Second Review of a New Data Management System for the Social Security Administration (1979) / Chapter Skim
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4. Transition Planning
4. Transition Planning
Pages 17-31
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From page 17... ...
Even so, a strong follow-up effort is considered necessary to determine the difficulty of reorganizing and unifying the data base and of adapting or rewriting the application programs. An instantaneous "cut-over" from the present process to the future one is not deemed possible.
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From page 18... ...
Along the third axis are the several subsystems that support the work of the SSA -- subsystems such as the terminals and associated minicomputers in the local offices, the telecommunications systems, the data base, and the processing systems in the central complex and regional centers. One approach to transition is to bring up each of the services (identified along the vertical axis)
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From page 19... ...
at' 0~ rid ,, A _ NG oryx ark- ~ l I I a,. LOCATIONS FIGURE 1 Framework for Transition Planning SUBSYSTEMS
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From page 20... ...
Indeed, the panel considers it important to develop, "debug," and demonstrate in a realistic operational setting the complete system before introducing it throughout the SSA. A few local offices would require only a small segment of the overall data base, and for demonstrational and "debugging" purposes simulating some of the supporting operations at central or regional centers might suffice.
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From page 21... ...
Only a small part of the data base would have to be converted to future process form. The central (or regional)
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From page 22... ...
The panel is confident that the technology has advanced to a point where a large data base, even one as large as the SSA data base, is manageable if properly organized. The panel's analysis of the problem has increased its confidence that it would be feasible to bring up, in the initial step of development and transition, a fairly comprehensive system -- one capable of handling all the main social security services for a single local office or a few local offices.
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From page 23... ...
Given a telecommunications network, an initial set of terminals, and an integrated data base, the next step in a vertical slice approach based on subsystems is to update the application programs and the work procedures into which the application programs feed information. That the application programs operate, for the most part, with records stored serially on magnetic tapes means either that the old data base on magnetic tape and the new (to a large extent on-line)
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From page 24... ...
If this amount of code could be reduced to 1 million machine instructions, based on 100,000 source level statements in a high level language, almost everyone would certainly favor reprogramming from scratch. From the point of view of software development, the fact that there are some 200,000,000 individual accounts in the overall SSA data base poses a challenge, although not an insurmountable one.
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From page 25... ...
CONVERSION OF THE DATA BASE Although application programs for the future process can be created either by modifying existing application programs or by writing new ones, the data base for the future process can be assembled only by the conversion of the several existing files. It is not clear how much the present data bases need to be "cleaned up" by the SSA before being be turned over to a contractor for conversion to the future data base, either for a competitive demonstration or for the transition.
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From page 26... ...
Not at all representative of the central body of the future process, it is a very special data base, different from all the others, and, in a sense, an index to them. In the vertical slice approach based on locations, it would be necessary to establish control over all the different data elements, but it would not be necessary initially to convert all the data.
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From page 27... ...
Mass storage devices open up interesting technical possibilities with promise of reducing the overall cost of storage. Although the cost of mass storage devices may not be decreasing as rapidly as the cost of disk files, their cost advantage is still a factor of five or ten, which may be very important during the transition, if it proves necessary to operate two data bases concurrently for a long period.
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From page 28... ...
Finally, early identification, definition, and resolution of problems of concern to employees and clients are easy to enunciate but difficult to reduce to a program of specific actions. The panel concludes that the SSA should have a positive program to identify the skills required by the new
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From page 29... ...
Another question such a task force might examine is whether the future data base should be organized along the lines of a hierarchy, a network, or -- in the parlance of relational data bases -- a system of relations. Second, it is essential to understand the application programs in approximately the same way as it is essential to understand the data elements.
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From page 30... ...
During the past year, personnel from local offices and program service centers have worked with the planners in OAS and with this panel, giving it a direct appreciation of the contributions they can make. The panel therefore recommends expansion and intensification of the effort to bring into the activities of planning, design, and evaluation, the SSA people who interact directly with clients.
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From page 31... ...
Choose an initial module that is representative of the overall task of designing and implementing the future process. · Emphasize contributions, involvement, and acceptance by the SSA people who will use the new system.
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Key Terms
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