By Amy Allison
Amy Allison
MIDAS Program Director
The MIDAS Project kicked off the new year preparing for ITC3 (Integration Testing Cycle 3), which began the first week of February. This is the third round of integration testing and is the final testing phase for the farm records deployment. This testing cycle will ensure that MIDAS, FMMI, GIS, and existing programs on the Web farm are working together properly. Integration testing will continue until we resolve system bugs that cause a disruption in the production system that do not have a work around. The outcome from integration testing will provide MIDAS, ITSD, and GIS teams with the final solution that will be transported into the production environment. Super users will play a key role in integration testing by participating in and completing user testing.
With the start of ITC3, we are now able to move forward with scheduling farm records training for super users, state trainers, and end users. Exact dates for Super User and State Trainer training will be announced soon. To prepare for the upcoming end user training, Web-based training will be available in AgLearn. A future notice will confirm the availability of the courses and provide guidance regarding Web-based training. Foundational learning sessions are available and can be found on the USDA Connect MIDAS training community.
Mock cutover is another critical activity in preparation for Go-Live. Mock cutover is a practice run for final cutover which is the actual conversion to the new system performed immediately prior to Go-Live. The purpose of mock cutover is to validate the correctness and completeness of the steps in final cutover and to incorporate lessons learned into the cutover plan to ensure an efficient final cutover for Go-Live. Additionally, mock cutover will ensure that the hardware is ready and functioning properly and that all of the data has been converted and imported into the MIDAS solution before it is available to the field.
In addition to working toward the farm records deployment, the MIDAS team has started work for the next deployment: acreage and inventory reporting. The technical designs for acreage reporting have been finalized and system development is underway. Additionally, technical designs for inventory reporting are in progress and once finalized, development can begin.
The MIDAS team has been working hard to roll out robust farm records and GIS functionality to the field. Thank you all for your patience and support for MIDAS as we continue to work toward a comprehensive solution.
