Integrating into Your
IT Environment

EHRI understands information technology concerns about such topics such as security, resource impacts, and capacity considerations. The EHRI team is available to work closely with Agency IT teams to ensure successful implementations.

Following are answers to frequently asked questions about EHRI eOPF from the IT community:

• How will eOPF work with our existing infrastructure and firewall?
  • To access and utilize the EHRI eOPF solution, users must have Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 or higher and Adobe Acrobat Reader version 6.01 or higher installed on their PC. JavaScript must also be enabled to use the eOPF application. eOPF sessions are Secure Socket Layer (SSL) sessions. Both Single Sign On and eAuthentication initiatives are supported.

• How can we be confident that EHRI software has the security levels necessary to handle my agency’s data?
  • The EHRI Program Management Office is responsible for ensuring an adequate level of protection and security is afforded to EHRI systems. EHRI systems include the major applications of eHR (Data Warehouse) and eOPF, their General Support Systems (GSS), and all associated development and test environments. Using Federal Information Processing Standards 199 (FIPS 199) Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems, the EHRI Systems have been classified in the following manner:

     

    FIPS 199 Standard	Categorization
    Confidentiality	High
    Integrity	High
    Availability	Moderate
    Overall EHRI System	High

     

    The requisite level of protection and security is accomplished through an appropriate mix of technical, administrative, and managerial security controls including written guidance.

• How can we be confident that eOPF has the capacity to handle my agency’s files?
  • eOPF capacity has been stressed and measured using an independent testing service. The service used automated testing functionality to incrementally increase the simulated simultaneity of eOPF users. The conclusions drawn show the eOPF application, the Oracle database, and the Network appliances to be fully scalable.

• How reliable and upgradeable is the solution?
  • The eOPF application is configured with sufficient redundancy to achieve 99.95% availability, not including planned maintenance windows. The underlying operating system and third-party software are updated to keep within the manufacturer’s software support windows. New eOPF requirements are developed and prioritized with input and support of the eOPF agency-user community. As a general rule, one major eOPF software release is scheduled per year. eOPF application software maintenance is applied on an as-needed basis. Vulnerability maintenance for Windows is applied monthly, for UNIX and Oracle as required, typically on a quarterly basis. eOPF application vulnerability maintenance is applied immediately.

• How much training will my team need to understand and support deployment?
  • The eOPF solution is designed to be user friendly and intuitive for both the HR community and employees.  In general, members of the Agency implementation team are able to learn the system quickly, and become strong advocates for eOPF deployment.  The EHRI PMO provides a variety of live training options, such as a “train-the-trainer” two day series and targeted training classes for HR Specialists and Administrators.  Additionally, web-based training modules are currently in development for eOPF Basic Users, HR Specialists and Administrators which will showcase the benefits of eOPF in an accessible and easy-to-use tool.

• How are new releases and product updates managed?
  • OPM performs an initial User Acceptance Test (UAT) for any software releases, and upon successful completion of the UAT, the new software is installed in the OPM Quality Assurance (QA) environment which is identical to the production environment. Further testing is conducted to ensure there are no environmental problems introduced by the new software. Next, the software is migrated to the training environment, which is a production instance in the production environment. Once in the training environment, the software is available for testing and familiarization by the user community. A schedule for agency upgrades is developed in collaboration with the agencies. Although every effort is made to accommodate agency scheduling goals, there are technical situations that periodically require OPM to mandate certain migration dates.

In order to assist with the transition to a new release or upgrade, new documentation and User Guides are provided to each agency.