2005 State Strategic Plan for Information Resources Management

Section 3Acting on Shared Responsibilities

This section describes the objectives and introduces the strategies to achieve the state’s vision of shared responsibility and shared success. This roadmap charts a course for Department of Information Resources (DIR) and state agencies to plan and commit the essential resources needed to realize the shared vision for Texas government.

In the table below, statewide objectives and strategies are mapped to each of five strategic goals, which are listed in the right-most column.

Statewide Objectives, Strategies, and Goals
Statewide Objective	Statewide Strategy	Strategic Goals
STATEWIDE INFRASTRUCTURE LAYER
1 DATA CENTER Reduce cost, eliminate duplication, and improve performance of data center services	1.1 Maximize the value of current data center resources
	1.2 Implement a shared data center system
2 SECURITY Safeguard information and communications technology assets	2.1 Develop and implement a comprehensive security program
	2.2 Enhance network security operations
3 NETWORK Leverage shared network operations and resources	3.1 Upgrade and optimize the shared network infrastructure
	3.2 Gain new business value from advanced network services
4 SHARED APPLICATIONS Solve common business problems through shared applications	4.1 Offer additional electronic government services to Texans
	4.2 Offer shared applications when common needs exist
5 PROCUREMENT Maximize buying power on commodity technologies and services	5.1 Build a scalable commodity procurement infrastructure
	5.2 Deliver the full potential of the cooperative contracts program
COLLABORATION LAYER
6 PROJECT DELIVERY Ensure maximum results from state projects	6.1 Implement the Texas Project Delivery Framework
	6.2 Support and share systems development best practices
7 ARCHITECTURE Encourage business and technology architectures that drive improved planning and coordination	7.1 Support the development of agency architectures
	7.2 Incorporate technology reuse into agency architectures
	7.3 Align common aspects of agency architectures
8 STATE REVIEWS Enhance the value of state reviews	8.1 Streamline technology and information reporting
	8.2 Align and improve review processes
9 DATA MANAGEMENT + ACCESS Increase the value of electronic data and information	9.1 Manage electronic data and information systematically and efficiently
	9.2 Expand government Web site usability
	9.3 Protect the privacy of personal information in state custody
AGENCY LAYER
10 CORE MISSION Deploy innovative, value-added technology solutions to meet agency core missions	Fulfilled by each agency examining its core mission and acting upon that mission as directed by the Legislature Examples of agencies delivering innovative, mission-critical business solutions that fulfill the strategic goals of Objective 10 are shown in Appendix B

OBJECTIVE 1 REDUCE COST, ELIMINATE DUPLICATION, AND IMPROVE PERFORMANCE OF DATA CENTER SERVICES

Historically, state agencies have procured data center and disaster recovery services individually, addressing agencies’ specific needs, but creating redundant functions and resources across the state. This has resulted in more than 30 state and agency data centers statewide with independent operations and a broad range of technical environments, service levels, and security standards. As documented by the 2005 Gartner, Inc., assessment of agency data centers, these disparate environments are more expensive to maintain and operate than a consolidated statewide system.² This fragmentation creates a duplication of effort and presents a challenge for statewide disaster preparedness and response.

Building a shared data center system is a critical step toward helping government build a more secure, agile, and cost-effective infrastructure for the delivery of government services. The 79th Texas Legislature recognized the importance of a stronger statewide technology infrastructure and, through the passage of HB1516, directed DIR to lead the effort to accelerate consolidation of the state’s data center and disaster recovery services.

A consolidated data center system will give agencies equal access to advanced technologies and will maximize state resources by leveraging economies of scale. Most importantly, by coordinating and sharing resources at the statewide level, agencies can focus more of their technology resources on agency-specific applications that support their unique missions.

To prepare for the transition to a shared data center system, DIR is working with agencies to identify current service levels and performance metrics for data center and disaster recovery services. DIR will also work with agencies to ensure that individual data centers are consolidated without service disruption and that they provide the same or better service levels than those currently provided.

DIR has defined two strategies to fulfill Objective 1:

• 1.1 Maximize the value of current data center resources outlines the process for improving the usage of the existing state data center.
• 1.2 Implement a shared data center system proposes developing a new consolidated statewide system and migrating the prioritized agency data centers to it.

Appendix A provides more information about these strategies, including benefits, DIR commitments, and agency responsibilities.

OBJECTIVE 2 SAFEGUARD INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY ASSETS

A 2005 report issued by Forrester Research states that “Information security is moving from the world of information technology operations to focus on security processes, metrics, policy, risk, and compliance.”³ Information and communications technology security has never been a more significant issue at all levels of government. In the past, security focused on testing computer systems. More recently, technology security, both physical and cyber, has become a key component of critical infrastructure protection. Moreover, a compromise of physical security or an attack on a public facility could damage information sharing and could disrupt critical government processes that affect citizens and infrastructure statewide.

