Remote Training

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DON TRACKER

The USMC realized based on end user analysis that remote training would need to be provided to assist with the migration of the Marine Corps Action Tracking System (MCATS) user based from the legacy system to the new DON TRACKER.  

CHALLENGE:  The Hartwood Consulting support contract for the migration from MCATS to DON TRACKER did not include any funding for training nor was training included as part of the SOW. When examined, the contract being used had hit the ceiling and so no further modifications were allowed to potentially add training and ODCs. It was also determined that the prime DON TRACKER contractor did have training as part of the sustainment contract but due to delays in getting the sustainment contract awarded, they did not have enough time before the migration to hire, train and coordinate a training team for the USMC.

SOLUTION:  Hartwood Consulting Group worked closely with the client to present an analysis of the options and from that, we created a schedule to perform all training within the Jan 4th to March 14th timeframe with most commands being visited and all others provided with options to attend trainings a nearby locations. We then worked with the DON TRACKER prime contractor to work out a sub contract that would allow them to meet their training requirement and satisfy the needs of the USMC.

RESULT:  The analysis and plan was so well thought out and executed that Hartwood was able to not only meet the required 5 locations and 24 training sessions during the 12 weeks but for the same cost, were able to train at 15 locations and conducted 48 training sessions. Over 850 trainees attended remote training sessions during this time which exceed the total planned trainees for all locations of 760.      The prime contractor asked us for permission to extend the training contract to allow for support with future Navy User training.

DON TRACKER

The USMC was the first of a series of organizations scheduled to be a consumer of an Information Technology (IT) service being provided by the Department of Navy (DON) and they needed to ensure that the USMC end users were trained prior to deployment of the service. There was also a need to ensure that there was post deployment supporting training materials available. 

CHALLENGE:  The DON as the service owners had told all potential consumers of the new service that training materials were available within the system, and that there was an approved User Manual for the new system. When the USMC reviewed the “embedded training materials”, it was obvious to the entire team that the materials was too focused on screen by screen utilization of the system and not appropriate to meet the needs of the USMC. As a new system, there were no subject matter experts within the USMC that they could turn to with the knowledge to create training materials and there were no lesson’s learned from previous users of the systems on how to best create a training package.

SOLUTION: Hartwood Consulting Group took up the challenge and focused on what we did know and that was the legacy system. We were able to identify how the legacy system was being utilized and then focused on creating training materials that would show the same user base, how they would perform the same activities in the new system. The training materials also focused on highlighting the differences between the two systems including the improved functionality that was expected to make it easier to manage task actions within the USMC.

RESULT:  The Hartwood training team was able to put together a complete training package that included a MS PowerPoint for instructor led training, four (4) hands-on practical application scripts for trainees to perform within the training site, and an alignment of the old system functionality to the new system functionality that assured the trainees that they will be able to perform their job responsibilities in the new system better than they had in the old system.