Information Technology Strategic Planning Summary Report
for the Secretariat of Transportation
Budget Biennium 2002-2004
Information Technology Strategic Planning Summary Report for the Secretariat
of Transportation
Budget Biennium 2002 – 2004
Department of Technology Planning
December January 20012
Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Secretariat Overview 5
Significant Secretariat Technology Trends 7
Significant Secretariat Initiatives 8
Secretariat Issues 1010101010
Conclusion 1111111111
Appendices 1212121212
Appendix A: IT Strategic Plans Approval Summary 1212121212
Appendix B: IT Projects by Agency 1313131313
Appendix C: Secretariat of Transportation Major Business Applications 1414141414
Introduction 2
Secretariat Overview 5
Significant Secretariat Technology Trends 7
Significant Secretariat Initiatives 8
Secretariat Issues 10
Conclusion 11
Appendices 12
Appendix A: IT Strategic Plans Approval Summary 12
Appendix B: IT Projects by Agency 13
Appendix C: Agency Support of Commonwealth Initiatives 14
Appendix D: Secretariat of Transportation Major Business Applications 15
Introduction
In accordance with Section 2.2-226 of the Code of Virginia, the Secretary of Technology is required to approve the information technology (IT) plans developed by Commonwealth agencies and institutions of higher education. The planning process introduced this year had both a short and long term goal. The short-term goal was to use the planning cycle for the 2002-2004-budget biennium to introduce agencies and institutions (herein referred to as agencies) to the principles and best practices of Information Technology Investment Management (ITIM). Through preparation of an abbreviated IT strategic plan, agencies were asked to look at information resources and information technology projects as investments within a strategic investment portfolio that supports the agency’s mission. Through the introduction of an automated Technology Portfolio, agencies were also, for the first time, asked to share information about current and planned IT investments. The long-term goal and primary benefit of ITIM-based IT strategic planning is to better enable agencies to consistently make the right IT investment decisions that best support core business activities, respond to agency customers, and achieve overall value and operational excellence.
In July of this year, the Secretary of Technology issued “Guidelines for IT Strategic Planning”. The guidelines were coordinated with and had the full support of the Department of Planning and Budget (DPB), creating integrated strategic business planning and IT planning processes for state agencies. The guidance identified overarching strategies and initiatives that affect all Commonwealth agencies and provided a framework for the development of agency IT strategic plans. Copies of the planning guidance can be obtained from the Department of Technology Planning (DTP) or from the DTP websiteWebsite at www.dtp.state.va.us.
Plans were submitted in three parts. Part one provided basic agency administrative information. Part two provided information about the agency’s IT strategic direction in support of the agency’s mission. The narrative section of the plan included a snapshot of current IT projects, an IT vision for the future, and the agency’s short-term and long-term business issues. For business issues with IT impact, the IT strategies, funding requirements and measures of success were identified. Part three provided the current agency’s current tTechnology portfolioPortfolio. The Portfolio organizes agency inventory information from a business driven, application portfolio perspective. Information from the system is used to: support both Commonwealth and agency IT strategic planning; capture a current or “As Is” view of the Commonwealth IT architecture; facilitate migration planning towards a conceptual or “To Be” Commonwealth IT architecture (currently under development); allow agencies to share information about their current portfolios; and better inform the overall Commonwealth IT management process. .
The Technology Portfolio consists of six profiles:
· Agency Description
· Hardware
· Network
· Security
· Applications, and
· Software Infrastructure.
Several components of the Technology Portfolio is system are linked together in a hierarchy. Specifically, each application is linked to the core business activities and key customers it supports, and to its associated hardware. Appendix CD provides a listing of each agency’s major business applications, the application’s current status and the core business activity it supports.,. The Technology Portfolio is housed on the DTP websiteWebsite. Access to view the portfolio can be obtained from DTP. Data from the portfolio can also be exported to Microsoft Access for to meet additional information requirementsreporting needs.
