The Unity Movement
Computers may not be picking up trash or repairing roads, but policymakers are starting to believe that if machines do not work, neither do governments. Systems failures in security, accountability and accessibility are routine at every level of government, and have been causing serious problems for constituents. Coupled with the accumulation of expenditures from duplications in a fractured IT setting, the problem seems to be growing rapidly.
For many governments, consolidation is the answer. But, combining servers, telephone systems and data centers is just one piece of the puzzle. Some states are implementing complex IT consolidation plans that not only centralize information but also re-examine the way governments are organized. In cities and counties, IT consolidation can be just as critical even if it tends to happen slower and less dramatically. But, across the board, most agree that IT reform is imminent.
Private dollars jumpstart major motion in Virginia
Last December, the Virginia state auditor produced a study reporting that 80 percent of the state’s executive branch agencies’ IT failed a basic security test. The Department of Rehabilitative Services reported that 90 percent of agency Web sites failed accessibility requirements for the hearing-impaired. In more than 50 percent of state agencies, employees were using technology that was 10 or more years old.
Virginia is tackling those problems with an aggressive public-private partnership between the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) and Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, an IT engineering corporation specializing in government and defense contracts. The company is fronting the state $300 million to cover the initial investment on two data centers — which will contain approximately 1,000 servers doing the work that 3,000 servers do today — as well as jobs for many state employees and new hires. Other milestones in the 10-year contract include replacing all desktop and laptop computers, completing a single enterprise e-mail system, server consolidation and data/voice network upgrade and integration.
State law had to be altered for the partnership to exist. In 2002, the state’s Public-Private Educational Facilities and Infrastructure Act (PPEA) was extended beyond traditional bricks-and-mortar jobs, such as building roads, prisons and schools, to include technology projects as well. “Instead of the typical RFP process, which is like going into a dark room and deciding who gave you the best answer and you pick one, we were able to invite the private sector into our house, let them examine it and come up with creative solutions,” says Virginia CIO Lem Stewart. “It’s quite different. It’s the reason other states haven’t done it. In fact, a lot of them are looking at the legislation in Virginia to see how they might adopt code enabling them to solicit the private sector for the type of partnerships we have.”
When state law created VITA, Virginia’s IT utility, in 2003, it was designed with several phases in mind: The first was integration, which occurred from 2003 through 2004 and consisted of the transfer of IT assets and people supporting each agency IT to VITA. The second phase, transformation, began in July 2006 with the contract between VITA and Northrop Grumman, and will last through 2009. It consists of building the two new facilities, replacing antiquated equipment and beginning to consolidate or reduce the number of facilities, servers and employees. Any employee reductions will be the result of normal attrition and retirements, Stewart says. VITA also governs E-911 support services for 137 local governments; statewide geographic information system (GIS) services for state agencies and local governments; security policy and standards for executive, judicial and legislative branches; and project management of all IT projects of more than $100,000.
Fourteen months into the program, the first of two data centers are opening. The Commonwealth Enterprise Solutions Center (CESC) opened in July, and the ribbon cutting for a back-up data center in Russell County is scheduled for this month. Approximately 550 people were relocated from central Richmond, and equipment from old data centers will be moved over the next six to nine months. CESC houses large mainframe environments that drive databases for all major agencies, including the Division of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Taxation. It also contains several servers that run many of the state’s applications, monitoring equipment and telecommunications networks.
While many call Virginia’s project groundbreaking, Stewart also has referred to it as “painful but necessary.” The pain comes in the form of a massive cultural shift in the way state agencies conduct business and in telling some state employees who have lived and worked the same way for decades that they are going to learn new skills and possibly have to move.
Yet, Stewart says the partnership was designed to sensitively manage the reduction in workforce that is inevitable with consolidation and to promote economic development with the creation of new high-tech positions and partnerships with universities. “We’re trying to get the word out to local governments that this isn’t Big Brother from Richmond coming to take control of your environment,” he says. “It really is about a whole new strategy so that we all can get a better job done at a less cost.”
A phased approach in Colorado
Highly publicized IT problems in Colorado — what local media have called computer meltdowns — have cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade. According to local reports, snow plow operators protested outside the state capital in March when they did not receive overtime pay. Before that, families were not getting food stamps because of problems with a welfare computer system. The state also experienced large-scale project failures in the development of systems for statewide elections, motor vehicle registration and unemployment insurance. All of that while getting further behind on replacing aging financial and tax platforms — and a lottery back office still operated on an ancient Wang computer.
