GAIT 2010 Update - June 26, 2009

Georgia Infrastructure Transformation (GAIT) 2010 Update

Issue No. 14

June 26, 2009

Agency transformation plans guide next steps

With service transition behind us, we are now focused on two top-level priorities:

making sure the state's technology providers are delivering the services we contracted for and meeting customer needs, and
moving forward with technology transformation.

At the same time we were preparing for the transitions, we were also developing plans for the technology transformation to follow. State agencies that receive their IT infrastructure services from IBM have been providing input to GTA and IBM as we developed individual transformation plans over the past four months. The final review of those plans is expected to be completed around June 30.

Some agencies are especially busy at particular times of the year, and the plans are critical to scheduling transformation activities in ways that minimize disruptions to daily operations and other business priorities. We are ready to begin implementing the transformation plans as soon as they are final, and you will see a great deal of activity during the second half of the year in such areas as:

consolidating servers and storage,
refreshing end-user computing and other IT equipment,
strengthening security and disaster recovery, and
implementing new management tools.

Together with other agencies and our service providers, we are changing the way technology has been managed in state government for the past three decades. We know it will not happen overnight or without some difficulty. We are looking to the transformation plans to guide the steps we take as we improve the state's technology environment over the next two years and beyond.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Patrick Moore
State Chief Information Officer
GTA Executive Director

GTA, IBM addressing access, usability issues with GETS Web portal

GTA is working with IBM and our customer agencies to address access and usability issues affecting the Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) Web portal. GETS users will begin to see some changes as soon as July 1, but other changes will take place over the next few months.

The GETS Web portal is operated by IBM as a single access point to online tools for services from both IBM and AT&T. It provides access to:

OrderNow!, our service catalog, for placing and tracking service and equipment orders,
GSMRT for accessing service management reports and invoices, and
Maximo for tracking service problems reported to the Consolidated Service Desk.

One of the current challenges is making sure everyone in our customer agencies who needs to use the GETS Web portal is signed up and provided with the right permissions. GTA and our service providers want to make sure more customers are using the available tools.

Service catalog changes are on the way

The overall usability of the service catalog is another challenge. Many customers say it's not always easy to find what they need. In some instances, they are presented with confusing choices or don't know what information is needed to complete an order. In response, IBM is bringing in a team of professional Web architects to make design changes. The service catalog will evolve to be more intuitive and easier to use.

With help from customer feedback, we are also identifying missing service options and filling those gaps as quickly as possible.

Improving service ticket routing and tracking

We are taking steps to improve the routing of service tickets by the Consolidated Service Desk and the ability to track those tickets through Maximo. Any Maximo user who calls in a problem to the Service Desk can track the resulting ticket online. Some users, primarily application developers, can both track and respond to tickets. Additional training is planned for these users to help them fully understand how to use Maximo.

In addition, Service Desk staff are in line to receive more training, especially in the kind of questions to ask callers. It will improve the clarity of information and level of detail in service tickets and help to ensure they are routed to the correct support team for resolution.

The GETS Web portal includes a prominent space for important messages, and as changes are made to our online service-management tools, you will see announcements posted there. Be sure to look for them whenever you log on.

Briefly...

To speed the inventory of end-user computing equipment that's currently underway and ensure its accuracy, IBM is offering to provide agencies with remote inventory kits. They are intended for remote locations, locations with fewer than 20 end-users and locations where some equipment was missed because a laptop or tablet computer was out of the office on the day the inventory was conducted. Site contacts can request a kit on the Asset Inventory Web portal. The inventory of originally scheduled sites is expected to be completed by July 1. It affects agencies receiving their IT infrastructure services from IBM.
IBM has also implemented an inventory validation process. Inventory results are being sent to site contacts, and they are asked to conduct a "spot check" to make sure no equipment has been missed.
The end-user computing inventory is critical to equipment refresh, which is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2009. In preparation for equipment refresh, agencies were recently asked to identify any equipment that's considered critical to business operations and needs to be replaced sooner rather than later.