How We Work

At Sentient Digital, we apply a series of management threads and industry best practices from both the private and government sectors to deliver effective and efficient digital solutions to our clients.

Playbook: Execution, Assets, Tools, Management

SDi Playbook

The SDi Playbook describes our series of integrated management threads, process areas, and assets for building and delivering quality solutions for our clients. Using the SDi Playbook, various solution modules are synchronized into a single, well-rounded delivery strategy to meet our clients’ specific needs. Our framework is a customized approach, ensuring that transformations are thoroughly, smoothly, and effectively implemented with lasting and engrained benefits.

Through assimilation of industry best practices (CMMI®, SEI, PMBOK®), defense acquisition standards, and execution for clients, our playbook incorporates industry-standard methodologies to produce a roadmap in alignment with our clients’ visions for their organizations. The industry-standard methodologies including Agile, DevSecOps, and Rational Unified Process (RUP) to support our clients’ shift to a modern technology environment.

We drive the adoption and scaling of digital and technology initiatives through the integration of solution delivery lifecycle management (SDLM), delivery management, quality management, and technical management practices into our service strategies and client roadmaps. Our roadmap is flexible, iterative, and focused on increased quality and reduction of risk across our clients’ investment lifecycles—from initiation and development, to deployment and closure.

SDLC Management: Explore, Realize, Operate, Delivery Management, Quality Management, and Technical Management

Solution Delivery Lifecycle Management (SDLM)

Through exploration, realization, and operation processes, SDLM encompasses our practices related to project development. These span the full lifecycle of a project, from requirements engineering and cybersecurity planning, to data modeling and solution development and testing, into transition.

Explore

  • Requirements Engineering
  • Cyber Security Planning

Realize

  • Architecture and Design
  • Data Modeling
  • Solution Development
  • Unit Testing
  • Verification & Validation
  • Test Definition
  • Test Execution

Operate

  • Go Live
  • Data Conversion
  • Transition

Delivery Management

  • Project Initiation
  • Project Planning
  • Estimation
  • Project Monitoring and Control
  • Risk and Issue Management
  • Supplier Agreement Management
  • Change Control
  • Decision Analysis and Resolution
  • Project Closure

Delivery Management

Delivery management describes the various procedures and regular processes that ensure our projects remain relevant to our clients’ needs, on schedule, and efficiently executed. These processes include project initiation, planning, estimation, monitoring and control, risk and issue management, supplier agreement management, change control, decision analysis and resolution, as well as project closure.

Resource Management

Resource Management

Manages resource allocation and resource capacity across the project to ensure effective utilization.

Quality Control

Quality Control

Provides quality assurance and quality control through utilization of established standards and development of project management templates and execution of deliverable reviews.

Risk Issue Management

Risk and Issue Management

Supports projects by identifying and evaluating risk and issues, managing project scope, and escalating items, as needed.

PMO Functions: Resource Management, Governance, Schedule Management, Financial Management, Risk & Issue Management, Quality Control
Governance

Governance

Provides decision making framework to uphold accountabilities and responsibilities and identifies key stakeholders to act as an approval/escalation path.

Schedule Management

Schedule Management

Manages development of a detailed and integrated project schedule, inclusive of key tasks to be completed, milestones, timelines, dependencies, and resources assigned.

Financial Management

Financial Management

Tracks actual spend against budgeted plan to ensure the project operates within the funds allocated in addition to applicable forecast metrics.

Quality Management

The Quality Management aspect of our Method involves continuously monitoring, assessing, and improving the value of our services and output. Our Quality Management (QM) Playbook governs our enterprise-integrated quality program for quality assurance, measurement process and analysis, and continuous improvement practices, ensuring product quality and process quality to meet each project’s unique needs.

Check mark through a shield, symbolizing cyber security

Principles of Quality Management

SDi is committed to delivering the highest quality products to our customers. As part of this commitment, our Quality Management System is formed on the basis of seven principles:

Customer Focus

The primary focus of quality management is to meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations. Sustained success is achieved when SDi attracts and retains the confidence of customers and other interested parties on whom we depend. Every aspect of customer interaction provides an opportunity to create more value for the customer. Understanding the current and future needs of customers and other interested parties contributes to the sustained success of SDi.

Leadership

Leaders at all levels establish unity of purpose and direction, and create conditions in which people are engaged in achieving the quality objectives of the organization. Creating unity of purpose, direction, and engagement enables SDi to align our strategies, policies, processes, and resources to achieve our objectives.

Engagement of People

Within SDi, it is essential that all of our people are skilled, empowered, and engaged in delivering value. To be effective, we believe it is important to involve all people at all levels through recognition, empowerment, and enhancement of their knowledge and skills to provide quality.

Process Approach

Consistent and predictable results are achieved more effectively and efficiently when activities are understood and managed as interrelated processes that function as a coherent system. SDi’s Quality Management System is composed of interrelated processes, resources, controls, and interactions, allowing SDi to optimize its performance.

Improvement

SDi has an ongoing focus on improvement. Improvement is essential for us to maintain current levels of performance, react to changes in internal and external conditions, and create new opportunities.

Evidence-Based Decision Making

Decisions based on the analysis and evaluation of data and information are more likely to produce desired results. Decision making can be a complex process, and it always involves some uncertainty. It often requires multiple types and sources of inputs, as well as their interpretation, which can be subjective. It is important to understand cause and effect relationships and potential unintended consequences. Facts, evidence, and data analysis lead to greater objectivity and confidence in decisions made.

Relationship Management

SDi’s sustained success is achieved when we closely manage relationships with our customers, suppliers, and partner networks. Our success is achieved through our network’s success.

Technical Management

Our project teams are expected to understand and work within these fundamental building blocks for engineering solutions, regardless of the specific project lifecycle methodology used (waterfall, agile, or DevOps).

Our solutions are developed effectively when:

  • Solutions are defined conceptually
  • User needs are transformed into requirements
  • User needs inform how we develop and assess architectures

Our solution teams compose and assess alternative design and development approaches; develop test and certification strategies; monitor and assess efforts in design, development, integration, and test; and assist with field deployment, operations, and maintenance.

All of our systems engineering models and processes are organized around our lifecycle. Although the detailed views, implementations, and terminology used to articulate the SE lifecycle differ across SDi customers, they all share these fundamental elements.

Verification phase: Concept development, Requirements engineering, System architecture, System design & development - Validation phase: System integration, Test & evaluation, Transition operations & maintenance