Governance Plan
From the IT Management Plan 2004 Presented to the ISPB
State of Maine Information Technology Guiding Principles
Maine State Government makes decisions based on these guiding principles.
- Drive IT initiatives by business needs, goals and objectives and have a sound business case before new investments are made.
- Maintain flexibility, with accountability, to respond to new service needs.
- Foster intergovernmental cooperation.
- View information technology in Maine government from the perspective of the entire enterprise, rather than from the perspective of a few individual agencies or jurisdictions.
- Develop a process to share information easily within government organizations and with outside partners.
- Aggregate resources where feasible in order to reduce duplication, increase efficiency and effectiveness, and increase purchasing power.
- Employ technology that is flexible and interoperable so that changing business needs can be responded to quickly and efficiently.
- Recognize that many agencies have massive investments in existing technology and devise strategies that leverage those investments when practical.
- Assure the accuracy, integrity, privacy, confidentiality, and appropriate availability of information.
- Develop an IT workforce with the skills required to develop, manage, and fully utilize the State's technology investment.
The new governance model created during this process addresses many high level strategy issues by focusing on IT from an enterprise level. It is not always the cost of individual systems driving the need for an enterprise approach, but rather the cost of service delivery. Citizens demand quality service, accessibility, and value from government programs at all levels. The State's ability to recapture "enterprise-level thinking" regarding a common, shared infrastructure will be a critical success factor in accomplishing the goal of building the next generation's communications networks and data centers and meeting the needs of the State's constituents.
Governance
Key issues within IT governance were identified as follows:
- IT governance structure is weak; CIO's responsibilities extend beyond scope of authority.
- No defined processes for enterprise IT oversight.
- Funding and procurement mechanisms do not work in concert to facilitate enterprise IT management.
An enterprise must be well governed to be well managed. An enterprise, by the breadth and complexity of its nature, requires a more innovative and flexible approach to governing than provided by more traditional models which were developed to oversee the functions of a departmental IT organization. The feedback received by the OCIO made it clear that in order to adequately anticipate and react to the increased pace of current technology challenges, a revision of IT governance is necessary.
The changes that will be sought to improve governance are as follows:
- The Office of Information Technology will be formed by consolidating the Bureau of Information Services and The Office of the CIO.
- The Information Services Policy Board (ISPB) dissolved.
- An Executive Steering Committee established to provide guidance on the business requirements of agencies and government as a whole.
- A CIO Council established in order to provide direct communication and guidance from departmental Agency Technology Officer's (ATO's) to the CIO.
- A new governance model for approval of IT projects will be implemented, utilizing an agency's portfolio as a significant tool in the decision making process, as well as incorporating a statewide perspective in each decision.
This new governance structure will provide effective counsel to guide the enterprise forward, improve collaboration to begin to break down silos and provide the opportunity to better leverage IT investments across all levels of government; critical gains given the current fis cal environment and increased security concerns.
Office of Information Technology
Version 3 - June 25, 2007
Mission
The Office of Information Technology exists to provide technology solutions and support services to the agencies and programs of Maine State Government
Vision for the year 2011
Technology is viewed by State agencies and legislative oversight bodies as an investment for improved government service delivery, not merely as an operating expense.
By the year 2011, OIT will:
- be viewed by Maine State Agencies as
- adding value to their delivery of services to the citizens and businesses of Maine
- serving their remote users of computers well
- an organization they have confidence in
- providing leadership and assistance to eliminate technical silos so that systems can be appropriately integrated across agencies
- important to include in their planning processes
- attract highly trained and motivated technical and management staff who enjoy the work they do
- be a national leader and model for the management and provisioning of technology for state government
- be an organization that other government entities want to partner with
- have implemented standard processes and tools that have reduced risks and gained efficiencies in the delivery of IT services
- have allowed no data breach for five years
- have implemented the Maine Communications Radio Infrastructure which is working well for field units and emergency response entities at all levels of government
- have created a redundant operations center to support business continuity
- have located those OIT employees not stationed in agencies into appropriate and efficient office space
