Requirements Creep at the IRS Case Study: Requirements Creep at the IRS MGS* Allyson Brito · Mariyam Hussain · Noha Mahmoud · Anne-Katrin Strupp

Requirements Creep at the IRS Case Introduction Q1 – Why were leadership & ownership of the Modernization program placed on the business units, not on the ITS? Q2 – Why was the responsibility for controlling scope changes placed on the business units, not the BMS or ITS? Q3 – How can an environment of trust, confidence & teamwork be established? Q4 – Why fix a system that works?

Requirements Creep at the IRS Why were leadership & ownership of the Modernization program placed on the business units, not on the ITS? The BSM team did not have the acceptance, understanding, or support for the new system from the future users, the IRS business units nor the existing ITS staff The ITS might know all about the current computer system but the business units know better what kind of information is important & needs to be paid close attention to

Requirements Creep at the IRS Why was the responsibility for controlling scope changes placed on the business units, not the BMS or ITS? business units would be more cautious regulating actions taken because the result would ultimately make or break them BSM did not fully understand the system's ultimate needs ITS or Computer Sciences Corporation could not provide an environment of trust

Requirements Creep at the IRS How can an environment of trust, confidence & teamwork be established? Confidence is created with knowledge of the required work, the company & resources provided Good communication skills Take job seriously & be aware of surroundings Responsible behavior => sharing a goal & accomplishing it in a mature manner

Requirements Creep at the IRS Why fix a system that works? TECHNICAL ADVANCES !!! (faster, more reliable and more secure) The U.S. tax system produces more than $2 trillion in gross revenue each year, which currently dependents on a collection of computer systems that evolved over 35 years.

Requirements Creep at the IRS Why fix a system that works? PROBLEMS THAT CAN’T BE FIXED High expenses to prevent system meltdown caused by Y2K bug Taxpayers expect level of service from IRS that rivals private sector IRS employees must work with taxpayer data that are not timely Updating the system can be slow & unreliable The IRS has trouble accounting for funds & maintaining the security of critical data and systems The IRS cannot take full advantage of the Internet