An attack on the technology systems of any government entity could expose millions of records containing confidential information, such as driver licenses and Social Security numbers, to theft, tampering, or destruction. In 2004, there were more than 635,000 cases of fraud and identity theft nationally, with reported losses of more than $547 million.⁴

In a large and decentralized state government environment, lack of coordination and limited security resources makes responding to a severe security threat challenging. Any strategic enterprise approach to information security management in Texas must address two basic issues: resources and technology infrastructure. Vulnerability is increased when there are inadequate resources to respond to the security threat or when there is no policy or infrastructure to protect individual environments from threats. In either case, coordination of efforts and resources among agencies is key to controlling a threat to state assets.

DIR has defined two strategies to fulfill Objective 2:

• 2.1 Develop and implement a comprehensive security program outlines the state’s strategy for developing a statewide technology and information security asset management plan.
• 2.2 Enhance network security operations outlines plans for a state network security center mandated by HB3112.

Appendix A provides more information about these strategies, including benefits, DIR commitments, and agency responsibilities.

OBJECTIVE 3 LEVERAGE SHARED NETWORK OPERATIONS AND RESOURCES

Effective communications technologies, such as high-quality voice, data, and video services, provide a critical foundation for state government operations and services. Providing agencies access to a shared communications network that reduces statewide costs and delivers exceptional performance is essential for Texas government to continue to serve state employees and customers.

To advance this shared communications network, DIR renegotiated its TEX-AN agreement with SBC. The new agreement allows TEX-AN to support a range of expanded services, from the traditionally offered infrastructure elements agencies use to build their own networks, to fully developed communications services that can be cost-effectively shared among multiple agencies. Over the next four years, the state will save approximately $20 million from this contract negotiation. Additionally, agencies will benefit from enhanced and expanded services and capabilities, including:

• A common communications infrastructure that will support Internet Protocol (IP) services across state government
• Extensive network and hardware infrastructure redundancy to enhance business continuity
• Network security enhancements, including intrusion detection devices, virtual private networks, traffic analyzers, and improved physical security
• The Texas Collaboration Forum, comprising representatives from the vendor community, state government, and other public entities, which facilitates information sharing

A shared communications network allows agency-level infrastructure and resources that overlap the needs of other agencies to be integrated, expanded, or adapted to benefit the entire state. One example of elevating agency-level infrastructure to that of a shared communications resource involves the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) wide area network.

HHSC transferred the management of its wide area network to DIR in 2004. Following this transfer, HHSC agreed to transfer to DIR the network infrastructure that supports 2-1-1 (the application that connects citizens to information about critical health and human services available in their community). Through the new TEX-AN agreement, DIR replicated and expanded the 2-1-1 infrastructure model to an infrastructure that could accommodate all state agency networks, including the HHSC wide area network. Because the IP-based technology of the 2-1-1 model converges voice, data, and video traffic, agencies will soon be able to take advantage of converged services, reducing the state's communications network costs and eliminating the need for separate voice and data networks.

DIR has defined two strategies to fulfill Objective 3:

• 3.1 Upgrade and optimize the shared network infrastructure describes the current plans for enhancing and expanding the existing state voice, data, and video network infrastructure.
• 3.2 Gain new business value from advanced network services describes projects and initiatives that are made possible by the services provided through the upgraded and optimized shared network.

Appendix A provides more information about these strategies, including benefits, DIR commitments, and agency responsibilities.

OBJECTIVE 4 SOLVE COMMON BUSINESS PROBLEMS THROUGH SHARED APPLICATIONS

Agencies are constantly seeking new ways to use automation to address business problems and make improvements for citizens and employees. The state vision holds that problems specific to the mission of the agency should be solved locally, and agencies should be encouraged to innovate.

Inevitably, however, agencies must manage processes that are not unique, but that, in fact, overlap and even replicate processes of many other agencies. Without coordination, agencies develop duplicative, and often conflicting, solutions.

One approach to shared applications involves the coordination of planning and development across multiple agencies. Examples include the planning for electronic grants and the common state development effort in the Integrated Statewide Administrative System (ISAS) project.

Another approach entails a single state agency hosting an application for use by other agencies. For example, the Office of the Comptroller hosts the state's accounting system of record, USAS (Uniform Statewide Accounting System), for more than 100 state agencies. The remaining agencies interface with USAS to report their financial data and transactions to the statewide system.

