“You don’t pop the hood on your entire organization that frequently,” Gerald Lackey, Virginia DMV commissioner, said, outlining some of the broader possibilities to consider as the state transitions from its 30-year-old mainframe technology to a new cloud-based platform.
“This provides us with that opportunity. And we’re taking that seriously, by engaging the business, looking at how do we actually do this, and is there a better way to do it?” Lackey said.
Virginia is beginning what will be about a three-year process to deploy a new cloud-based system to manage the complex driver, vehicle and business applications at the DMV. The state is working with Kyndryl to integrate its MAX platform into the Virginia DMV, a major step toward digital governance where residents can engage with the motor vehicle agency via their own digital devices, at their convenience, eliminating visits to a field office. MAX is already in use in Arizona.
The Virginia DMV already has a strong customer service approval rating of 4.5 out of 5, according to Lackey. But beyond service improvements, the MAX system offers a chance to re-examine internal processes and business flows, and bestow a new streamlined posture on an agency that handles some 200,000 transactions a day.
“You don’t want to just take old processes and put them into a modern platform. You want to make sure that what you’re doing is actually the most efficient way you could be doing it,” the commissioner said.
Similarly, by moving some of the more mundane functions associated with DMVs onto drivers to complete, on their smartphones or home computers, DMV staff are freed up to handle “higher value, more complex tasks that still need a customer service expert,” said Anita Mikus, Kyndryl U.S. vice president of state and local government and education.
“So now I can devote my time to someone who has a real complex issue,” she said, “instead of helping someone to update their address, which is something they can do on their own.”
As it exists, the MAX platform is 80 percent complete, with the final 20 percent customizable for the state motor vehicle agency “based on what your regulations are, what your specific needs are, etc.,” Mikus said, indicating it operates as a form of code-sharing where, as the technology is updated, all states have access to those improvements.
The MAX technology handles key tasks like managing licensing, automobile titles and insurance checks, and will enable what Lackey described as “a guided customer experience.” This, he said, involves more intuitive question prompts for the public with “questions they can actually answer, versus them trying to translate what they need into our forms.”
One of the most impactful new features MAX will enable for Virginia is customer relationship management. The system will enable the DMV to follow and track customer interactions.
“The MAX platform allows us to follow your personal journey as you are interacting with us, trying to get something done,” Lackey said, pointing out the issues and scenarios residents bring to DMVs can be complicated, touching on areas like identity management, compliance and car insurance.
“Those are the complex ones. Because you’ve got different groups with different skills sets,” he said. “The tool will really create the environment for us to do that better.”
