtotaketwoweekstocomplete,nowtakes5to10minutes.Theapplicationprocessisalsonowmuchmoresecure,astheinformationisfullyencryptedduringtheentireprocess,eliminatinginteractionswithmultipleadministrators.Itmakesthedatainstantlyaccessible,openingopportunitiestoleverageadditionalfunding.Grantadvisorshavealsoincreasedproductivitydramatically.Thepreviousratiomeasuringtheirproductivitywas80%administrativeoverheadto20%timespentbuildingpartnershipsonstrategicworkforceinitiatives.Nowthatnumberhasreversedalmostcompletely,to30%administrativeoverheadand70%pursuingstrategicpartnerships.ThisallowedtheGrantAdvisorstomanagemorepartnershipsperperson.Inonlyninemonths,somehavedoubledthenumberofpartnershipseach:from3-5to6partnerships,andthatnumbercontinuestogrow.Theyhavealsocompletelyeliminatedanextensivebacklogofpaperforms.GrantAdvisorscannowcreatecustomizedreportssotheycanmonitoractivityenrollmentandperformanceinrealtime.Theimprovedvisibilityintothesuccessofprogramsgivesthemanalytics-driveninsightsintowhatisworking,andwaystoimprove.TheDLTwaspreviouslycapturingdatainsevendifferentdatasources,includingpaperforms,excelspreadsheetsandmanualdataentryintodifferentDLTsystemsallwithverylimitedaccesstotheactualdata.ThenewlybuiltDMSnowintegrateswithtwoexternalsystemsviaAPIaccesswhicheliminatesdependenciesonexternalsourcesfordatainsightsandisfullyautomatedwithrealtimeaccesstodata.Thisnowcreatedonesourceoftruthformultipledatastreams.Reportsthatpreviouslytookaweektopreparearenowautomaticallyupdatedaspeopleenroll,thankstoAWSQuickSight.ThesuccessoftheimplementationoftheDMShasallowedothersintheDLTtohaveconfidenceinthesecurityandfunctionalityofAWSasasolution.TheDLTleverageditsfamiliaritypartnershipwithAWSintheresponsetoaCovid19unemploymentsolution.TheywereabletodeploythePandemicUnemploymentAssistance(PUA)solutionin10days,ratherthanneedingtoprovisionbaremetalwhichcouldhavetakenweeksorlonger.

AmdocsAmdocs’purposeistoenrichlivesandprogresssociety,usingcreativityandtechnologytobuildabetterconnectedworld.Amdocsandits25,000employeespartnerwiththeleadingplayersinthecommunicationsandmediaindustry,enablingnext-generationexperiencesin85countries.Ourcloud-native,openanddynamicportfolioofdigitalsolutions,platformsandservicesbringsgreaterchoice,fastertimetomarketandflexibility,tobettermeettheevolvingneedsofourcustomersastheydrivegrowth,transformandtaketheirbusinesstothecloud.ListedontheNASDAQGlobalSelectMarket,Amdocshadrevenueof$4.1billioninfiscal2019.Formoreinformation,visitAmdocsatwww.amdocs.com.