DTP has completed a preliminary review of all agency IT Strategic Plans submitted for the 2002-2004 budget biennium. This review included an assessment and evaluation of the incorporation of the Commonwealth’s IT Planning Guidance into the agencies’ IT strategic plans. Based on DTP’s reviewrecommendations, the Secretary of Technology approved, approved with comment or disapproved the IT Strategic Plans. plans were either Approved, Approved with Comment or Disapproved. “Approved,” indicates that the agency plan clearly demonstrated adherence to the published guidance and reflected an understanding of ITIM – based IT strategic planning. “Approved with comment,” indicates that the plan generally adhered to the published guidance but was found lacking in some particular area and requires additional clarification. “Disapproved” indicates the plan failed to comply with the published guidance and lacks essential information. The approval status of the Secretariat of Transportation’s IT Strategic Plans is summarized in Appendix A.
The overall assessment of agency planning within the Secretariat of Transportation is fairmixed. Most agencies successfully adopted the principles of ITIM based IT strategic planning. The plans, however, revealed varying levels of understanding of IT investment management among the agencies. Some agencies clearly understood IT investment management principles and were able to align technology initiatives with their critical business issues. Other agencies did not grasp the concepts of ITIM and focused their plans upon IT issues instead of business issues. In a few cases, agencies did not provide adequate funding or project information. The Department of Motor Vehicles did not submit a plan.
Overall, the results of the planning effort pointed out the fact that additional training is needed in order to bring all agencies to a full understanding of ITIM. Due to the timing and scheduling of this year’s budget cycle, DTP did not conduct formal ITIM training before the cycle. Such training might have yielded better results from the agencies planning efforts. In conjunction with future IT strategic planning cycles, DTP will work with agencies to refine the planning process and expand overall agency knowledge of ITIM best practices. Through planned workshops, information sharing, and the publication of appropriate policies, standards, and guidelines, all agencies should advance to a higher maturity level of IT investment management.
This summary report includes data from the plans and the technology portfolios submitted by all agencies in the Secretariat, regardless of the approval or disapproval status of any individual plan. In addition, in an effort to put future plans into perspective, an overview of the Secretariat’s current technology environment, IT expenditures and staffing is included. Fiscal year 2001 IT expenditure data by agency was obtained from the Department of Accounts database and the Department of Planning and Budget. All expenditure data includes IT personnel costs. IT staff FTE estimates by agency were derived using the Department of Human Resource Management Personnel Management Information System data.
Secretariat Overview
The Secretariat of Transportation consists of four relatively small agencies and two very large agencies. All the agencies within the secretariat submitted IT strategic plans. except the Department of Motor Vehicles. The Secretariat of TransportationPublic Safety spent over $127,398,000 on information technology, including personnel costs, over the last fiscal year (FY 2001) representing approximately 16.8% of the total IT expenditures within state government. A clear dichotomy exists between small and large agencies in the depth and the robustness of the information technology utilized by agencies to support their core business activities. A review of IT expenditures for the past fiscal year illustrates this dichotomy. The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) spent approximately twenty-one30% percent of the total IT expenditures within the secretariat. The Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT’s) IT expenditures represented almost forty-eight67% percent of the secretariat’s total IT expenditures in that year, approximately twice that of all the other agencies combined. (Ref. Chart1.)
CHART 1.
A similar situation exists for IT staffing resources within the agencies. (Ref. Chart 2.)
CHART 2.
A comparison of the relative percentages spent by agencies on IT gives a different perspective. . Chart 3 reflects IT expenses as a percentage of each agency’s total expenditures. VDOT moves to a much lower ranking while the Department of Motor Vehicles remains high in terms of percentage of expenditures as well as gross dollars spent and IT employees. Based on this information, it is clear that DMV has placed a great deal of emphasis on information technology.
CHART 3.Chart 3.
The application profiles of each agency are another reflection of the dichotomy between small and large agencies. For example, the primary focus of the smaller agencies has been on establishing informational websiteWebsites for customers and on providing personal productivity software for staff, while the larger agencies have aggressively moved into leading edge technologies for webWeb portals, real time traffic video over the Iinternet, customer self-service kiosks, GIS Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, electronic commerce, and enterprise-level interoperability and data sharing.
