Services

Our consulting team is focused on utilizing its industry expertise to design, develop and implement strategic solutions to complex client requirements in dynamic and evolving organizations. While many of these objectives are attainable through the use of technological advancements, our consultants are encouraged to assess the situation as whole, rather than applying generic solutions. Our clients are engaged in a variety of different business environments. Their needs, goals and objectives, in conjunction with their specific situations, always are an important facet of any proposed solution. CPCC, has utilized the following methods and technologies to achieve these goals:

	Quality Assurance TQM
	Independent Validation and Verification (IV&V)
	Multi-Level Organizational  Management Consulting
	Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
	Six Sigma and LEAN principles
	Rapid Application Prototyping (RAP) Methodology
	Business Process Management
	Data Model Management

CPCC has, over the past fifteen years, successfully participated in the following industry programs:

	U.S. Department Of Defense - Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)
	U.S Department of Education
	Health and Human Services
	Child Support Enforcement

A sample of our recent experience includes:

U.S. Department Of Defense - Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)

CPCC is currently providing ongoing quality assurance to the U.S. Department of Defense DFAS program (Retired and Annuitant Payroll Systems).  Our responsibilities include providing ongoing quality assurance and IV&V to ensure operational quality and processing integrity to the system, ensuring customer satisfaction and assisting in the CMMI and ISO9000 certification processes.

Retiree and Annuitant Pay System

The Prime Contractor was awarded a 10-year A-76 contract to transition and assume operational responsibility for and modernize the DFAS Retiree and Annuitant Pay System.  Critical Path Consulting Corporation, as an integral member of the Prime Contractor’s transition team has been instrumental in managing the migration of functional, operational and systems development tasks from the government to the private sector.  CPCC has worked with the prime contractor and government staff to support this migration effort, a significant component of which was to assess to existing functions, technologies and business operations.  Risk assessments were conducted during the migration to better equip the
post-transition team with staffing and technology requirements.

While the primary goal of the transition effort was to assume existing operations on an “as is / where is” basis, the medium-term objective is to modernize, improve operations, and improve client satisfaction.  CPCC, as a continuing member of the team, has a dual role in this modernization effort:

	Provide management and technical expertise in identifying and assessing alternative technologies needed to improve the technical infrastructure, call center operations and fulfillment; and
	Provide ongoing quality assurance to ensure that operational quality and processing integrity are not compromised during the modernization phase.

Following the successful completion of the Transition Phase, members of the CPCC team have been responsible for establishing and maintaining a comprehensive Quality Assurance program at DFAS.  CPCC was given independent authority by the Prime Contractor to assess all aspects of Operational and System Development quality. 

CPCC team members were an integral part of an aggressive strategy that successfully migrated software development operations from a CMM Level 2 to a CMM Level 3 in twelve months.

U.S. Department of Education

CPCC has successfully participated in several U.S. Department of Education programs, including William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, No Child Left Behind Act, and various grant programs.

Federal Student Aid Modernization Project

CPCC subcontracted to Accenture as a member of the U.S. Department of Education Modernization Partners.  As the first federal agency to be granted a PBO (Performance based Objectives) status, the Department of Education with the assistance of the Modernization Partner planned and implemented the migration from its existing legacy systems to a modern and integrated web-enabled infrastructure, with the goal of reducing costs, increasing customer service and improving employee morale.  CPCC provided assistance for several projects under this contract, including:

	Assistance in the analysis and cost benefit justification for the retirement of the Central Database System; a routing engine which supported the flow of transactions between the various Direct Loan trading partners.
	Responsibility for the development of the Application Framework, which was developed at the request of the client and included a complete inventory of existing SFA systems and where possible, a system architecture for the future of student lending.
	Development of performance benchmarks based on industry best practices, and defined business and technical requirements for a risk model for the Analysis and Oversight Group.  The risk model assesses financial and operational risks associated with SFA’s Financial Partners, including Guarantors, Lenders, and Services.  This project also included evaluating improvements for default management.
	Management of the development and deployment of a data mart for the SFA CFO group to support its budgeting, accounting and financial analysis functions.

