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Onboarding to CMS Forms

Last updated on November 22, 2024

CMS Forms is a ministry-level service that needs to be approved by your CIO.

On this page:

Why this is a ministry-level service

CMS Forms is intended to support best-in-class forms design and management practices. Ministry form teams support all ministry forms, regardless of type, so all ministry form authors (users) can access all ministry forms and share resources such as templates and design patterns.

This model also offers the greatest amount of flexibility for ministries without centralized teams. They can choose how they want to develop and support their forms, build capacity and capability within their organization, and manage associated resources and costs.

The role of your CIO

Since this is a ministry-level service, the Service Agreement is made with the ministry's CIO because:

  • They need to be aware of and approve the use of enterprise applications and platforms
  • Applications like this are often funded through a corporate IM/IT budget

The CIO may additionally want to:

  • Consider the role CMS Forms will play in transformation initiatives
  • Designate a central contact or leader for the application and its use
  • Provide guidance on prioritizing forms for transition
  • Promote its availability and encourage its use to business areas
  • Set a budget or allowance for total monthly and one-time costs
  • Resource a forms transition team

Start with a conversation

Interest in using CMS Forms can come from any level of the organization such as:

  • A content author managing a large library of downloadable forms
  • A program manager wanting to modernize the citizen experience
  • A systems manager looking to expand techincal capabilities

If you're interested in the platform, let your CIO know. Consider things like:

  • Sharing the link to About CMS Forms, so they can get familiar with the platform and benefits
  • Providing an estimate of the number of forms your program (or the ministry) could transition

Once they've agreed to consider enrolling the ministry, you can request onboarding.

Request onboarding

To request ministry onboarding, simply create a ticket to let us know you're interested.

The ticket should be submitted:

  • By a web team lead, so we know that team is aware of the request as they'll likely have some level of involvement
  • With the knowledge of the CIO, so we don't surprise them in reaching out

Any additional information you can provide is useful, such as:

  • Who initiated or lead the conversation with the CIO
  • Which business areas are most interested
  • The estimated number of forms
  • If any particular team is expected to handle forms

We'll connect with your CIO and set the onboarding schedule. There is no obligation to complete the onboarding. Acquiring CIO and expense approval is part of the process.

The onboarding process

Onboarding a ministry is typically done over the course of two consecutive calendar months. The actual tasks and time-span may vary based on ministry needs, but it's most convenient if the shift from business to user needs occurs with a month change.

During the first calendar month we focus on the business needs of the ministry and its management.

  • Provide various information sessions to support decision making
  • Inquire about the ministry's current form practices, resources, and goals
  • Consult and advise on options for successful deployment and forms transition
  • Explain and prepare the Service Agreement and set up the billing account
  • Request a starting user list and some technical information to set up the system

During the second calendar month we support activities based on individual and collective learning needs of the users.

  • Orientation to the application, ecosystem and support resources
  • Orientation to forms design and management and support resources
  • Opportunities for co-analysis or co-build sessions
  • Opportunities for one-to-one learning support

Our goal is to have each user complete the transition of a form so they have exposure to the whole process.

Onboarding a sector

If your sector plans to support forms centrally for your ministries, we can onboard the whole sector during the same two-month period if:

  • All your users will support all the ministries
  • User onboarding is managable

If either doesn't apply to your sector, we can discuss options and strategies during that first month.

Note that each ministry needs its own Service Agreement and billing account, but charges for each can be directed anywhere, including a "sector" account.