UNCLASSIFIED   STATE   00219156 
VZCZCXRO4031
RR RUEHAT
DE RUEHC #9156/01 3370016
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030009Z DEC 05
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHTRO/USLO TRIPOLI 5296

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 219156 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AMGT AINF AADP ACOA ASEC KRIM
SUBJECT: SMART UPDATE 
 
REF:   A) STATE 152885,     B) STATE 13048, 
       C) 03 STATE 284912, D) 02 STATE 195704 
 
STATE 00219156  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. Please provide wide dissemination of the information 
in this telegram. 
 
¶2. This message is another in a series of updates on the 
status of SMART, the State Messaging and Archive Retrieval 
Toolset. SMART is designed to consolidate cables, e- 
mails, and memos on a single platform integrated with a 
centralized searchable archive. The original SMART 
timeline called for systems development in 2003-2004, 
pilot testing at 15 posts in summer 2005, and worldwide 
deployment in 2006.  Because of vendor delays, the 
contract has been amended (at no cost to the government) 
to stipulate completion of the first phase by January 31, 
¶2006. 
 
¶3.  The Department's Steering Committee for SMART consists 
of Assistant Secretary- and DAS-level representatives from 
 
functional and regional bureaus department wide. it meets 
regularly to review the status of the SRT program and to 
provide program direction. The Under Secretary for 
Management, Henrietta Fore, opened the September 28 and 
November 9 meetings of the SMART Steering Committee. She 
emphasized the importance of the SMART program and the 
requirement for a new integrated messaging system for the 
Department. 
 
¶4. In light of the delays of the SMART contractor in 
delivering a solution and the importance placed on this 
program by the Under Secretary, the Program Office updated 
a 2002 survey of existing messaging practices of 24 
organizations, both public and private sector. IRM was 
also tasked to provide a contingency paper on how the 
State Department could complete SMART utilizing IRM as an 
integrator or in a general contractor role. 
 
¶5. In September, an ad hoc Senior Review Group 
 (Ambassadors Reis, Thomas, and Powell, Bruce Morrison and 
Frank Machak) was convened to review the updated survey, 
IRM's approach paper, as well as overall program status. 
The Senior Review Group's report to the Steering Committee 
concluded the following: 
 
   - The best solution for the Department is that the 
     SMART contractor succeeds. 
   - The requirement for a new messaging system is more 
     imperative today than ever. 
   - There is not a SMART-like solution currently 
     available in either the public or private sector. 
   - Should the contractor fail to deliver, then the 
     Steering Committee needs to prioritize the 
     functionalities required to modernize the legacy 
     telegram system. 
   - IRM could serve as an integrator; however, this 
     approach is not without some risk to the government. 
 
¶6.  At the November Steering Committee meeting, Under 
Secretary Fore announced that Steering Committee Chair 
Ambassador oe Lake will be joining the Office of the 
 
Inspector General as a WAE and has also accepted a 
position as president of the American Center for Mongolian 
Studies, a non-profit academic organization. She thanked 
Ammbassador Lake for his three years of service on the 
SMART program and reported that former CIO Bruce Morrison 
had accepted her invitation to serve as the chair upon 
Ambassador Lake's departure. 
 
¶8. Usability demonstrations and evaluations were 
conducted September 14 - 20 and November 9 - 10, 2005. 
These sessions included 45 business users, system 
administrators, and Steering Committee members. Feedback 
from the demonstrations confirmed steady progress in the 
user interface of SMART; however work remains with system 
administrator training. 
 
¶9. In addition to measuring usability factors, the 
contractor is conducting rigorous testing against 
functional, technical, and performance requirements under 
the watchful eye of State's Independent Verification and 
Validation (IV&V) team. The IV&V team reports that bugs 
remain to be fixed and performance at Department specified 
standards has not yet been demonstrated. The contractor 
will continue testing and fixing bugs until late December. 
Final acceptance testing will take place in the latter 
part of December and January.   The Steering Committee will 
 
STATE 00219156  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
consider the results of acceptance testing in February and 
make a recommendation to the Under Secretary for 
Management on whether to continue with the current 
contractor. 
 
¶10. In the event that agreed standards for a user-driven 
messaging system are not met by January 31, 2006, 
contingency planning is underway for an alternative to 
satisfy the SMART vision. 
 
¶11. Visit http://smart.state.gov/ on OpenNet or 
http://smart.state.sgov.gov/ on ClassNet for the latest 
information on the SMART program. These sites contain a 
full description of the system being designed including 
features such as search and retrieval, instant messaging, 
 
and collaboration software. The site also includes a copy 
of the recent study examining messaging systems in 24 
public and private institutions. 
 
¶12. Minimize considered. 
RICE