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CAK’D 17

INFR 516 – Final Report

Team CAK’D

Rick Reichard, Professor

11/22/2009

Muskingum University

CAK’D 17

Foundation for Execution

“To be a nationally recognized leader in technology governance and management and maximize Ohio's IT investment through collaboration, strategic planning and resource sharing.”

-Ohio Office of Information Technology Mission

The Ohio Office of Information Technology (OIT) is the department within Ohio tasked with supporting IT functions throughout Ohio. Team Cak’d has been tasked with improving the efficiencies of the department. The team has reviewed the current strategies within OIT and has determined the necessary steps to improve efficiencies within the department. The Ohio Office of Information Technology needs to understand the organization’s operating model, establish an Enterprise Architecture, and implement an IT engagement plan. Laying the foundation for executing new enterprise architecture will enable the department to be more efficient.

OIT’s strategy is to provide extensive enterprise IT services, applications, and procurement review while supporting the reduction of duplication and leveraging the collective buying power of the state. OIT is responsible for statewide IT policy, planning procurement, infrastructure services and support, electronic government strategies, digital divide – broadband access to underserved areas, Government-to-Business coordination and statewide IT security. (Office of Information Technology, 2006)

Increasing efficiencies by utilizing information technology, OIT will establish a foundation for operational excellence in state government. Aligning the IT function with the strategy will allow OIT to increase efficiency.

OIT’s vision is “To be a nationally recognized leader in technology governance and management and maximize Ohio’s IT investment through collaboration, strategic planning and resource sharing.” The vision drives OIT’s enterprise architecture and decision making will align with the organization’s vision and 5 year plan.

Ohio Office of Information Technology

Prior to working with the OIT department, Team Cak’d, needed to understand the current structure of the department. The department consists of six specialized sections. Each section has a unique set of responsibilities. (Department of Administrative Services, 2009)

Specialized Section / Primary Responsibilities
Investment and Governance / IT policy, standards, bulletins, procedures, investment planning, contract management, research, and project support
Infrastructure Services / IT infrastructure (hardware and software telecommunications for the state), Enterprise Mainframe Computing, Enterprise Open Systems, Unified Network Services, Enterprise Shared Services, Multi-Agency Radio Communications Systems (MARCS).
Digital Government / Maintaining ohio.gov and Ohio Business Gateway
Project Management Office / Manages the Ohio Administrative Knowledge System (OAKS).
DAS Information Technology Services (ITS) / Supports IT throughout the entire Department of Administrative Services internal offices.

While each specialized section have their own responsibilities and key business functions, the organization has opportunity for better utilizing and sharing data throughout the six units. The team’s recommendation included moving the OIT organization further into the coordination operating model. The team would like to help move the Office of Information Technology in to providing a single face to the customers through multiple channels.

Operating Model

The OIT division is currently operating as a coordination model. However the division is not sharing the amount of data that would allow the division to be the most efficient. Team Cak’d recommends that OIT moves from the lower functioning level on the coordination model to a higher level on a scale within the coordination model.

The Ohio Office of Information Technology has many opportunities to increase the amount of shared data to move the company further into the coordination model quadrant. The team would like the division to provide a single face to the customers through multiple channels. The department is responsible for maintaining ohio.gov. The website is a ‘face’ to external customers. The department is also responsible for implement the OAKS program which is a ‘face’ to internal customers. To move further into the coordination operating model quadrant the OIT division could integrate the two systems; allowing internal customers to view data utilizing OAKS based on the information external customers are entering or viewing via ohio.gov. The team recommends that the transactions and processes surrounding the transactions remain independent; however the data can be shared within the specialized sections. By keeping lower business process standardization; the specialty departments can maintain customer relationships. Maturing the coordination model for OIT will give the division a clear direction for the new enterprise architecture.

Enterprise Architecture

After establishing the vision of the future coordination model, Team Cak’d was tasked with analyzing the core factors of an appropriate enterprise architecture. As recommended by the book, “Enterprise Architecture As Strategy”, (Jeanne W. Ross, 2006) the team evaluated key shared customers, data subsets, the primary technologies, and linked business processes. While the specialized sections of OIT support many different customers, they have only a few shared customers.

