Java/J2EE Portal Development for an End-to-End Grants Management Solution

The Client

Government Agency

The objective of this project was to implement an automated end-to-end grants management solution to support a government agency and its consortium’s members through the implementation of Grant Management business processes and functions.

The system was custom developed to leverage various software products and completely replace the existing systems and was implemented in three one-year phases with a production release of incremental functionality during each phase.

The system was designed to fulfill five primary goals:

  • Fast-track grant award processing
  • Enhance and increase program performance monitoring
  • Link dollars to results
  • Improve communication with customers
  • Promote financial and technical stewardship

The Technology

  • Java/J2EE
  • JSF
  • WebSphere Process Server
  • WebSphere Portal Server
  • Hibernate
  • Oracle Database
  • Rational Tools
  • UNIX/AIX
  • Integrates with Oracle Financials
  • WebSphere Application Server

The Challenge

Our Prime Integrator Partner needed experienced technical developers, database administrators, trainers and testers to support the various phases of the project after it went live.

The Solution

Our team supported multiple aspects of the project, including the following key initiatives:

  • Full Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
  • Requirements gathering over all three phases of the project
  • Document and code development
  • Support Phases I, II, and III after they went live
  • Data conversion and validation
  • Oracle Financials and legacy system integration

Technical Development
TSGi identified a team of Technical Developers to develop code for the use cases in the functional areas of Grants Management system. The work included writing JSPs using JSF framework to develop front end for the system and creating integration code using Hibernate framework to develop database interface.

Database Administration
The Squires team was responsible for all aspects of Oracle 10G database administration for a grants administration project. Tasks included database backup configuration; data extraction, conversion from a legacy system to the new system via PL/SQL; maintenance of the data model via IBM Rational Tools; and IBM WebSphere Application Server and Portal Server installation/configuration/maintenance

Testing
TSGi also delivered Senior Testers to develop test plans, scenarios documents, and cases. Work included reviewing the requirements; executing the test cases, tracking the defects and generating reports; and providing UAT and Help desk support.

Training
We also found an experienced trainer to manage all training initiatives. The trainer maintained the training documentation for both instructor-led and online training; collaborated with the technical, functional, and training teams; assisted with the instructor-led training on a weekly basis which included scheduled classes as well as ad hoc sessions for end users with more focused training needs. Oracle’s UPK (User Productivity Kit) as the main tool for developing both the training manuals for instructor-led training as well as the on-line, self-paced tutorials available to each user.

Operations and Maintenance
TSGi also provided technical support for the software development and maintenance. TSGi is supporting the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) piece of all three phases of the project.

The Success

As a result of this project, the end user is achieving the goal of using a decentralized grant administration system. The benefits of this system include increased flexibility regarding access to the system as well as increased worker productivity. For example, an event that would normally shut down Federal office buildings will not affect the workers’ ability to continue their tasks from a remote site.


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