IT Modernization Projects

What are we doing and why?

PBGC currently uses a combination different COTS products and Microsoft O365 tools for performing procurement activities. After months of analysis and market research PBGC has embarked on implementing a single integrated Software-as-a-Service solution (Technology), starting with a complete Business Process Engineering (Process), and improving the way Acquisition Professionals (People) perform procurement functions. This seamless end-to-end procurement solution targets to modernize the procurement functions, strengthen management and internal controls with transparency, improve procurement and data integrity, and maintain continuous updates to technology and cybersecurity.

* Represents rounded implementation costs only; Infrastructure costs such as hosting, licensing, etc. are not included.

CIO Comments

The AMS Project aims to transform PBGC’s end-to-end procurement process and technology into modern procurement practices for PBGC’s acquisition team and stakeholders. Success of this project hinges on a newly engineered process that involves all stakeholder input, identifying all interfaces upfront, a clear Minimal Viable Product, smart data and document migration plan, and continuous stakeholder involvement and communication. The People, Process and Technology approach is to achieve Strategic Goal 3: Maintain High Standards of Stewardship and Accountability, specifically “Improving procurement activities."

What are we doing and why?

In BCV Phase 4, PBGC intends to improve customer service by providing online estimate capability for participants. Additionally, PBGC will modernize the following BCV component-functionalities: advanced reporting and actuarial review capabilities, benefit calculation for Missing Participant plans, web-based present value factor calculator and data integration with PBGC customer systems. These modernization efforts will provide a foundation for enabling expanded customer self-service, improve ease of use, improve data integrity and ensure consistency and accuracy of calculations.

* Represents rounded implementation costs only; Infrastructure costs such as hosting, licensing, etc. are not included.

CIO Comments

The BCV Phase 4 project delivered on budget and a little early, enabling eligible PBGC retirees to run online benefit estimates in the MyPBA self-service system. This capability is a major milestone in PBGC’s continued strive to improve customer service to our participants.

What are we doing and why?

BCV Phase 5 is the final phase of the BCV Modernization, where PBGC intends to modernize its database building tools and further enhance the customer experience with improved benefit estimate capabilities for participants. Additionally, PBGC will automate the actuarial review process to improve the auditability and efficiency of the actuarial valuation process and will deliver a new web factor calculator module that will modernize the calculation of actuarial factors such as early/late retirement factors and form conversion factors.

* Represents rounded implementation costs only; Infrastructure costs such as hosting, licensing, etc. are not included.

CIO Comments

This final BCV Phase 5 project concludes the elimination of End of Service Life challenges and successfully places the system in continuous product improvement to respond to retirees and OBA’s customer service needs.

What are we doing and why?

PBGC is implementing a new Transformational Pension Insurance Modeling System (T-PIMS) for the Single Employer (SE) Program to replace a 20+ year old legacy on-premises system. T-PIMS will use the latest cloud technology that improves modeling performance, scalability, stability, ease of maintenance, strengthen PBGC’s security posture, and streamline maintenance and operations, while increasing the flexibility to respond to legislative/regulatory demands and throughput of economic forecasts and financial projections. The foundations of this project will enable future enhancements to address Multiemployer (ME) models in the future.

* Represents rounded implementation costs only; Infrastructure costs such as hosting, licensing, etc. are not included.

CIO Comments

This modernization effort will continue PBGC’s move to cloud-hosted solutions. In addition, PBGC envisions the implementation of a parameter driven solution that will support the annual projection needs of PBGC and improve PBGC’s ability to respond to queries from external stakeholders. T-PIMS is expected to transform PRAD’s people, process, and technology capabilities to meet its contribution to PBGC’s Strategic Goal 1: Preserve plans and protect the pensions of covered workers and retirees.

What are we doing and why?

In order to establish a modern and scalable network infrastructure and to ensure compliance with OMB memo M-21-07, "Completing the Transition to Internet Protocol Version 6 (1Pv6)", PBGC will update its infrastructure hardware and configuration to transition from IPv4 to IPv6. No later than FY2023, all new networked Federal information systems at PBGC will be IPv6-enabled at the time of deployment, and PBGC’s intent is to phase out the use of IPv4 for all systems by FY2025 to the extent possible and practical.

CIO Comments

This project is on-hold until Microsoft Azure for Government, one of PBGC’s primary IaaS/PaaS cloud providers, supports a single-stack IPv6 implementation for its major infrastructure components. PBGC is monitoring Microsoft’s roadmap and progress on this front closely and will pick up the IPv6 effort again once there is sufficient vendor support.

What are we doing and why?

This project implements a Case/Legal Management System (CLMS) to modernize and replace the existing Risk and Early Warning Management (RMEW) and Legal Edge for Windows (LEW) systems. These systems currently are used within the Office of Negotiations and Restructuring (ONR) and the Office of General Counsel (OGC) to manage cases/legal matters and to provide document management and workflow functionality. The existing COTS solutions have reached end-of-service-life, are heavily customized and require significant effort to maintain. To address these challenges, the project will migrate the existing capabilities to a new, modernized solution that will be based in the Microsoft Azure Cloud environment, maximize COTS functionality, and utilize Microsoft Dynamics for core business functionality.

* Represents implementation costs only; Infrastructure costs such as hosting, licensing, etc. are not included and are part of enterprise costs.

** In August 2023, PBGC increased the scope of this project to include modernizing the public-facing eFiling Portal (with Login.Gov) and incorporating Special Financial Assistance (SFA) requirements to accommodate Executive Order and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act mandates. The added scope included new functionality to keep continuity of Standard Termination data flow from the new CLMS to the legacy Case Management System (CMS) to preserve OBA’s operations, additional reports and functional user stories, meticulous historical document migration from disparate sources containing PII and a fully built-out document management solution using Microsoft technologies, etc. The cost and schedule of this project was updated and re-baselined to reflect these additions. The adjusted cost and schedule allowed PBGC to achieve the additional objectives, accommodate financial assistance filing dates, utilize strategies such as a Pilot for CLMS (RMEW) and Soft-Launch for CLMS-G (LEW), conduct extensive User Acceptance Testing, hold multiple training sessions, and ensure adoption time of a new system.

CIO Comments

This project continues PBGC’s migration of mission critical applications to the Microsoft Azure Cloud and Microsoft Dynamics environments, replacing highly customized legacy systems with configurable solutions. This will improve PBGC operational efficiency through better data capture management and use. The agile process allows business units to see what can be done with new technology early and often, which leads to increase in scope for those involved in the agile process for the first time. During implementation, users re-envisioned their future process-technology use, user adoption, resolve challenges with legacy data and documents migrated into a new system for an end-to-end user experience. PBGC anticipates decommissioning of several legacy systems no later than calendar year 2024.