This report describes the story of a management success: Census 2000. The decennial census is the largest peacetime mobilization in the United States. The 2000 census mobilized more than 860,000 census takers at its peak, a large 'ramp-up' in capability and staffing. This report aims to describe some of the key strategies used by Census Bureau staff to 'ramp up': an integrated management structure, non-traditional recruiting, creating an integrated on-demand technology system, using commercial procurement practices, using commercial supply chain practices, and collaborating with partners. The report is aimed at federal managers from across the government who may be called upon to take on large, non-routine projects, such as those needed in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

• Define IT governance up front. When multiple parts of an organization are being held respon¬sible for different systems that ultimately need to communicate with each other, lines of responsibility and accountability have to be clearly defined. Special attention should be paid to how the various groups will communi¬cate with each other; who has responsibility for systems integration, with its attendant authority, should be clear to all project participants. These lines of authority and communication should be determined as part of developing the overall system architecture.

• Begin early in order to mitigate risk in major IT projects. Sufficient time and funding needs to be built in for planning, risk mitigation, testing, and revision.

• Consider the risks of hybrid computer systems. It is possible for an agency to successfully com¬bine systems that are developed in-house with systems that are provided by contractors, and to customize COTS software. However, these combinations greatly increase the complexity of systems integration and therefore increase the cost and risk to projects. If an agency decides to go this route, a solid risk mitigation plan needs to be developed, and the costs accounted for up front.

• Require the use of established commercial software development practices. While initially expensive, using well-established practices for software development is ultimately cost beneficial, and agencies should incorporate the upfront resources needed into their planning and budgeting process. If an agency is not capable of implementing repeatable, documented methods, it should use contractors who have demonstrated outstanding performance in this area. This type of approach is consistent with what OMB typi¬cally requires for systems development.