Shared Customers

The team recognizes the specialized sections within the division have many shared customers. The largest customer in the division is the other departments within the state of Ohio; including Ohio agencies.

Business functions OIT supports for Ohio agencies
Investment and Governance / Infrastructure Services / Digital Government / Project Management
Procurement, research, and advisement / Mainframe infrastructure, MARCS, Data Center, E-commerce ISP / Ohio.gov, Ohio Business Gateway / OAKS

Other key customers served by OIT include, Ohio businesses, Ohio constituents, Ohio employees, Vendors, and First Responders. All customers will not use each technology that is provided by OIT, however, our team recommends that the department better integrates the data processed through the technologies.

Enterprise Technologies and Data

Enterprise technology is a central component to the enterprise architecture. Enterprise technologies link the business functions and processes to the customers. There are five key technologies defined in the enterprise architecture.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an infrastructure platform that combines mapping technologies known as the Location-Based Response System (LBRS) and GIServOhio. LBRS stores data that is used to map spatially accurate streetlines with address ranges (OGRIP, 2009). GIServOhio provides digital mapping services and asset locations (OGRIP, 2009). GIS Support Center provides the technical support for developing database and application systems to use the GIS infrastructure. They service both internal and external customer groups (OGRIP, 2009).

The Multi-Agency Radio Communication System (MARCS) is an 800 MHz ratio and data network which provides secure, reliable public service wireless communication for public safety and first responders. This is mobile voice, data and computer aided dispatch. The latter is used to track State of Ohio vehicles through GPS (DAS Ohio, 2009). Interoperability talkgroups are focus groups, associated with MARCS, that counsel agencies on which channels are relevant to their business processes.

The Ohio Administrative Knowledge System (OAKS) is explicitly recognized by the State of Ohio as an enterprise resource planning system. It has had 500 individual contributors, and 83 state agencies and outside organizations involved in its design and implantation since 2002 (OAKS, 2009). It is responsible for approximately 2100 business requirements throughout the State of Ohio. While it primarily supports the Department of Administrative Services business functions, it is also used by all identified customer groups (OAKS, 2009).

The Ohio Business Gateway (OBG) is a customer portal for business to obtain releases and permits. Businesses may also file and pay taxes and premiums through the internet (DAS Ohio, Link click, 2009). This information is accessible to all identified business functions (Appendix A). Ohio.gov is the State of Ohio main webpage. It provides general resource, news and contact information to the public. It also has several customer forms for citizens, taxpayers, and other non-OBG customers (Ohio.gov, 2009).

All enterprise technologies are supported by ISD and are subject to IGD practice, policy, and IT Governance initiatives. The technologies will be used to collect data in a way that multiple divisions can use the information for additional business functions. The team recommends that data formatting is standardized across the key technologies. From a reporting perspective, Team Cak’d also recommends utilizing a single reporting tool across all technologies to increase efficiencies in data retrieval.

Enterprise Architecture Core Diagram

The Enterprise Architecture core diagram (Appendix A) demonstrates the future of the key shared customers, technologies, and business function. All data flows in and out of the Enterprise Open Systems center. While the open systems center houses the data, the IT Application Center will remain responsible for data security and standards. The data will be better utilized by multiple specialty sections for OIT. For example, the MARCS system will be better utilized by integrating the data with the GIS system. Unified Network Services are being used to transmit voice and data information to first responders in the Ohio area. The GIS system will be used to transmit GPS information for vehicle location information which will be especially useful for off-road accidents or police chases. The MARCS data can help with benchmarking in the future, tracking trends of response time, and geographical location trends. All data received back from the MARCS system will be fed back into GIS improving the mapping systems for constituents. Team Cak’d will further expand upon the MARCS example while making recommendations for the IT Engagement Model.

