Modernization Readiness
Nine questions about authority, data, continuity, due process, and procurement. Scored against the conditions a benefits modernization program must meet to succeed.
- 01Authority
Is there a single named executive accountable for the modernized system's go-live?
A steering committee is not an executive. We mean a person whose performance review depends on this.
- 02Authority
Has that owner's appointment outlasted at least one administration change?
Modernizations span elections. Owners that don't, don't finish.
- 03Data
Can the program produce a reproducible, point-in-time extract of the last 36 months of decisioning data?
Reproducible means: running it again next month for the same time-range returns the same rows.
- 04Data
For a given decision date, can you retrieve the policy text that bound the decision?
This is the hidden killer. Most agencies have current policy; almost none have versioned policy.
- 05Continuity
Is "no flag-day cutover" written into your procurement requirements?
If it isn't, you'll get a flag-day cutover. Vendors optimize for what's in the requirements.
- 06Continuity
Do you have a working feature-flagging capability in production today?
A vendor "supporting feature flags" is not the same as a working flag system.
- 07Continuity
Can the program run two decisioning systems in parallel for 90+ days while reconciling divergences?
This is how cutovers stop being terrifying.
- 08Due process
Are adverse-action notices for AI-influenced decisions reviewed by counsel before deployment?
If counsel hasn't seen the notice, the model is a legal exposure waiting to be subpoenaed.
- 09Procurement
Does the contract deliver trained models, training-data lineage, and evaluation suites to the agency at no marginal cost?
If the vendor walks away with the model, you bought a service. If you walk away with the model, you bought capability.
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You can see your score without leaving any details. If you give us a work email, we'll send you the score plus a written next-step note from Frank or Payton, and add you to the briefing list — never to a marketing list.
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