LATEST ADDITIONS
June 26, 2008
What is the status of Stream 3?
Stream 3 deals with telecommunications contracts for agencies to use on a self-service basis. We previously announced our intent to issue a Request for Qualified Contractors (RFQC) in late May to identify providers who are able to meet our criteria for offering certain telecommunications services.
Since responses to the Managed Network Services RFP (Stream 2) were due on June 12, we decided to delay the Stream 3 RFQC. We want some time to review the proposals for telecommunications services from the potential providers before making a final decision about proceeding with Stream 3. For example, if the providers do not offer a particular service, if a service is not as competitively priced as we would like or we cannot reach an agreement on service levels, then the service will be taken out of Managed Network Services and included in the Stream 3 RFQC. We do not have a projected date for releasing the RFQC, but since it is substantially complete, revisions to add a service will take very little time.
The change in Stream 3 is not expected to affect the previously announced timeline for closing GTA's regional offices. The process is still expected to begin in September or October and continue through February or March of next year.
Has GTA made provisions for the Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD) function in the Service Management Organization, Service Delivery Organization or with the external service provider?
The external service provider will perform this function.
Can you explain how agencies will budget for in-scope services? Will IT funding be taken away from some agencies?
Each agency’s budget for in-scope services will be based on the counts of each Resource Unit required by the agency. (Resource Unit refers to the unit of consumption, staffing level or other resource associated with a service.) Agencies that participated in the IT assessment are developing the Resource Unit counts for their in-house services, and GTA is developing counts for the services bought from GTA for all agencies.
GTA will use the Resource Unit counts and the service provider’s pricing for each Resource Unit to identify the agency’s budget requirements for each IT service.
Agency budgets will also be realigned to move the required funding from other account codes to one of the following accounts:
- 871001 – GTA Computer Bill
- 871002 – GTA Data Network Bill
- 871003 – GTA Telecommunications Bill
GTA is working with the Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) to provide the necessary information for budget realignment. If an agency’s existing budget is higher than the combined budget for new services and its retained IT budget requirements, then OPB will move funds from the agency to other agencies that may need additional IT funding.
My agency is thinking about outsourcing all or parts of its network. Should we wait until the state completes its outsourcing initiative?
GTA and 12 other agencies wrote the Request for Proposal for Managed Network Services. These agencies are also evaluating the resulting proposals from external service providers, and the contract will be awarded to the service provider who offers the greatest value and best meets the state’s needs. After the contracts are signed, all GTA customers will be encouraged to obtain their network services from the selected service provider. GTA is working closely with the Office of Planning and Budget and the Department of Administrative Services to plan the necessary processes. As these are developed, we will share them with state agencies.
How will GAIT 2010 affect GTA’s customers who are not part of the initial IT consolidation?
The consolidation and outsourcing of the state’s IT Infrastructure Services will affect all of GTA’s customers. GTA and 10 other state agencies will transition IT staff to the external service provider after the Infrastructure Services contract is signed this fall. However, all of GTA’s customers will receive their IT services from the external service provider, with GTA managing the quality. As a result, every customer will experience changes in business processes for IT, from budgeting and planning to ordering, billing and IT asset management. We are working closely with the Office of Planning and Budget and the Department of Administrative Services to plan for those process changes.
What will be the approach for defining GTA's service offerings after the vendor is selected?
This process will be defined as part of the development of the Service Management Organization. The guiding principle will be the same as it is today. Offerings will be based upon the ability to deliver value to the state.
Will GTA continue to offer the same catalog of services or will GTA adopt the service catalog of the selected vendor?
This process will be defined as part of the development of the Service Management Organization. The guiding principle will be that GTA is accountable for approving the catalog of offered services.
Our agency is about to redesign our Web site. Should we delay this because of the possible outsourcing?
Content management customers should continue with site redesigns. GTA commissioned a content management feasibility study to plan for upgrades, usability enhancements and consolidation of Vignette 6 and 7.3 users to Vignette 7.4 or above. For more information about the capabilities of the new content management system and to view demonstrations of features, visit the Vignette Content Management Web site.
Why does
Technology is the underpinning for a well-run, modern enterprise. In 2007, GTA undertook a comprehensive assessment of state government IT that identified and documented the following problems.
