“My program is divided into three distinct branches,” said McMullen. “These include the Border Enforcement and Investigations Branch, Mission Support Branch and Web and Information Branch.” The scope of each is as follows:

• Border Enforcement and Investigations Branch: This branch’s primary responsibility is to support Border Patrol’s IT needs as well as supporting ICE’s Office of Investigations. Applications supported include Border Patrol and Enforcement Tracking System (BPETS), SEACATS, TECS Case Management, and the Joint Integrity Case Management System.
• Mission Support Branch: This branch is responsible for supporting mission support applications. The Office of Finance and the Office of Human Resources are the primary customers and applications include SAP, COSS, PARTS, and CATS.
• Web and Information Branch: This branch includes the Web team (CBPnet and CBP.gov), the Information Resources Center, and the CBP Archives.

Photo Credit: Mark Vyrros

Robert McMullen, a program manager in Border Enforcement and Management Systems

McMullen has been the program office director of BEMS since the OIT reorganization took effect in July [2005]. Prior to that, he was the branch director of the Management Systems Branch within the Software Development Division.

Under one roof
How has the reorganization affected his program? McMullen says that the results have been positive. “The reorganization allowed the project managers, those who are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of a project, to finally be able to manage the necessary resources to achieve success. Bringing network engineers, analysts, developers, database administrators, testers, and trainers under one roof empowers these integrated project teams to meet the cost and schedule demands.”

In terms of recent accomplishments, McMullen points out that “since July Border Enforcement and Management Systems (BEMS) has implemented several major programs.” These include:

• ENFORCE/SEACATS Interface: This was a joint project between CBP and ICE to allow Border Patrol agents, CBP Officers, and ICE Agents to enter information into ENFORCE and have the data pulled into SEACATS. This project not only reduced keystrokes by thousands, it was a model for how CBP and ICE can collaborate together in meeting the DHS Mission.
• Money Laundering Coordination Center: This is a TECS Case Management sub-system and a corresponding Enterprise Datawarehouse datamart used by ICE agents and analysts to track, report and analyze money laundering investigations.
• Fiscal Year 2005 Financial Closure: This was the first time CBP closed the books under the SAP application. Rich Balaban, Chief Financial Officer, stated this was the easiest fiscal close he had ever been involved with.
• ERecordation: This application was designed for the Office of Regulations and Rulings for the purpose of automating application for CBP Intellectual Property Rights protection. The end user interface is available to the general trade community and allows submission of business specific data that establishes a right to intellectual property protection. Jeff Smith, Chief of the Web and Information Branch, and Steve Chau both received a 2005 Commissioner’s Award.

One of the biggest challenges BEMS faces, says McMullen, is “effectively dealing with Border Patrol. They are an extremely IT-savvy organization and historically have taken care of most of their own needs. Trying to meet their requirements in a timely and effective manner as well as following IT-specific requirements is extremely difficult.”

McMullen tackles this challenge by “creating good working relationships with Border Patrol, getting fully ingrained in their operational needs. Also, by meeting their expectations and scoring some early wins, they have started to come to us to solve their IT needs instead of doing it themselves.”

These kinds of challenges lead McMullen to talk about how lessons are learned and captured. He believes that the process still needs some work. “Lessons learned are currently captured as part of the systems development lifecycle (SDLC) process,” says McMullen, “but that does not help on-going and future projects. Discussions within BEMS about problems and how they were solved are normally discussed during staff meetings, but again that is not enough. We, OIT, need to look into a good decision support tool that will help disseminate these lessons learned across the organization.”

Better processes
McMullen says that the deputy director for BEMS is a critical link to implementing better processes and solutions to perceived gaps and challenges. “He is our interface into the Process Management Branch to ensure that we are stitched into the direction of enterprise process improvement efforts,” says McMullen. “The director briefs the results of the Deputy Directors’ Council during staff meetings to ensure that the information is being distributed.” Additionally, internally to BEMS, says McMullen, “the Technical Integration Team is responsible for pulling the necessary resources from the different Branches for the purpose of process improvement.”

McMullen frequently checks in with staff to see how things are going as well. “I currently have weekly staff meetings with all of my direct reports as well as all of the project manager/team leads,” he says. “We use these staff meetings to relay information from the CIO, from the Architecture Review Board, from the Deputy Directors’ Council, and to do project status checks. Additionally, I, as well as all of the BEMS leadership, embrace the open door policy and frequently have on-the-spot meetings.”