Optimizing processes with a new licensing system

Client description

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (ME DEP) works to prevent, abate, and control the pollution of the air, water, and land and preserve, improve, and prevent diminution of the natural environment of the State of Maine (State). ME DEP administers programs, provides education, and makes regulatory decisions that contribute to the achievement of this mission. They also make recommendations to the State Legislature regarding measures to prevent, minimize, and eliminate environmental pollution; issue licenses; initiate enforcement actions; and provide information and technical assistance. ME DEP also serves as the main link to the federal government on environmental issues and administers some federal programs.

Challenge

ME DEP is using a collection of systems which do not integrate with each other and have limited functionality. This results in extensive system maintenance efforts, manual processes, and paper-based transactions between ME DEP and constituents.

Solution

ME DEP partnered with BerryDunn’s government consulting team to assist with planning efforts to replace the legacy licensing and licensing-related systems with a modernized, next generation licensing system. ME DEP used BerryDunn’s research and documentation to provide independent verification of their need for a replacement system and lay the groundwork for development of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the procurement of the new system.

Our team conducted peer state research and interviews and engaged with ME DEP stakeholder groups via surveys, interviews, working sessions, workflow diagramming sessions, and joint requirements planning sessions to develop a Solution Requirements Document.

ME DEP then worked with our team to create:

• A business case for acquiring and implementing a new system
• An RFP for procuring and implementing a new system, based on the State of Maine’s business requirements and MaineIT’s technical requirements
• An Organizational Change Management (OCM) Framework that contained functional guides for assisting ME DEP and the selected system implementation and integration team with the implementation planning process 

Outcomes

ME DEP was able to:

• Justify the need for a new licensing system
• Understand the functionality of licensing systems currently on the market and visualize the desired future state of ME DEP operations
• Procure a modernized, next generation licensing system, including pricing options for other state agencies to later adopt and implement the system for their own licensing needs
• Plan for the implementation of the new licensing system, considering the people, processes, and technology