VISTA Increases Accuracy and Squadron Safety by Resolving P-8 Fleet-Wide Software Issue

VISTA provides engineering and technical support for NAVSEA’s CNO Project K-0416, Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare Intelligence (AAI) Office in Whidbey Island. VISTA’s subject matter expert was recognized by the Navy for his tireless commitment to his customer and the program. VISTA located the source of a major P-8 software fleet-wide squadron anomaly, diligently worked to resolve the issue, and provided a resolution to the customer within seven days. The Navy, and the Programs that support P-8 are in process of implementing this solution which will save time, and more importantly, increase accuracy and squadron safety.

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VISTA Uses Knowledge and Skills to Innovating and Developing Enterprise Data Platform

Through our contract with the OACSIM, VISTA’s Facility Assessment Support Team (FAS) delivers reliable, accurate and flexible analytical information to Army leadership in support of funding decisions regarding real property Sustainment, Restoration, Modernization, and Disposal (SRM-D). The data used to develop these analyses consists of exports from nine Army and Department of Defense (DoD) Real Property Asset Management applications and ad hoc exports from a variety of supporting systems. VISTA’s FAS team is a subject matter expert in each of these systems and datasets, as well as a technical expert in database management, query design, and report development. Determined to continually improve our support of the dynamically changing needs of the Army, the team is leveraging its unique perspective of the capabilities, limitations, and relationships of these datasets, to develop a comprehensive solution for improving the management of the Army’s Real Property data.

The FAS team moved its analytics strategy to the next level by embracing an enterprise view of the Army’s Real Property Asset Management data. This strategy promises stronger data governance, consolidated views of data, and a platform implementing new Reporting, Business Intelligence and Advanced Visualization technologies. With this vision in mind, VISTA is building an Enterprise Data Platform prototype to support the analysis of Army Real Property data. The Enterprise Data Platform allows faster production of recurring reports and the development ad-hoc analytical products. VISTA will continue to leverage our advanced technical, data management and analytical skillsets to develop more sophisticated decision support analysis in response to the OACSIM’s evolving needs.

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Medical Library Association Awards VISTA Staff Member for Outstanding Service

The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association recently presented VISTA’s Library Technical Assistant, Ms. Alyse Owoc, the Outstanding Health Sciences Library Paraprofessional Award. Ms. Owoc was nominated by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) library team for being an integral part of library operations and providing excellent and fast support on all aspect of library services. Congratulations to Ms. Owoc!

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is made up of 27 Institutes and Centers, each with a specific research agenda, often focusing on particular diseases or body systems. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is one of these Institutes and has the mission of “discovering how the environment affects people in order to promote healthier lives.” NIEHS is located in Research Triangle Park, NC.

VISTA has been managing the Library Services contract for NIEHS since 2012. Our team serves a clientele of research scientists and assists them with library research, literature searches and reference requests, bibliometrics, scholarly communication, and document delivery. They also teach classes on various topics, such as PubMed, End Note, Mendeley, and more. The VISTA library team at NIEHS helps our clients locate and manage the information needed in a timely and comprehensive manner.

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VISTA’s Programmatic Recommendations Assist the Department of State

VISTA cited for providing outstanding service to our Department of State (DOS) customer! The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) sent an email about a VISTA staff member stating “you clearly have given this new project a lot of very careful thought to come up with clear, pragmatic recommendations about how to bring order to an unorganized and overwhelming project. I was blown away by your deep knowledge and insightful analysis. And your energy and commitment to making sure that we tackle this project as efficiently as possible was inspiring.”

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Agile Development Successfully Used to Brand and Redevelop an Army Website

VISTA created and maintains the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) public website. Recently, VISTA executed a branding and redevelopment effort for the site. Our team coordinated with BRAC Division (BRACD) leadership and other stakeholders in redefining the focus of the website to assist the BRACD in the conveyance of real estate, while maintaining a repository of publicly available BRAC related documents. VISTA used an Agile methodology for developing this website. Our team met with various BRACD stakeholders and used several methods for gathering and refining the requirements. They developed proof of concept prototypes for the website and used them to refine the requirements. Our team developed this website iteratively. They planned the iterations in such a way that the most complex parts of the website were developed earlier in the lifecycle, which drove down the risk and difficulty of implementing the website as the time progressed. We put a process in place to ensure all new pages are Section 508 accessibility compliant. The rebranded website added significant new functionality and simplified navigation, satisfying the demands of the user community. We have received numerous accolades for the redesigned website.