A third approach encompasses the establishment of comprehensive statewide applications. Providing electronic government services to citizens through TexasOnline is one example. Another example, applicable to government employees, is the establishment of enterprise messaging and collaboration services, including email.

Implementing selected shared applications will improve performance and integration across state government and enable agencies to focus on responsibilities that support their missions. In all cases, due diligence and architectural review must be performed to determine whether a common solution will solve business problems and standardize business processes. Once these common needs are agreed upon, there are multiple approaches to shared application solutions.

DIR has defined two strategies to fulfill Objective 4:

• 4.1 Offer additional electronic government services to Texans discusses plans for expanding electronic government services offered by state entities.
• 4.2 Offer shared applications when common needs exist describes the plans for providing shared application service offerings statewide.

Appendix A provides more information about these strategies, including benefits, DIR commitments, and agency responsibilities.

OBJECTIVE 5 MAXIMIZE BUYING POWER ON COMMODITY TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES

An enterprise approach to maximizing the state's technology buying power is one of DIR's basic tenets. DIR's cooperative contracts program enables government entities to pool their purchasing power to drive down costs. The program provides an effective procurement channel to thousands of public sector entities across Texas.

The success of this program can be measured by the extent to which demonstrably lower prices draw new customers and increase the frequency of use by existing customers. The DIR program has seen dramatic growth and wide acceptance across all eligible customer segments over the last two years—including state agencies, public universities and colleges, counties and municipalities, public school districts and educational service centers, and political subdivisions. In the past ten years, annual usage of cooperative contracts has increased from $57 million to $667 million. Growth in fiscal 2005 was approximately $150 million, an increase of almost 28 percent when compared to fiscal 2004. Usage of the program is projected to grow another 20 percent in fiscal 2006.

Increased usage of the cooperative contracts program translates into savings for customers. In fiscal 2004, DIR implemented a new process to track savings on major contracts renegotiated beginning in February 2004. An audit by a contract internal auditor found that an appropriate framework was in place to manage and report on DIR's cost savings on those major initiatives. Since May 2004, DIR has documented more than $81 million in projected savings, including $27.8 million already realized to date by program customers.

Significant savings, coupled with ease of purchasing, has resulted in a large and varied customer base. More than 55 percent of the gross dollar volume comes from approximately 1,200 public school districts across Texas. Local government entities represent an additional 27 percent of gross purchases, and state agencies, 17 percent. A full 97 percent of cooperative contracts usage has been voluntary—a testament to the value of the program to its customers.

The cooperative contracts program supports an enterprise approach to procurement; however, it has yet to reach its full potential. Historically, state agencies have purchased technology goods and services independently. Federal funding limitations, proprietary legacy systems, and a narrow procurement strategy have contributed to this uncoordinated purchasing environment. This situation limits the state's ability to more effectively negotiate volume discounts and obtain good value from vendors.

HB1516 mandated that all technology commodity items (hardware, software, services) be purchased through DIR cooperative contracts—positioning the state to realize the full potential of that buying power.

With this change comes even greater responsibility and accountability to save money and improve service levels. DIR must aggressively seek new ways to deliver an enterprise approach to purchasing. DIR will build the processes and the infrastructure to further increase value to customers. Additionally, DIR is increasing its efforts to expand participation of historically underutilized businesses (HUBs) in the cooperative contracts program.

DIR has defined two strategies to fulfill Objective 5:

• 5.1 Build a scalable commodity procurement infrastructure outlines internal and external processes, information, and technology that will support future growth and scalability of the cooperative contracts program.
• 5.2 Deliver the full potential of the cooperative contracts program introduces sourcing strategies and program modifications that will allow Texas to truly maximize the technology buying power of the state.

Appendix A provides more information about these strategies, including benefits, DIR commitments, and agency responsibilities.

OBJECTIVE 6 ENSURE MAXIMUM RESULTS FROM STATE PROJECTS

State agencies currently manage a variety of multi-million dollar business automation projects. These projects typically span years, involve numerous deliverables, and require effective management practices to keep business and technology components aligned.

Successful project delivery requires alignment of business and technology goals among stakeholders under the direction of agency executives. This tight connection of business problems and technology solutions requires repeatable practices, a consistent method for assessing outcomes, and accountability at the head of the agency.

Elevating the review and approval of key project deliverables to an agency head establishes clear accountability for technology investments throughout project delivery. By formalizing a structure based on repeatable practices, appropriate actions can be taken to prevent project suspension or failure, and project outcomes can be consistently evaluated across state agencies.