Independent Quality Control for the Direct Loan Program

The Student Loan Reform Act of 1993, enacted on August 10, 1993, established the Direct Loan Program under the Higher Education Act of 1965. This program, which also is known as the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, was intended to provide educational loans, directly by the United States government, to qualified students and parents at selected post-secondary educational institutions. The Direct Loan Program has grown over the past six years to over $45 billion Dollars and over 11.0 million loans. This extremely successful program is based upon a Department of Education partnership with over 1,500 schools nationwide, and several contractors with varying levels of responsibility.

The Department of Education, in preparing to launch the Federal Direct Loan Program decided to impose the need for an Independent Quality Control Unit (IQCU) on most of its contracts. The IQCU is responsible for monitoring a wide variety of activities, including all software development efforts at each contractor. The IQCU also is responsible for ensuring that modifications to any of the systems, in support of the Direct Loan Program, adhere to published guidelines and business rules.

Critical Path Consulting Corporation has been providing resources for the Independent Quality Control Unit for over five years. Through our involvement with this program, we have established a level of expertise, which is called upon by the staff of the Department of Education and the various contractors responsible for administering the program. As a subcontractor to a major consulting firm, which was awarded the contract for IQCU, Critical Path Consulting Corporation has continued to play a critical role in the success of the Direct Loan Program.

Implementation Assistance for the Hope Scholarship

The Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits are a part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 that allows eligible taxpayers to claim a tax credit against their federal income tax for qualified tuition and related expenses.

Tax Credit Reporting Services is a joint effort of Computer Data Services, Inc. ­ Education Services, Inc. and AFSA Data Corporation to provide services to post-secondary institutions to meet the administrative and reporting requirements of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.

Through our participation on the project, CPCC has been responsible for many aspects of developing requirements and implementing the sub-systems necessary to support this process. This includes responsibilities related to contacting partner schools, determining specific needs for each school and ensuring that school-specific nuances are addressed, as well as ensuring compliance to user requirements.

Health and Human Services

CPCC has been actively involved in various roles including User requirements gathering, System design, Data mapping, Testing and Implementation of four FAMIS systems since our incorporation in 1993.

CPCC staff also have managed and participated in two extensive Legacy Systems to FAMIS database conversions since 1993. These efforts included the implementation of extensive audit trails and post conversion reconciliation tools. Our consultants also have researched and designed interface functionality between FAMIS and a variety of other partner systems, including state wide databases, inter-state databases and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Family Assistance Management Information System (FAMIS) Baseline Assessment

Critical Path Consulting Corporation subcontracted to a national consulting firm to conduct a system baseline assessment of the FAMIS system that was in the process of development. This assessment was performed to assess whether the system's design could meet the significant changes in the public assistance programs resulting from the Welfare Reform, Personal Opportunity and Responsibility Act.

This project included leading functional area teams in reviewing existing and planned system functionality, documenting recommended system application enhancements and database modifications, and resolving issues arising between the user and technical groups to ensure a feasible system design.  In addition, our team provided resources for data model management, system architecture, database administration and systems development on the FAMIS system developed through the use of the IEF/Cool: Gen product.

Child Support Enforcement

CPCC resources have participated in the design and development of several State Child Support Enforcement Systems. Our consultants have participated in upgrading these systems and in developing add-on functionality such as Electronic Data Interface and ACH (Automated Clearing House). In doing so, we have worked with the client through the various requirements gathering phases, through final implementation, documentation and user training. Our recent experience includes the following:

Comprehensive Review of the State's Child Support Enforcement Program

Critical Path Consulting Corporation subcontracted to DMG/Maximus to assist in the comprehensive review of the operations and automated systems of the Texas Child Support Enforcement Program as performed by the Office of the Attorney General. This project included an assessment of the automated and manual procedures for collections, distribution and disbursement of an annual $700 million in child support payments. We also evaluated the effectiveness of the financial management functions of the Texas Child Support Enforcement System (TXCSES), including existing and planned data requirements, and hardware and telecommunications capacity.

Child Support Enforcement EFT/EDI Implementation Assistance

Critical Path Consulting Corporation provided an IT assessment and automated system implementation assistance of a standardized method of collections and disbursements of child support payments for employers and other state agencies, for annual collections of over $300 million. We also provided assistance with post-conversion reconciliation and post-implementation procedures for balancing and reconciliation to ensure accountability of funds.