While devastating, the issues have been a catalyst for IT reform. In May, newly elected Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. issued an executive order bringing state CIO Mike Locatis to a cabinet-level position and establishing a state technology council that comprises IT experts and business owners as well as venture capitalists. The council will advise the state on IT reform strategies and develop plans for statewide broadband availability and future economic development.
An IT consolidation bill will be introduced in 2008 to call for a multi-year, four-phased IT consolidation that gives the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) and the CIO exclusive authority to purchase all state IT goods and services above a certain dollar amount, and to prioritize IT spending across state agencies. It also will change the reporting structure so all department CIOs and IT staff will report directly to the state CIO and OIT.
In the meantime, the state has been preparing departments for the transformation by developing an implementation plan and collecting information and best practices from states, such as Texas and Michigan, that already have consolidated. “We’ve got a 100-page playbook before we even get our legislation passed,” Locatis says. “We’ve got MOUs [memoranda of understanding] with departments to ready them for phase one and two. They know it’s coming.”
Third-party assessments have helped guide decisions on where to begin. The state is running 38 data centers in 23 departments, 20 in the 10-block capitol complex alone. Most of the data centers have inadequate security and HVAC issues. No systems have been established to share GIS information statewide. Sixteen different departments are operating help desks, data centers, application development and procurement.
As the former CIO for the city and county of Denver, Locatis led the consolidation of 20 IT departments into one agency there. The effort took less than three years. For the state, he’s planning a gradual consolidation that will not require additional taxpayer revenue or a large upfront investment. “We’ve put together a plan that within the next year to 18 months should be cost-neutral if not a little bit favorable,” he says. “Then we see cost savings over the next four years.” The state is about halfway through phase one, which establishes a new enterprise structure and governance model, and also includes a staffing analysis and service provider selection.
Phase two will consolidate network, data center and server management. Phase three will focus on support desk and e-mail consolidation. And, in phase four, payment services, human resources and finance consolidation will be completed. The project could take up to five years. “I think change management will be a challenge,” Locatis says. “But because we’re not moving people into the big IT building, employees will stay close to where they are, in the departments, delivering services on a daily basis. It’s short-sighted to say this is just IT consolidation to save money on infrastructure — it transcends a lot, and we’re on the front end of an exciting journey.”
Consolidation begins in Phoenix
The Phoenix Information Technology Department (ITD) consolidated its Novell, Windows and Solaris Oracle servers so that departments running enterprise systems, such budgeting, cashiering and GIS systems, will share servers and be managed by ITD. Otherwise, most of the city’s departments are run as separate business units that make requests, plans and budget decisions based on their individual departmental needs.
The recent server consolidation has blazed inroads to increased efficiency and savings. According to Deputy CIO Steven Philbrick and lead IT specialist Sam Paterson, the city will be saving several hundred thousand dollars in software licensing fees, maintenance and energy costs. “People don’t realize how much savings you can achieve through consolidation, yet it does take some capital expenditure to get it going,” Paterson says, “so you have to have that upfront cost ready to make a commitment to consolidate, but once you go in that direction, you can really save money.”
In Phoenix, ITD postponed server replacements until funds from various department budgets accumulated to back the consolidation’s initial costs. The project started in fall 2005, received funding in 2006 and recently was completed. The challenges were in convincing departments that “losing” their servers was the right way to go. ITD called in technical experts from different fields to show department managers the technology and demonstrate that their system would still work the same way employees were using it before.
The next phase of consolidation will require more political campaigning for ITD to convince departments that consolidation is the most cost-effective solution. The city’s new CIO Charles Thompson, who started in July, is bringing IT governance into the limelight. “[It’s important to have] the right people making the right decisions at the right levels on a citywide basis,” Philbrick says. “And making sure you’re making the right technology purchases for the good of the entire city. Consolidation is one of the tools in the arsenal that will spearhead [this dilemma] so we can move forward with it, but without the whole governance thing, it’s going to continue to be a tough sell with departments.”
Lynn Peisner is an Atlanta-based freelance writer.