Additional factors to ensure project success include proper planning, management, design, development, testing, and deployment. These factors require the use and incorporation of documented practices and lessons learned from prior projects, as well as reuse of technology resources where appropriate.

DIR is implementing, at the Legislature's direction, the Texas Project Delivery Framework (Framework), which provides strategies for tying technology projects to clearly defined business needs and outcomes, a clear scope, and solid cost-benefit estimates. The Framework will be closely aligned with the practices of the Quality Assurance Team and the Contract Advisory Team to ensure consistent utilization across the state. See Objective 8 for more information on this alignment effort.

Additionally, to establish uniformity in technology contract management practices, DIR will work to align the State of Texas Contract Management Guide and technology contracting practices with the Framework. DIR expects that the Framework will help state agencies consistently deliver successful projects that meet business and performance requirements on time and within budget. The Framework will be refined over time to incorporate new and successful tools, techniques, and processes.

DIR has defined two strategies to fulfill Objective 6:

• 6.1 Implement the Texas Project Delivery Framework describes plans for expanding practices established for delivery of business automation projects.
• 6.2 Support and share systems development best practices discusses the progress of initiatives to promote consistent use of best practices in systems development.

Appendix A provides more information about these strategies, including benefits, DIR commitments, and agency responsibilities.

OBJECTIVE 7 ENCOURAGE BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTURES THAT DRIVE IMPROVED PLANNING AND COORDINATION

Architecture, in the technology sense, refers to sets of principles and standards that guide investments to support strategic business objectives. Gartner, Inc., describes architecture as:

[...] the bridge between business and technology. It is the translation mechanism by which business needs are translated into technology solutions. The architecture can provide two things that are critical to the success of the real-time enterprise: (1) an unambiguous alignment of technology solutions with business goals and (2) a mechanism by which the business can express its needs to the technologists, who, in turn, can provide a means of supporting those needs.⁵

Architectural standards start with a structured understanding of the key business functions the agency must fulfill to achieve its mission and support the goals of the state. With business needs established as a baseline, technology architectures can be developed that directly support those priorities. In other words, technology is deployed for business purposes, not simply for the sake of technology.

When agencies develop a clear understanding of both business and technology architectures, areas of common interest can be identified and acted upon. Coordination is made possible by encouraging agencies to develop agency architectures in a manner that allows for a common starting point. This objective is further reinforced when agencies build reuse and interoperability strategies into their development and deployment standards.

With the right information and approach, the state will be well positioned to coordinate individual efforts as part of a larger state concern. DIR will coordinate areas of common interest, such as technology reuse, business process standardization, and interoperability, to structure and optimize the relationship between the statewide infrastructure and agency layers of the Texas Model.

DIR has defined three strategies to fulfill Objective 7:

• 7.1 Support the development of agency architectures outlines a proposal for assisting agencies in developing internal architectures.
• 7.2 Incorporate technology reuse into agency architectures outlines the proposed initiative for promoting reuse of state technology resources.
• 7.3 Align common aspects of agency architectures outlines how to improve interoperability and set the basis for future shared services.

Appendix A provides more information about these strategies, including benefits, DIR commitments, and agency responsibilities.

OBJECTIVE 8 ENHANCE THE VALUE OF STATE REVIEWS

The technology investment decisions of individual agencies collectively represent the state's technology investment. Oversight of the success and status of the state's investment is primarily focused on mitigating risk, identifying and documenting best practices, and ensuring that state leadership is kept well informed. State review responsibilities span multiple entities, including the Governor's Office, Legislative Budget Board, State Auditor's Office, Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Comptroller, Texas Building and Procurement Commission, and DIR.

To effectively oversee and manage the state's technology investment, agencies and decision-making authorities require current and reliable information. At present, Texas collects and analyzes technology information and monitors agency projects through a number of processes and reporting applications. Additional reporting from state agencies will be required to succeed in deploying the Texas Project Delivery Framework, consolidating the state's data center and disaster recovery services, and utilizing DIR's cooperative contracts program for purchasing commodity technologies and services.

The current data collection strategy at DIR and other agencies is “siloed,” and often based on ad hoc definitions, processes, and technologies. A comprehensive, self-reported technology asset and resource data collection effort was undertaken in fiscal 2004, through the Statewide Information Technology Asset Reporting (SITAR) tool. As the first such inventory in more than a decade, the information collected by DIR was instrumental in developing the 2004 Foundation for Change report, which was a call to action for improving the state's technology investment. Although the collection of this data served a specific purpose at the time, continued use of the SITAR application and its associated processes would produce yet another silo.

