CMS Hybrid Cloud
Role
Service
Design Lead
Client
Center of Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS)/
Office of Information Technology (OIT)
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Industry
Collaboration
Federal Government
6 teams across 2 divisions- IUSG & ISPG
Project Duration
14 months
About the Project
The cloud onboarding process for hybrid cloud services offered various pathways for customers, such as application developers, to access, design, and deploy applications. While this flexibility met a wide range of customer requirements, it introduced significant challenges—fragmented processes, inefficiencies, and an inconsistent customer experience. These issues slowed down onboarding and made navigating the system difficult, both for users and internal teams.
Recognizing these shortcomings, we embarked on a mission to unify these pathways into a single, cohesive process. The goal was to deliver a consistent and high-quality experience tailored to customers’ unique needs, while establishing a standardized framework to ensure clarity, efficiency, and scalability.
Solution
We designed a cohesive, unified Hybrid Cloud onboarding process that provides clear guidance for both customers and internal teams to onboard, design, and deploy applications. This new process accommodates unique requirements while maintaining a standardized structure for consistency and efficiency.
Central to the solution is a comprehensive process guide hosted in Jira, where information is centralized, categorized, and easily accessible. Each phase of the onboarding journey is divided into clearly defined tasks, guiding users step by step with detailed instructions.
Challenge
The goal was to unify these disparate onboarding paths into a single, streamlined process that delivers a consistent, high-quality experience for all users. While prioritizing the unique needs of each customer—tailoring the process to their application requirements—it was essential to establish a standardized framework to ensure clarity, efficiency, and scalability. This unified approach enables faster onboarding, clearer guidance, and a seamless transition from development to deployment in the cloud.
This solution was developed using a human-centered design approach, ensuring that the needs and experiences of both customers and internal teams were at the core of every decision.
Each phase was considered a project of it's own.
We immerse ourselves in the current onboarding process, gathering insights through research and interviews. This led to the creation of detailed journey maps and service blueprints, helping us identify pain points and opportunities for improvement from customers and internal teams.
RESEARCH
Building on the ideas generated, we developed an ideal service blueprint that outlined the structure and flow of the new onboarding process. This blueprint captured all key steps, touchpoints, and roles involved, ensuring a cohesive and streamlined experience for both internal teams and customers.​