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Data Modeling Used to Forecast Populations for Army Installations Worldwide

VISTA provides planning population projections for the Office of the Chief of Staff for Installation Management (OACSIM). Our team of functional and technical professionals accomplish this by integrating population data from more than 20 official Department of the Army sources to provide the Army with the Army Stationing and Installation Plan (ASIP). ASIP provides current and projected populations on Active, U.S. Army Reserve (USAR), and Army National Guard (ARNG) installations.

VISTA has extended the capabilities of the ASIP system through the development of dynamic dashboards and the establishment of a classified version of ASIP (ASIP-S). The ASIP-S includes classified units and populations not previously captured in ASIP, allowing OACSIM to more accurately forecast support requirements for Army installations worldwide.

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VISTA Initiates Training Needed for Researchers and Scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Services (NIEHS)

VISTA provides Library Services for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Our team of information professionals are responsible for all library services including reference, document delivery, training, and many knowledge management projects. NIEHS relies heavily on Endnote, which is a software tool used to manage citations and format references for manuscript preparation. The Institute was lacking essential assistance and training in Endnote. Many scientists were coming to the library with questions. VISTA’s library staff recognized this need, received approval from both the library and IT COR, and now provide Endnote training for NIEHS. We have responded to countless patron requests for Endnote assistance, including editing output styles, importing references from databases and correcting citations in Microsoft Word. VISTA’s library staff also provides official Endnote training courses for both the Mac and the PC, and conducts one-on-one training sessions, where a VISTA librarian assists the researcher in their own workspace.

VISTA’s library’s training program has been well received and researchers at NIEHS have been very appreciative of the service.

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VISTA’s Professional & Admin Support “Were Like The Cavalry Coming Over The Hill”

Responsiveness to our client’s needs is a hallmark of VISTA’s customer support. We have been the Army’s Military Construction (MILCON) support contractor for more than 3 years responsible for preparing, editing, proofing and publishing the annual Budget Estimate Submission and President’s Budget MILCON books. Accuracy, attention to detail, and timeliness are paramount as these budget documents form the basis of the Army’s military construction program submission to OSD and Congress.

During a recent submission cycle when the underlying data and requirements for the client changed at the very last minute, VISTA was up to the challenge. We developed new sections, implemented format changes, added last-minute insertions, validated scope and corrected project costs all under an extremely tight timeline. Bottom line – VISTA produced and delivered the Army’s military construction program error-free and on-time garnering the appreciation and thanks from our customer. "Your actions were like the cavalry coming over the hill! I sincerely believe that your efforts made the difference in meeting the submission deadline; especially with all the late insert challenges. This would not have been achievable without your team."

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VISTA’s Security Force Movement Helps Secure Haitian Election

In advance of the much delayed Republic of Haiti's Parliamentarian Election cycle, which commenced on August 9th 2015, senior officials at both the U.S. Embassy and the local United Nation's offices, repeatedly voiced that their greatest concern was a lack of mobility by units of the Haitian National Police (HNP). There was not solely the matter of rapid security force movement in the event of electoral related violence; the HNP were and are solely responsible for the safe transfer of ballots to and from the election stations.

Our company was tasked to do whatever possible to get vehicles on the road, and, in a combination with our headquarters, support in logistics and purchasing. We provided the local field office dedicated efforts in repairing downed police vehicles. This resulted in well over two dozen additional vehicles working the morning of the election, which would not have been the case without our efforts. Not only did this concentrated and focused effort result in the thanks of the Mission and the United Nations; the senior Director of Logistics of the HNP, Yves Stark, called our local leadership and to voice his personal appreciation.

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Real Property Planning Team Develops Facility Reduction Module

Real Property Planning is a core strength that VISTA provides to the Army’s Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (OACSIM). Recently VISTA designed and developed the Real Property Planning and Analysis System (RPLANS) Facility Reduction Module to support the Army’s “Reduce the Installation Facility Footprint” Executive Order. This order directs Army landholding commands to develop plans to eliminate under-used and unused excess facilities. Employing our software development methodology, we implemented a tool that allows commands to enter their plans directly into RPLANS, track the progress, and update them as needed. It also provides, for Army senior leaders, executive level summary reports and charts that depict the plans and progress towards implementing them.

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