MICROSOFT POWER PLATFORM ENTERPRISE APPLICATION SUITE

Enabling $2.5 Billion in Federal Health Research Funding

  • Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)

  • ITSS (Information Technology Support Services)

  • $830,000

  • May 2022 - November 2024

  • Time & Materials (T&M) and Firm Fixed Price (FFP)

  • Sub Contractor

Challenge

As a newly established federal agency, ARPA-H faced a critical operational barrier: the agency could not legally spend appropriated funds without a compliant, auditable system for budget requests and funds certification. The agency needed to rapidly transform from manual, email-based processes using spreadsheets to an enterprise-grade digital platform that would enable transparent financial management, support complex approval workflows across multiple mission offices, and establish the audit trail required for federal expenditure compliance. The solution needed to scale from startup operations to supporting billions of dollars in biomedical research funding while maintaining agility for an evolving organizational structure.

Solution

DAWNE IT Solutions designed, developed, and deployed a comprehensive suite of custom Microsoft Power Platform applications that became the financial and operational backbone of ARPA-H, enabling the agency to execute its mission-critical research funding operations.

Core Applications Delivered

  • Purpose: Digital intake and approval system for all agency budget requests

    Functionality:

    • Multi-step approval workflow across mission offices (HSF, RSO, SSO, PHO)

    • Integration with Comptroller's Office for financial oversight

    • Automated routing to Deputy Comptroller and Branch Chief Budget Execution

    • Real-time status tracking and notifications

    • Comprehensive audit trail for all financial decisions

    Impact: Established the foundational system enabling ARPA-H to legally obligate and spend federal appropriations for the first time

  • Purpose: Formal certification and approval of fund availability before obligation

    Functionality:

    • Automated validation of budget availability

    • Multi-level approval chain with role-based access controls

    • Integration with BRF for seamless workflow continuity

    • Compliance documentation generation

    • Historical tracking and reporting

    Impact: Created the legally required certification process, enabling over $2.5 billion in research funding expenditures over 18 months

  • Purpose: Streamlined review and evaluation of Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) and research proposals

    Functionality:

    • Centralized proposal submission and tracking

    • Collaborative review workflows for evaluation teams

    • Scoring and ranking capabilities

    • Document management and version control

    • Integration with grant management processes

    Impact: Accelerated proposal review cycles and improved evaluation consistency

  • Purpose: Internal communication and collaboration hub

    Functionality:

    • Centralized information repository

    • News and announcements distribution

    • Policy and procedure documentation

    • Employee directory and organizational charts

    • Integration with Microsoft 365 and SharePoint

    Impact: Unified communication platform for geographically distributed workforce

  • Zendesk: IT service management integration for technical support

    HubSpot: CRM integration for stakeholder relationship management

    Palantir: Advanced data analytics and decision support platform integration

    Technical Architecture:

    Platform Foundation:

    • Microsoft Power Apps: Model-driven applications for structured data collection

    • Microsoft Power Pages: External-facing portals and intranet

    • Microsoft Dataverse: Enterprise data lake storing all form submissions and approvals

    • Microsoft Power BI: Executive dashboards and real-time financial reporting

    • Microsoft Power Automate: Workflow automation and system integrations

    • AI Builder: Intelligent form processing and data extraction

    Development Approach:

    • Methodology Transition: Evolved from Waterfall to Agile/Scrum framework

    • Sprint Cadence: Bi-weekly sprints with daily stand-ups

    • Tools: Transitioned to Jira for project management and backlog tracking

    • Environment Management: Implemented strict development, test, and production environment controls

    • Code Governance: Established code freeze policies and migration best practices

    • Quality Assurance: Continuous testing and peer review processes

Implementation Phases

Phase 1: Foundation & Requirements (Months 1-3)

  • Stakeholder engagement across Comptroller's Office and mission offices

  • Business process mapping and requirements gathering

  • Data architecture design in Dataverse

  • Security and compliance framework establishment

  • Initial BRF and FCF prototypes

Phase 3: Expansion & Integrations (Months 10-18)

  • PowerBAA Review Platform development

  • Intranet deployment on Power Pages

  • Zendesk, HubSpot, and Palantir integrations

  • Power BI dashboard suite creation

  • Advanced reporting and analytics capabilities

  • Cross-system data synchronization

Phase 2: Core Application Development (Months 4-9)

  • BRF and FCF full development and testing

  • Multi-level approval workflow configuration

  • Integration with financial systems

  • User acceptance testing with Comptroller's Office

  • 508 accessibility compliance validation

  • Security audit and ATO documentation

Phase 4: Optimization & Scale (Months 19-30)

  • Performance tuning for increased transaction volume

  • Enhanced reporting for leadership visibility

  • Process improvements based on user feedback

  • Knowledge transfer and documentation

  • Transition planning for ongoing support

Results & Outcomes

  • $2.5 billion in research funding processed through BRF and FCF applications over 18 months

  • 100% audit compliance for all financial transactions and approvals

  • Enabled agency operations by creating the first legally compliant expenditure system

  • Zero financial discrepancies in audit reviews

  • Transformed processes from email/spreadsheet to enterprise data repositories

  • Multi-office coordination across HSF, RSO, SSO, PHO, ITDI, BID, DLGA, and PATIO

  • Real-time visibility for executive leadership through Power BI dashboards

  • Rapid deployment supporting startup agency timeline

  • Scalable architecture accommodating exponential agency growth

  • Cross-agency partnerships established through integrated workflows

  • Deputy Comptroller noted systems outperformed solutions from larger, more expensive contracts

Compliance & Standards

  • Full accessibility compliance for all applications

  • Cloud security compliance for Microsoft platform

  • Federal information security management compliance

  • Maintained continuous authorization through rigorous security documentation

  • Compliance with federal budget execution requirements

  • Security and privacy controls implementation

  • Real-time visibility for executive leadership through Power BI dashboards

  • Rapid deployment supporting startup agency timeline

  • Scalable architecture accommodating exponential agency growth

  • Cross-agency partnerships established through integrated workflows

  • Deputy Comptroller noted systems outperformed solutions from larger, more expensive contracts

Stakeholder Engagement

    • Comptroller's Office (Comptroller, Deputy Comptroller, Branch Chief Budget Execution)

    • Mission Offices: Health Science Futures (HSF), Resilient Systems Office (RSO), Sprint for Societal Impact Office (SSO), Proactive Health Office (PHO)

    • IT & Data Innovation (ITDI) Leadership

    • Business Innovation & Development (BID) Leadership

    • Division of Legal, Grants Administration (DLGA-IGA, DLGA-LGA)

    • Program Administration & Technology Innovation Office (PATIO)

    • Product Owner/Senior Business Analyst

    • Development team (10+ members)

    • Security engineers for ATO documentation

    • 508 compliance specialists

    • Quality assurance testers

    • Project managers and scrum masters

Value Delivered

    • Power BI and data pipeline specialization

    • Established agency-wide data standards and best practices

    • Rapid transformation capability for startup federal agency

    • Financial systems expertise for federal compliance

    • Eliminated manual email and spreadsheet-based financial processes

    • Created centralized, auditable data repositories

    • Established repeatable workflows for budget execution

    • Enabled real-time financial visibility for leadership

    • Provided crucial infrastructure during ARPA-H's formative startup years

    • Enabled billions in biomedical research funding to advance health outcomes

    • Established scalable platform for future agency growth

    • Created reusable framework for other federal agencies

Knowledge Transfer

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