- The state’s IT spending is uncoordinated and fragmented.
- It is difficult – if not impossible – to determine our return on IT investment across the enterprise.
- We are unable to meet industry standards and ensure appropriate levels of security and disaster recovery.
- The state’s current IT infrastructure is unworthy of supporting the $21 billion, 24/7 enterprise that is
- The current infrastructure must provide critical services to the state and its residents.
Nothing short of a complete transformation will accomplish the amount of change needed to upgrade the state’s infrastructure to the level required for safe and secure operations.
What is going to be different after the transformation?
Redundancy and inefficiencies will be eliminated through consolidation. Workload will be balanced across two data centers, allowing for full disaster recovery capabilities once the transition is complete. GTA will operate a Service Management Organization. IT services will improve and customer expectations will be established in writing with service level agreements. More transparency will be achieved with better reporting, improved contract management and better accountability.
Why is this important?
The state’s IT infrastructure supports critical functions at all levels of state government, including the large and complex systems that support accounting, revenue collections, public safety operations, education, health and welfare, transportation and every other critical function of state government. Without a stable and reliable IT infrastructure, lives and livelihoods are literally at risk.
What services are being consolidated and outsourced?
IT Infrastructure Services include data centers, servers, mainframes, end-user computers (desktop and laptop), and help desk services.
Managed Network Services include voice, data and other telecommunications services.
These services will be provided by external service providers through multiple contracts that will be competitively bid and awarded in late 2008.
Which agencies are involved in the consolidation and outsourcing?
GTA and 10 other state agencies will initially be part of consolidating and outsourcing IT Infrastructure Services: Administrative Services, Community Health, Corrections, Driver Services, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Human Resources, Juvenile Justice, Natural Resources, Office of Planning and Budget, and Revenue.
Can other agencies opt in as part of the initial transition to external service providers?
The consolidation and outsourcing will affect all of GTA’s customers. GTA and 10 other state agencies will transition IT staff to the external service provider after the Infrastructure Services contract is signed this fall. However, all of GTA’s customers will get IT services from the external service provider, with GTA managing the quality. As a result, every customer will experience changes in business processes for IT, from budgeting and planning to ordering, billing and IT asset management. We are working closely with the Office of Planning and Budget and the Department of Administrative Services to plan for those process changes.
How much will it cost?
No additional appropriations will be required. The transformation will allow greater efficiency and sustainable investment in IT without additional appropriations.
How did the state arrive at this decision to outsource?
The decision was made based on careful, detailed analyses and the facts resulting from those analyses.
GTA leadership first reviewed the results of previous studies. Next, an external advisory firm with expertise in IT assessments (Technology Partners International of The Woodlands,
A total of 13 agencies participated in the sourcing assessment to determine how they compare with other organizations and with industry standards in provisioning technology services. The assessment closely examined agency data centers as well as telecommunications and desktop services. Recommendations based on the findings of the assessment were presented to the Governor for a final decision.
The assessment is the first comprehensive, holistic study of the state’s IT operations — and the only one to provide a solution. The assessment extended beyond what is going on in
How was the IT assessment conducted?
Based upon an extensive and proven sourcing evaluation model from TPI, Georgia’s IT assessment was an exercise in thorough data-gathering and analysis. Thirteen executive branch agencies, including GTA, were selected to be included in the analysis. These agencies represent the majority of IT spending in state government.
- examine service delivery and service level targets
- assess business continuity and disaster recovery
- assess condition, life cycle, and cost to refresh and maintain IT assets
- conduct a detailed financial analysis
- answer questions about what to source
- provide executable strategies to the state.
In-depth interviews were scheduled with IT staff, leadership and business managers in each of the agencies. Further, the agencies provided in-depth detailed spending data and inventories of equipment and software.
How were agencies involved in the process?
GTA has been focused on agency participation throughout the initiative - from the initial Request for Proposal for an external advisory firm to assist with the IT assessment, to the development of Requests for Proposal, to the evaluation of responses from potential service providers.
Throughout the IT assessment and procurement process, GTA has communicated regularly with the participating agency heads, CIOs and technical and business staff. Here are examples of these communications.
