Trns • port Task Force Report

Trns•port Task Force Report

Presented at the Trns•port User Group ConferenceBurlington VTby Shirley Daugherty NE DOR Chair, Trns•port Task Force

September 8, 2003

Trns•port Licensees

40 Agency DOTs, 1 Canadian Province, DC Dept. of Public Works, andThe Philippines Dept. of Public Works and Highways

AlaskaHawaii

Philippines

New Brunswick

Trns•port Mission

... to serve the operational and executive management information needs of the transportation agency associated with the development and management of construction projects.

Trns·port Task Force Members

Shirley Daugherty, NE, chair

Roger Bierbaum, IA, vice chair

Todd Bergland, MN

Jim Johnson, FL

Loren Lemmen, MI

Paul Neumann, CO

Trns·port Task ForceParticipants at our meetings:

Chuck Conley, AASHTO StaffDominic Cali, SCOJD LiaisonJames Hancock, T&AA LiaisonJennifer McAllister, TUG ChairTom Rothrock, Info TechMargaret Andraka, Info Tech

Trns•port Task Force

• Five meetings each year

• Numerous conference calls

• Countless emails

• Subgroups

• Technical review teams

Task Force Subgroups

• Third-Party Relationships• Platform Strategies• TMRs Review• Testing/Acceptance Process • SiteManager / CAS / FieldManager• Trns•port System Administrator Certification • XML • Catalog Rewrite

Technical Review Teams

• SiteManager / FieldManager Interface - Loren Lemmen, Chair

• SitePad II – Shirley Daugherty, Chair• SiteManager Sample and Test Modification –

Jim Johnson, Chair• Test Suite Phase II – Paul Neumann, Chair• FieldNet – Loren Lemmen, Chair• SiteManager Sample Information

Enhancement – TBD

Technical Review Teams – cont.

• Web-Enabled CES Parametric Estimating – Todd Bergland, Chair

• Estimator FY03-04 Enhancements – Shirley Daugherty, Chair

• FieldManager FY03-04 Enhancements – Loren Lemmen, Chair

Support of Trns•port Products

• Mainframe – June 30, 2004

• SiteManager Inspector Version – September 23, 2003

• Release versions become unsupported 12 months after the next release becomes available

Trns•port TMR Review

A major accomplishment in FY02-03 was the TMR assessment and review process which was a joint Task Force, Info Tech, and Agency endeavor resulting in the removal of more than 445 obsolete or deleted TMRs. Additional reduction in TMR backlog was accomplished through TMR groupings.  

Trns•port TMR ReviewWhat now? Repeat the process!

Review Remaining TMRs to:Combine duplicates or similar TMRs Determine if any are obsoleteor still needed

Trns•port TMRsNew release errors will be fixed at the

contractor’s expense: Something that worked before and is broken by this release is covered.TMR delivered in the release and doesn’t work properly is covered.

Must be reported within the standard warranty period to qualify.

Trns•port TMRsDuring the year we continued to focus our maintenance activities towards addressing customer needs while improving product quality and reducing the number of updates per module.

This fiscal year’s work effort concluding with the September release of SiteManager will see 792 errors fixed and delivered.

Trns•port TMRsProgress was made towards streamlining product installation and configuration procedures and increasing automated testing.

We improved on reporting and validation processes in both technology upgrades and product deliverables with alpha, beta and final test result reports.  

Trns•port TMRsHowever, this does not include errors

introduced because of technology upgrades. They will be handled in the traditional manner.

Errors that existed prior to this contract year will also be handled in the traditional manner.

Trns•port TMRsNew search functions have been added to the TMR database to allow easier access to information and data. For example, information on planned TMRs in upcoming releases can be found on Cloverleaf at:

https://www.cloverleaf.net/cgi-bin/UpcomingRelease/UpcomingRelease.cgi.

• These improvements have been done to make the TMR database more user-friendly.

Trns•port TMRs

Next Step for FY03-04

• Combining / bundling of TMRs• Looking for the right solution

• Determine need for TRT(s)

• Focusing on High Priority Error Reports

Maintenance and Support

• Upgrading to new versions– Enhancements and warranty time frame

• Cost of supporting multiple platforms• Technology upgrades

– Planned changes can be found on Cloverleaf

• Test suite– Multi-phase

Joint Development Enhancements

Current Enhancement Projects:• Test Suite – Phase II

• SiteManager – Field Manager Interface

• Assign P/S At Material Code Level and change as needed

• Billion Dollar Currency – December 2003 Release

Joint Development Enhancements

Current Enhancement Projects (cont):• Licensees continue to individually and jointly

funded additional enhancements– Michigan, FieldNet– Minnesota, Interfaces to Quantity Manager– North Carolina, Expedite

Proposals

• Tracer – Solicitation out to AASHTO members

• SitePad Phase II• SiteManager Sample Information

Enhancement– Request for participation out to SiteManager

Licensees

• Web-enabling parametric estimating CES

Proposals (cont)

• BAMS/DSS Rewrite (Future)

• BAMS/DSS Interactive Model (Future)

Strategic Directions

• Web Enabling– Multi-step work plan is being developed

• XML (Now a TRB Research Project)

• Testing– Cost savings– Improved software

Strategic Directions (cont)

• TrnsNet

• Process Improvements

• Documentation improvements

Other Joint Efforts

• Sharing with other licensees– Report Templates– SAS Adhocs– SQL Queries

Special Interest Sessions

• RTF – Tips and Tricks– Green Mountain C

• Web-Enabling Trns•port– Lake Champlain B

Future of Trns•port

• Continues to grow, adding new functionality and staying current with new technologies

• Remains a robust suite of software modules

• Current Licensees adding modules • Other states and countries are looking

at Trns•port to meet their needs

Future of Trns•port

By continuing to work together, we can insure this will continue into the future

• AASHTO Staff

• Trns•port Task Force

• User Group Board of Directors

• Users Group Input

• Trns•port contractor

Trns•port Task Force

• Seeking individuals who are interested in serving on the task force

• Submit resumes anytime

• Must have approval from agency