Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) Update


AnchorVolume 6, Issue No. 3                                                                                               March 6, 2014 


Adjusting to new challenges:
a hallmark of successful IT

 

Our work to clear hurdles in the path of the state's IT transformation continues. With your participation and partnership, we are seeing encouraging signs of progress. Concurrently, we are working together to mature the GETS program in a way that follows market changes, ensures better performance, and encourages innovation.

 

As for transformation, we aim for substantial completion in 2014. Portions of some of the most challenging projects - server consolidation, file services, and e-mail - are still between us and the finish line.  Progress in these areas has not met the expectations of GTA or our agency customers. IBM has presented us with a broad plan for course correction, which includes adding more resources and placing stronger emphasis on project management and more rigorous management of issue resolution. (Please see server consolidation article.) While these steps should take us in the right direction, we recognize the inconvenience and disruption that schedule changes create for you. We are meeting individually with each affected agency, and we are committed to working with you to see that the work is completed in the best way possible.

 

For the longer term, we are guiding the evolution of the GETS program over all. Last month, I shared with you that agency representatives, along with GTA leaders and advisors, are serving on two working committees aimed at improving the GETS delivery model for the months and years ahead. The work will build on the knowledge we have gained since the GETS program began, and takes into account changing agency business needs and the industry's evolving approach to IT sourcing. Both committees are already producing results.

 

The working committee focused on enhancing the GETS delivery model held its first meeting last week, and the group set the tone for collaboration. The committee is devoting time to developing an RFP for managed network services as well as a strategy for incorporating multi sourcing service integration (MSI), a strategy that several states have found to be successful. In an IT environment where multiple vendors provide services, effective coordination and accountability among providers becomes essential.

 

A separate working committee has evaluated opportunities for Office 365, and the full Agency Management Committee will soon consider the group's recommendations. We aim to have broad consensus before we move forward with any Office 365 implementation.

 

I appreciate your involvement as we work together to both complete transformation and refine the GETS program to best meet the needs of agencies and the state.

 

Thank you for your ongoing support.
 

  

Calvin Rhodes

State Chief Information Officer

GTA Executive Director

 

 

 

2014 path being refined for remaining server consolidation
 

SCONTo promote a successful wrap-up of server consolidation (among the most ambitious IT transformation projects in GETS), the approach to remaining SCON work will be refined.

  

GTA and IBM have recognized the number of moving pieces being pursued simultaneously within SCON has inhibited traction and progress at any individual GETS agency.  The revised plan will be to push near-finished pieces to completion first, and next address the balance of the work with new efficiency.

 

Schedule changes will result for some agencies, while others will see new steps taken in the near term to finish their SCON work where it's already in more advanced stages.  For agencies in earlier stages of SCON preparations, work will intensify later this year, with an adjusted interaction with the SCON team in the interim.

 

Even at agencies where SCON work will pick up fuller steam later this year, pains will be taken to ensure energy already invested is fully capitalized on.  Across the board, where SCON approach improvements are introduced, they will mesh smoothly with work done to date.

 

Several actions will help create new efficiency in SCON work:

  • IBM will add personnel, both technical and project management, to invigorate the work
  • Issue management will be bolstered, with addition of a "war room" for tackling issues
  • Coordination will be tightened among transformation and steady state teams
  • Project milestone targets will be managed even more rigorously

Broadly, the refinements are designed to bring greater assurance of SCON success for GETS agencies and the state. 

 

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GTA to host third annual Technology Summit in May

 

GTA invites you to its third annual Technology Summit, scheduled for Monday, May 5th. The theme of this year's summit -- Customer access to services: new technologies mean new business models.

 

The summit is not just for IT staff.  Business and financial staff will find plenty of relevance as they consider using new technologies in providing services to citizens.

 

This full-day session follows in the style of last year's data management Technology Summit.  The 2014 event is again offered at no charge (just the investment of your valuable time) for staff from public-sector organizations. It is slated for:

 

Monday, May 5, 2014
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Georgia Tech Global Learning Center
Midtown Atlanta

 

Stay tuned for more details, including registration information.

 

 

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Project managers sharing
know-how across agencies

 

Project managers from all state agencies are invited to join a Project Management Community of Interest, organized by GTA's Enterprise Portfolio Management Office to promote greater interaction and information sharing.


The PM Community of Interest will provide state project managers with opportunities to:
-- Share knowledge
-- Exchange experiences
-- Learn more about state projects
 

The group held its inaugural meeting in February. Anyone wanting to get involved is encouraged to express interest via email to epmo@gta.ga.gov. Include your contact information and your agency's name.

 

Look for information on subsequent meetings to be announced on the GTA website.

 

 

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Briefly...

  • Remember to submit your agency's outstanding IT projects by April 2 for consideration in the 2014 Georgia Technology Innovation Showcase.  The GTA-sponsored Showcase, in its third year, recognizes state and local agencies for their noteworthy, innovative use of information technology.  Projects selected for recognition will be honored at the Georgia Digital Government Summit, September 18-19 in Atlanta.  Full details, including project categories and the online submission form, are on the GTA website.  Email questions to gtainfo@gta.ga.gov.

 

  • Setting up an employee with computer equipment and network connections needed to perform his/her work -- hardly glamorous but an essential piece of IT service delivery. Within the GETS program, recent creation of a depot of ready PCs shows signs of speeding the onboarding process.  From October 2013 to January 2014, a 35 percent reduction in cycle time meant the average time to fulfill an onboarding request dropped to 14 days. Additional process refinements may help trim the fulfillment time even more.

 

  • Promoting online privacy and data protection has become a priority for many organizations, with implications right down to the level of the individual team member's actions.  GTA, with help from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, has developed a library of resources to guide online behaviors to promote privacy and better manage your digital footprint.  See privacy tips and related guidance on the GTA website.

   

 

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We welcome your comments about service delivery, the state's IT transformation and related topics.

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