- Data gathering began with a training session for over 100 people from 13 state agencies. They represented both IT and business operations.
- Patrick Moore, GTA Executive Director and State CIO, regularly provides the state's CIO Council with comprehensive updates.
- Mr. Moore also provides regular updates to state agency heads who report to the Governor’s Chief Operating Officer.
During the IT assessment, TPI used a thorough interview process that incorporated an iterative approach to information reviews by agencies prior to the creation of the business case. Agencies participating in the IT assessment were given access to both GTA and TPI to ensure all questions were answered and adequate information was collected at each point of the decision making process.
Does outsourcing a service mean that GTA will no longer have any part in it?
GTA will be responsible for managing the external service providers who will be delivering service to participating agencies. It will be GTA’s job to ensure that the external service providers meet their service obligations to state agencies. For instance, GTA today manages AT&T, which provides the state’s wide area network (WAN).
What role will GTA have if all IT services are outsourced?
GTA is undergoing a major transformation from delivering services to managing the delivery of services. GTA will continue to exist as a restructured and much smaller organization.
How will IT security be improved?
A consistent and stable infrastructure provides one of the basic cornerstones to information security. By going to external service providers, the state will be able to enhance the level of security being provided today by leveraging their technical maturity to quickly gain quality and reliability of service.
Further, GTA has adopted federal security standards as the state security standards and has implemented an enterprise security strategy that helps agencies identify and assess their security needs.
How is this different from the previous unsuccessful IT outsourcing effort?
This plan is very different from any previous IT outsourcing effort in
- Rigorous facts-based analysis prior to decision and recommendation
- Involvement of operations and financial data in addition to technical data
- High level of agency participation
- GTA has and will continue to involve agencies in the data and requirement gathering process, scope and award of the final outsourcing contract to ensure that their actual business needs are met
- Market appropriate solution
- CCOP was a single huge procurement that the market could not absorb or support. Instead, we have identified multiple service paths within the mainstream technology industry and are sourcing individual parts accordingly
We learned much from the state's previous effort to outsource technology services and have incorporated those lessons into the current transformation effort. For instance, the previous effort essentially tried to drive technology solutions that did not exist in the marketplace to address problems in state government that had not been quantified. As part of our current initiative, we conducted an unbiased enterprise IT assessment based on best practices and made sourcing decisions based on actual facts.
Will services be outsourced to a single vendor?
No. Specifically, Managed Network Services and IT Infrastructure Services are being considered along different tracks. There has been no effort to artificially consolidate every level of service into one large contract.
How have agencies been involved?
Agencies provided a mix of full and part-time staff to this effort. They are playing a key role in making critical decisions, evaluating vendor proposals, and planning for the transition of services to external service providers.
Are other states making similar changes to their IT infrastructure?
Yes. We have studied the experiences of several other states that are restructuring their IT operations.
- According to a recent survey by the National Association of State CIOs, over 76 percent of states surveyed have either completed consolidation of data centers, are in progress of consolidation or are in the planning phase of consolidation.
- States across the country are facing the same issues
Is data center consolidation a nationwide trend?
Yes. A 2007 survey by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers found that most states are moving toward data center consolidation. Of the 29 states participating in the survey, 62 percent are either planning for data center consolidation or are currently underway, and 14 percent have completed consolidation. States indicated several reasons for the shift, including disaster recovery, redundancy, cost savings, security and data classification, better access to new technologies for all agencies and aging state facilities.
Are there other national trends affecting state IT organizations?
States will likely face a critical shortage in IT employees in just a few years, according to a 2007 survey by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. The 46 states participating reported a decline in applicants for state IT jobs and widespread difficulty in recruiting new employees to fill vacant positions. Further, anticipated retirements will create a void. Nationally, 27 percent of state government IT employees are expected to retire within the next five years. Almost half of all states are considering or taking action, such as public-private partnerships, consolidation and outsourcing.
What comes next?
- GTA will continue its transformation.
- Work has begun on implementing the Governor’s Executive Order regarding IT security.
- Representatives from GTA and other state agencies and subject matter experts are working on procurement activities for outsourcing IT Infrastructure Services and Managed Network Services. We are on schedule to sign contracts in the fall of 2008.