Two reasons for this technology divergence are as follows:
1) The smaller agencies are significantly “thinner” with respect to in-house IT expertise and staffing, relying on partnerships with VIPNet, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and private outsourcers to provide operational support, maintenance and consulting. Additionally, the small agencies’ direct customer base is relatively small, with minimal differentiation in customers’ business information requirements
2) The larger agencies can spread the cost of any given IT investment over a significantly larger customer base. Thus, due to economies of scale, the, the return on their investments, via productivity improvements to their staff and customers, are realized more quickly.
This difference is also reflected in the overall quality of the IT Strategic Plans submitted. Both DMV’s and VDOT’s plans areis very pragmatic and reflects an enterprise view, whereas the smaller agencies’ plans tend to lack a clear, definitive alignment between their core business activities/mission and their technology strategies/vision.
Significant Secretariat Technology Trends
Within the Secretariat of Transportation, all the agencies have established a professional webWeb presence; adopted seat management concepts with refresh cycles; and deployed Microsoft 2000 office tools and PC software.
Looking forward, three priority trends are emerging across the Secretariat:
· enhancement of websiteWebsites to conduct electronic commerce and process credit card transactions;
· enhancements of applications and websiteWebsites to provide greater information sharing between agencies, governmental bodies and business partners; and
· enhancement of websiteWebsites to provide greater customization and personalization to customers.
Many of these trends mirror those in state agencies.
Significant Secretariat Initiatives
Across agency plans, the key business issues and associated technology projects reveal key initiatives within the Secretariat of Transportation. Several technology projects are expected to require extensive resources and will have a significant impact on the citizens of the Commonwealth. Appendix B provides a listing of the planned IT projects by agency within the Secretariat. Some of these projects are also in line with the Commonwealth’s Technology Initiatives established by the Secretary of Technology, working with the Council on Technology Services (COTS) and partners throughout government and the private sector. Appendix C provides a summary of agency projects in support of the Commonwealth’s technology initiatives. The significant initiatives within the Secretariat of Transportation can be classified into the following sevenix areas:
Ø Main Street to E-Street
Agencies within the Secretariat are working with private and non-profit businesses to jointly leverage transportation and technology resources to facilitate efficiencies and competitiveness within the state economy. These projects are in line with the Commonwealth’s “Main Street to E-Street” initiative. For example, among the smaller agencies, the Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) is pursuing the following two projects:
1) Telework!Va – established as a pilot in Northern Virginia, the project provides financial incentives for businesses to start or expand a formal telecommuting program in conjunction with the governor’s Innovative Progress Initiative.
2) High Speed Rail Corridors – supported by the federal High Speed Rail Investment Act, DRPT is working with Norfolk Southern and Amtrak to exchange and analyze the potential for high-speed passenger services.
Ø Geographic Information Systems Integration
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) integration and analysis tools are being leveraged extensively by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to facilitate impact assessments on traffic, the environment, and local economies. For example:
1) VDOT is undertaking two projects over the next biennium to provide access to GIS-related data to state agencies, local governments, planning commissions, businesses, and citizens, for business planning, emergency response and vehicle routing.
2) The Virginia Transportation Development Plan (VTDP) will integrate GIS data, VDOT pProject pPlan data, and status information into a map-based Internet application for online access.
3) The VDOT Centerline Basemap Effort (VCBE) is designed to utilize Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to provide the most accurate statewide centerline inventory of all VDOT maintained roads.
Ø Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
In an effort to support the key business strategy “to become and remain a customer-centric service provider”, several of the agencies, both large and small, are planning to leverage customer relationship management software. For example, the Virginia Port Authority is planning to implement CRM to track customer information and business opportunities; and VDOT plans to implement CRM to analyze customer satisfaction surveys and to identify customer priorities.
Ø Web-Enablement Initiatives
Agencies continue to leverage the availability and extensibility of the Internet to provide citizens with efficient and effective customer service delivery options. For example, DMV has multiple wWeb-based initiatives including the extended extra-Teller kiosk initiative in partnership with local government, the My Virginia PIN project in collaboration with other state agencies, and the DMV Web Call Center initiative.