Project Description
The Citizenship and Immigration Services Academy, formerly the Immigration Officer Academy (IOA), contracted ENVISAGE to modify the ACMS application code base in use at the Border Patrol Academy and develop new functionality to fulfill CIS-specific requirements. ENVISAGE was able to expand ACMS quickly and thereby meet CIS requirements in six (6) months. During this tasking, ENVISAGE was responsible for requirements analysis, system design documentation, cost estimates, project management, development, quality assurance, implementation of user-accepted code, training, and help desk support.

A key element of the ACMS implementation project for CIS Academy was the need to retire 12 operational legacy systems and redesign and incorporate needed functionality into the system. CIS estimates that for its academy alone, efficiency gains and cost savings as a result of ACMS implementation are in excess of $1.9 million per year. The specific ACMS functions developed that brought about the cost savings and retirement of these systems include:

• Setting up and maintaining class templates
  
• Assigning instructors
  
• Registering trainees (students)
  
• Instant processing of test results and student grades
  
• Monitoring trainee (student) progress
  
• Automated Scheduling and activating classes/courses and lessons
  
• Capturing class, trainee, and instructor costs
  
• Generating electronic documents, forms, letters and management reports
  
• Producing a wide range of information needed to manage the Academy
  
• Providing electronic information relevant to litigation support
  
• Providing an electronic platform for Academy Accreditation functions
  
• Quick access to information via sophisticated search engine
  
• Establishing role-based and geographic security for user access
  
• Maintaining System Usage Audit Reports

The enhancements created under the CIS tasking were made available to all participating ACMS academies.

1. Quality of product or service, including consistency in meeting goals and targets, and cooperation and effectiveness of the Prime in fixing problems.
   
   Comments
   The quality of the product and service provided by Envisage has and remains superior. During the course of the six years that my agency and I have been dealing with Envisage, all goals and target dates were on time and 75% of the time ahead of schedule. The detail to service and the customer's needs has always been foremost with Envisage and their dealing with my agency. Any problems that are brought to their attention are addressed in a timely and expedient manner with no loss of production time.
   
   In twenty-three years of government service and dealing with contractors, Envisage is the first contractor that I have found who is truly concerned with providing the best possible product and service to the customer. It has been my experience that when this company states it will provide a service by a particular date, the service is always delivered when stated.
   
   
2. Cost control, including forecasting costs as well as accuracy in financial reporting.
   
   Comments
   Prices quoted for work have always been exact to the penny. Accountability for work completed is always in written form and outlines very clearly, what was done, who did it and the cost for the task completed. Yearly estimates for O&M (Operation and Maintenance) of the existing system are accurate and detail the various elements and task that will be completed with benchmarks for up-coming year. During the course of the last 6-years that Envisage has contracted with my agency, there has never once been and overage in the original prices quoted for the product provided.
   
   
3. Timeliness of performance, including adherence to contract schedules and other time-sensitive project conditions, and effectiveness of home and field office management to make prompt decisions and ensure efficient operation of tasks.
   
   Comments
   There has been only one instance when a projected timeframe was not met and that was solely the fault of my agency due to a funding problem. In 6-years we have never experienced a missed deadline for a service that Envisage stated they would provide. Projects are usually completed well ahead of schedule, on an average, 75% of the time. This factor is critical to my agency as the product that Envisage developed and supports for us is critical to our daily business operations.
   
   
4. Customer satisfaction, including satisfactory business relationship to clients, initiation and management of several complex activities simultaneously, coordination among subcontractors and developing country partners, prompt and satisfactory correction of problems, and cooperative attitude in fixing problems.
   
   Comments
   The service that Envisage has provided my agency has been so good, that we entered into a direct contract with them and eliminated two other contractors of which they were subs for a net savings of over 27% annually.
   
   The driving force behind this decision was not strictly the financial savings, but the trust, service and dependability that Envisage had built between their company and my agency. During every step of development and throughout the systems operation, Envisage has provided prompt and dependable service and addressed any and all problems and concerns of my agency.
   
   
5. Effectiveness of key personnel including: effectiveness and appropriateness of personnel for the job; and prompt and satisfactory changes in personnel when problems with clients where identified.
   
   Comments
   Over the past 6 years, we have never experienced any major problems as they relate to Envisage personnel and the services provided. The majority of the Envisage staff that worked on the development has been with us during the course of the systems implementation. When changes in personnel were made, they were few and made by Envisage to insure that the best qualified of their personnel were working on our system and addressing any problems that may have occurred.
   
   It was for these reasons that my agency insisted on pursuing a sole source direct contract with Envisage to insure that these same professionals whom we had come to depend on and trust would be available to continue their support of our mission needs.