The state will benefit from a close examination of its oversight processes to ensure that oversight agencies can work in complementary fashion and that reporting agencies can effectively coordinate strategic planning, budgeting, and reporting of technology expenditures, assets, and projects.

DIR has defined two strategies to fulfill Objective 8:

• 8.1 Streamline technology and information reporting describes an effort to rationalize and streamline reporting.
• 8.2 Align and improve review processes outlines methods to improve alignment of major technology projects with business goals and objectives.

Appendix A provides more information about these strategies, including benefits, DIR commitments, and agency responsibilities.

OBJECTIVE 9 INCREASE THE VALUE OF ELECTRONIC DATA AND INFORMATION

Data and information collected and used by Texas government form one of the state's most valuable assets—the institutional memory of state government and its public records. Agencies collect, process, store, and maintain data in order to provide information and services to Texans. The public uses the information and services supplied by government to fulfill business and personal needs. Both government and citizens need access to trustworthy, usable, and timely information based on accurate and reliable data.

Information held by government resides in abundant quantities, in multiple versions, and in various formats within mainframes, network servers, desktop hard drives, e-mail systems, and mobile devices. Without tools and processes to locate and retrieve required files, data is effectively useless. To enhance their value, data and information must be controlled systematically from creation to disposition. Managing information consistently will minimize redundancy in data collection and storage, improve data accuracy, increase staff productivity, and improve system performance. Standardizing data and electronic records management practices will allow agencies to reduce risk and maintain compliance with legal requirements. Agencies will be able to respond quickly and fully to public information requests and to serve as responsible stewards of the public record by preserving Texas history for future generations.

Electronic information has proven valuable because it is easily manipulated and shared. Agencies have been able to reduce publication costs and increase customer convenience by providing information and services through their Web sites. As use of the Internet for service delivery matures, it becomes imperative to ensure access to all segments of the population. Texas has a large number of Spanish-speaking residents, some with limited English skills. To reach this population through their Web sites, agencies must provide information and services in Spanish. Agencies must also make their Web sites accessible to disabled clients by adopting accessibility standards specified by DIR rule.

The traits that make electronic information valuable also make it problematic. Electronic information—whether it is available online through the Internet or in agency networks or storage devices—is vulnerable to misuse, improper disclosure, and theft. Texans entrust personal information to the custody of the state in order to obtain services and comply with government regulations. In turn, agencies must take precautions to ensure that personal information in state data systems is protected and secured.

DIR has defined three strategies to fulfill Objective 9:

• 9.1 Manage electronic data and information systematically and efficiently describes statewide efforts to standardize data and information management.
• 9.2 Expand government Web site usability discusses the state's approach to making state Web sites more usable and accessible to persons who speak Spanish or who have disabilities.
• 9.3 Protect the privacy of personal information in state custody outlines strategies for protecting the privacy of citizen data held by state entities.

Appendix A provides more information about these strategies, including benefits, DIR commitments, and agency responsibilities.

OBJECTIVE 10 DEPLOY INNOVATIVE, VALUE-ADDED TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO MEET AGENCY CORE MISSIONS

Objectives 1 through 9 of this plan present key functions of the statewide infrastructure and collaboration layers of the Texas Model of the Enterprise. The most critical layer of the model—the agency layer—builds on this foundation of shared technology and business solutions.

Agencies will achieve their core missions by aligning their specific technology solutions with their unique business functions. Additionally, by integrating shared technologies and best practices into their processes, agencies will be empowered to take advantage of a full spectrum of resources made available through the statewide infrastructure and collaboration layers of the Texas Model. In so doing, agencies will be positioned to serve their customers more quickly, efficiently, and at a lower cost.

Where common business problems can be solved through shared opportunities, state agencies should partner with DIR and other agencies to effectively deploy solutions that realize the benefits of a shared approach. Where effective development and deployment is best positioned at the agency level, state agencies should leverage the enterprise resources, as applicable, to deliver value-added solutions for their unique business needs.

State support of innovative solutions at the agency level will help to ensure the flexibility needed for Texas to adapt to constantly changing internal and external environmental factors in government technology. DIR will seek to gather and share innovative solutions across state agencies so that individual successes can be shared and implemented on a statewide basis.

This objective will be met collectively by all agencies acting to fulfill the missions given to them by state leadership to build a better Texas. In preparing their information resources strategic plans, state agencies should seek to support and integrate this state strategic plan with their agency-specific goals, objectives, and strategies that will integrate all layers of the Texas Model of the Enterprise to effectively meet their core missions. DIR will publish specific instructions for preparing agency information resources strategic plans in spring 2006.

Innovative solutions that address key areas where agencies have already realized success in meeting business challenges and their core missions are described in Appendix B.