Tuesday, March 1, 2011

IT Process Reforms Measure Passes Committee

The House Government Modernization Committee has approved legislation its backers say will save millions of taxpayers dollars through the implementation of information technology (IT) process reforms.

Rep. David Derby:
'Confirms our
worst fears'
House Bill 1304, by Rep. David Derby (R-Owasso) was approved by the committee by a 10-1 vote.

The vote took place after Oklahoma Chief Information Officer Alex Pettit and the Capgemini consulting firm reported on the preliminary findings from their recent study of Oklahoma’s IT systems. The report found that the state utilizes 76 separate redundant financial tracking systems despite the fact that the state has one enterprise-wide financial software that all agencies should be using.

There are 22 unique time and attendance systems, 17 imaging systems, 48 reporting and analytics applications, 30,000 desktop computers of which 2,000 are not in use, 25 different desktop operating systems, 133 email systems, and 27 SQL Server and Oracle systems with 92 percent of the SQL Server programs not being supported. The study also referenced a report by the Gartner Group, which indicates Oklahoma is spending $35.6 million more than the average IT spend of other state governments.


“This confirms our worst fears about the massive amounts of waste and inefficiency because the state has failed to develop a cohesive IT strategy. This chaos provides a dangerous environment in which our data is not secure and taxpayer dollars are being wasted,” said Derby.House Bill 1304 includes several of the Capgemini report’s suggestions for addressing the IT shortcomings. The legislation was called for by Governor Mary Fallin in her State of the State address. Fallin is seeking to realize $140 million of savings in the state’s fiscal year 2012 budget from the incorporation of this reform.

Government Modernization Committee Chairman Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) noted that the Governor’s proposal received an enthusiastic standing ovation from members of the Legislature.

“When the Governor called on the Legislature to approve the IT consolidation it was very well received by our colleagues,” he said.

The proposal now goes before the House for consideration. An overview of the Capgemini report is online at hd31.org/50.

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