Program Update December 15, 2021
The BEST program is currently engaged in Procurement of a System Integrator and is working with the Evaluation Committee to evaluate Bidders' responses.
While we work on this we would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the Program Management Office (PMO).
Meet the PMO
Our Program Management Office is a team of 10, made up of 9 functional leads and one program manager. The PMO team reports to our Executive Sponsors, A&F, CTR, and EOTSS. You’ll see our faces popping up in zoom calls and see our name in email blasts, but let’s take a moment to get to know some of our team members!
Name: Janet Briand Title: Program Coordinator Where are you from? Northbridge, MA Tell us a little bit about your role on the team: I coordinate activities and resources in support of the program that impact multiple departments, systems and work-flows with moderate to high risk and complexity. What are you working on right now? I am part of the team organizing the System Implementation evaluations, and I am learning a new software development tool for our project’s planning, tracking and reporting. What were you doing prior to BEST? I was employed as an Air Specialist for a group tour operator in the greater Boston area and also have been a Training Coordinator for a major Boston hospital implementing a new classification of disease codes called ICD 10. Prior to that I worked on the NewMMARS and HR/CMS upgrade projects. What do you like best? (Any hobbies, TV Shows, Sports Teams you love?) I have an enormous passion for traveling and international cultural exchanges and sculpting stone. Do you have a favorite spot for lunch? Bringing a brown bag lunch for a walk to the Boston Waterfront.
Name: Helen Campbell O’Malley
Title: BEST Program Manager
Where are you from? A small farm in Dutchess County, NY and I now live in Boston down by the waterfront.
Tell us a little bit about your role on the team: I have the privilege of working with the BEST PMO team and our Executive Sponsors to help move the BEST Program forward – outlining project tasks and milestones, meeting with the team and individually each week with each member, reviewing deliverables, thinking 3-6 months out about what needs to be done by whom to get us to the right place, and meeting with agencies to brief them on the project and the work we are doing.
What are you working on right now? Supporting the Evaluation Committee for Systems Integrator procurement and the Commonwealth Negotiating Team meeting with the Apparent Successful Software Bidder. Planning for our next phase that moves us into Fit Gap and Implementation tasks.
What were you doing prior to BEST? I was the Project Manager for MassCareers, working with HRD to implement the SaaS solution that supports recruitment and on boarding for much of state government. Before that was the PM for the Mass Budget Application (MBA) and the EHS service and invoicing system known as EIM-ESM – applications used by lots of agencies. I was also the PM for the NewMMARS project that moved our financial system from mainframes to the web – the MMARS application we all use now.
What do you like best? (Any hobbies, TV Shows, Sports Teams you love?) I love the Marvel movies and anything sci-fi, all things Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant, Television and any of the other punk bands that used to be at CBGB, and rock and roll in general.
Do you have a favorite spot for lunch? Lunch? What’s lunch? But Zen is great for dinner!