Other Tips

Experts offer a series of other suggestions for ensuring a smooth smart card implementation:

• MAKE SURE you have a valid business reason for introducing smart cards. The Financial Management Service, for example, identified a cash management problem caused by millions of dollars in coins and currency being shipped overseas before choosing smart cards as a solution.
• DON'T UNDERESTIMATE how long it will take people to accept the technology. "We're worldwide, and our military people can use their card as a passport to get into other countries. But we didn't realize how long it would take for everybody to recognize the cards and not reject them as fakes, because they didn't look like the old cards," Defense's Dixon says. It took about a year before the cards were universally accepted, she says.
• UNDERSTAND the uniqueness of a smart card implementation. "With smart cards, there are some longer-lead items that have to be taken into consideration. The source of the card stock and the programming of the cards are different than they are for issuing nonsmart cards," says the Smart Card Alliance's Vanderhoof. "There needs to be communication between suppliers and issuers to make sure they understand the realities in smart card technology versus experience with other computer-based systems."
• CREATE A BACKUP system for cases where users forget or lose cards. Some agencies have begun using a "distributed issuance" model-giving local offices the ability to create and issue cards-to handle these situations.
• DEFINE MEASURES of success before implementation. "We use what we call a 'concept of operations,' where we agree on the outcome before starting," FMS' Conrath says. "If you don't do that, others may have expected something different. And when things take a little longer, everyone understands why."
• LEAVE IMPLEMENTATION to the experts. "It's not a do-it-yourself project. It's a technology that requires a deep understanding of how all the pieces fit together," Vanderhoof says. "That comes from experience, and there is no textbook or manual you can read to fully understand it."