There are different stages of Enterprise Architecture. As OIT makes a shift to a higher coordination model; we recommend moving onto the next stage within their Enterprise Architecture. Currently, the department is closest to the standardized technology phase of enterprise architecture, which means the department has some shared infrastructure. (Jeanne W. Ross, 2006) In order to mature the organization’s architecture, OIT will need to move the data from a local view to an enterprise view. One example is the use of .pdf forms found on many supported OIT technology sites. The .pdf documents are viewed and completed by customers and then the data is only available locally for the one department. In order to move to an optimized core, OIT may invest in web forms; allowing data to be entered by shared customers and then shared within other specialty units of OIT.

It is not enough for an organization to understand the enterprise architecture or even to understand future high level plans for implementation. The organization should complete an IT Engagement Model which will clearly state the governing bodies, the project management methodology, and the specific linkages that will need to exist between the business units and the IT units.

IT Engagement Model

Key stakeholders are required to be engaged in the design, implementation and use of new processes and capabilities. The IT engagement model is the system of governance mechanisms ensuring that the business and IT projects are able to fulfill and stay true to OIT-wide goals and objectives. There are three main parts to an IT engagement model. The three parts are IT governance, the project management and linking mechanisms.

IT governance refers to decisions and accountability to achieve and or encourage desirable outcomes in the use of technology. IT governance includes five areas: IT principles, enterprise architecture, IT infrastructure, business application needs, and prioritization and investment.

IT principles are high level decisions about the strategic role in IT in the business. We recommend that this be headed by the State Chief Information Officer and the Director of Administrative Services over a team comprised of members from each department of OIT. The enterprise architecture of IT governance is the organizing logic for business processes. It should be managed by a team from each of the OIT divisions and overseen by the Interim Deputy Director of Enterprise Architecture and the Chief Information Security officer.

The IT infrastructure is the centrally coordinated shared IT services providing part of the foundation for execution. The team for IT infrastructure should include representatives from the various OIT divisions and the Interim Deputy Director. They would work on such projects as web services and broadband expansion. Business application needs refers to the requirements for purchased or internally developed applications that are used and build on the foundation for executions. This team should be overseen by the Chief Administrator, Business Manager and Policy Advisor. The Prioritization and investment of IT governance concerns the decisions about how much and where to invest in IT for the OIT. This includes project approval and justification and should be overseen by a team headed by the Interim Deputy Director and Chief Information Officer.

Project management in an engagement model refers to the formalized project methodology, with regular checkpoints and clear methodologies. We recommend that OIT follow these project management steps:

Step One:

o  Establish a committee:

·  The committee will establish the following:

o  OIT’s directions on IT governance – identify and define the strategic and tactical IT governance roles and responsibilities.

o  Develop an IT governance road map and plan for long term strategy.

o  Maintain up-to-date policies on an annual basis – ensuring effectiveness and allowing for changes in IT situations and compliances guidelines.

o  Monitor projects quarterly for effectiveness, reporting and recommending needed updates and process changes.

Step Two:

o  Put into place the Tactical Plan: The Tactical Plan provides insight into the initiatives that are the key to OIT's strategic direction and success.

o  Focus resources on projects for the good of the enterprise.

o  Maintain a focus and align projects within the strategic plan

o  Provide governance from an enterprise IT perspective.

Step Three:

o  Establish the business case:

o  How a project will show a ROI and alignment with organizational strategy

Step Four:

Review to confirm that OIT is providing governance from an enterprise IT perspective.

o  Are projects supporting the governance function including furthering the automation of our Contract Management and Acquisition Management areas, expanding the use of enterprise reporting tools for application and portfolio management, and providing methods for state agencies to collaboratively communicate information through web portals?

Step Five:

o  Evaluate Risk:

o  Service Level Agreements are not being viewed as a priority by Service Delivery Division Customers

o  Multiple System Maintenance windows - Due to the evolution of the Internet and the fact that core business applications are moving toward being accessible 24x7 ~ 365 the standard maintenance windows have become a major challenge to both the Service Delivery Division and its customers.