Next Generation Desktop (NGD) Requirements

40.3.12 - Next Generation Desktop (NGD) Requirements (Rev. 105, Issued: 06-02-17, Effective: 07-03-17, Implementation: 07-03-17) CMS has fully deployed the Next Generation Desktop (NGD) to the contractors’ beneficiary customer service contact centers. The NGD is a multiple call center application that is used by Medicare Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) to answer inquiries and perform operations on behalf of CMS beneficiaries and the American public. The NGD is designed to pull customer service-needed information into a common desktop application. As such, the NGD requires data exchange with CMS shared systems (VMS, CWF, FISS, MCS) and standard systems (Enrollment Database (EDB)/Master Beneficiary Database (MBD), Master Beneficiary Record (MBR), Group Health Plan (GHP)/Maricopa Managed Care System (MMCS). Note: NGD may integrate with additional systems as future releases are developed. Because NGD integrates with the shared systems, periodic changes will be made to the NGD Integration Layer as a result of the shared systems quarterly release process. The NGD maintainer will be required to update NGD in shares systems quarterly releases (Jan, Apr, July, Oct.) The NGD maintainer will be required to perform the various activities associated with changes to the NGD (i.e., unit and system testing). In addition to the shared systems quarterly release schedule, the NGD will adhere to a separate quarterly functional release process for NGD-specific updates and defect correction. The NGD maintainer shall follow all of the requirements identified in Section 40.3 for the shared system maintainers except as indicated below: 1. Section 40.3.1 Maintainers and Beta Testers –Required Levels of Testing, #3 is not applicable to NGD Beta testers. 2. Section 40.3.2 (#2) Minimum Testing Standards for Maintainers and Beta Testers, for NGD naming conventions, the NGD Maintainer should refer to the NGD test Plan. 3. Section 40.3.2 (#4) Minimum Testing Standards for Maintainers and Beta Testers, for NGD test case identifiers, the NGD maintainer should refer to the NGD System Test Plan. 4. Section 40.3.7 Timeframe Requirements for Testing Entities – NGD testing timeframes are as follows: • The official NGD User Acceptance testing period conducted by the VCS Support Contractor shall begin 2 weeks prior to production implementation. • The overall NGD testing period shall begin 3 weeks prior to production implementation. The NGD VCS Support testers shall have an exclusive 1 week testing timeframe prior to the initiation of user testing (Validation testing) -The User Acceptance tester shall complete a functional System Test and Regression Test before the system is released to the User community. • Exclusive NGD System Maintainer testing shall continue until User Acceptance testing is initiated 3 weeks prior to production implementation. The NGD Maintainer shall complete a Unit Test (on all components), Integration Test, System Test, and Regression Test prior to distributing the shared system release to the designated Beta Tester. 5. Section 40.3.8 Testing Documentation Requirements (#2) For NGD, documentation of all software defects (problems) should be through ClearQuest.