Information Technology Strategic Plan
2001 Addendum
by
Information Technology Services
April 2001
Progress on Original Initiatives
Policies, Procedures and Standards Development
In January 2000, Johnson County contracted with the Ken Orr Institute to develop a five-year Strategic Information Technology Plan. The plan addressed not just the strategic direction of ITS, but the information technology direction for the entire County.
The plan delivered by the Ken Orr Institute identified four factors that were deemed critical to the success of the County’s strategic planning effort. A review of the factors gives some indication of the County’s progress in moving from a one time planning effort to the establishment of a strategic planning process.
The critical success factors are:
The final draft of the plan was delivered May 2000 and adopted by the Board of County Commissioners at that time. This group has recently completed a Strategic Plan for the County as well. The Board identified six core strategic performance areas, including one directly addressing technology and its use in the delivery of government services. The recognition of technology in this context demonstrates the County’s understanding of the importance of this area for the future.
The Executive Information Technology Steering Committee was created immediately following the adoption of the plan. The group consists of ten department directors, the Deputy County administrator and the County Administrator. ITS meets regularly with the steering committee to keep the committee informed of issues related to the strategic initiatives and seek input and advice on priorities.
Several events demonstrate an improved commitment to cooperation between agencies, departments and ITS. The replacement of the financial and human resource management systems has brought together all departments in the identification of requirements and the selection of a product. 127 people from 34 departments were involved in sessions last summer to define system requirements. A cross-departmental team representing 10 departments continues to evaluate products at this time.
ITS is providing project management, business analysis, and application development services for projects in the Register of Deeds office, the County Clerk’s office, the Appraiser’s office and the Treasurer’s office. Relationships between these departments and ITS has been stormy in the past, but new attitudes on all sides are allowing cooperative efforts to succeed.
Over the past year, the ITS Management team has formed a cohesive group with a single message for County departments - ITS wants to be the technology provider of choice for County technology initiatives. The management team is working hard to form new working relationships with all County technology users through regular communication and a commitment to delivering superior service.
Following the delivery of the Strategic Information Technology Plan, Information Technology Services evaluated the recommendations from Ken Orr and developed a plan for addressing each initiative. This plan was presented to the Executive Information Technology Steering Committee for approval. Some initiatives were acted on immediately, while it seemed prudent to delay decisions on others. Several initiatives have been implemented. The following table details the current state of each recommendation from the original plan.
|
Strategic Initiative |
Success Criteria |
Current Status |
Timeline/Scheduled Completion |
Comments, Issues, etc. |
|
Eliminate
Novell |
100%
NT Server Deployment |
In Process |
Q2 2001 |
On
schedule |
|
Server
Consolidation |
|
In Process |
Q2 2001 |
On
schedule |
|
Storage
Area Network |
|
In Process |
Q2 2001(Admin Bldg) |
SAN
being incorporated w/ Server consolidation, on schedule |
|
Centralized
upgrade to Windows 2000 |
Upgrade
of servers and desktops completed |
In Process |
Q1 2002 |
Planning
in process, on schedule |
|
Replace
LGFS/Genesys |
Implementation
of new financial/HR system |
In Process |
Q1 2003 |
RFP's
under review now. Product selection
scheduled for July 2001 |
|
Web
Development |
|
In Process |
On going activity |
ITS
Management reviewing WIP recommendations |
|
EGovernment/
ECommerce |
|
In Process |
On going activity |
ITS
Management reviewing WIP recommendations, upgrades to infrastructure
continuing |
|
Data
sharing |
Appropriate
access to all data is available. |
In Process |
On going activity |
Looking
at opportunities to reduce redundant data stores and allow for direct access
to source data stores where needed. |
|
Replace
PC’s every 3 years |
3
year replacement cycle implemented and funded in departmental budgets |
In Process |
On going activity |
Encouraging
departments to plan for this. |
|
Database
Management Systems |
All
new deployments on standard products |
In Process |
On going activity |
Wait
on large database decision until needed; begin to deploy SQL Server for new
medium sized applications. |
|
Client/Server
Development |
Implement
development environment, including tools, training, standards |
In Process |
On going activity |
Developing
standards, tools selected, training identified. |
|
Standardize
Information Technology Acquisition |
|
In Process |
On going activity |
Working
on expanding contracts to include more devices, like printers, monitors, etc.
ITS does not plan to address non-computing devices. |
|
Training
and education |
|
In Process |
On going activity |
|
|
Communication
(awareness programs for data sharing & technical trends |
|
In Process |
On going activity |
Reoccurring
meetings being held with all departments to foster communication. |
|
Employee
retention |
|
In Process |
On going activity |
ITS
Employee Survey, Career Path Policy |
|
Centralized
ITS development/support (non-law enforcement) |
|
In Process |
On going activity |
Several
departments have turned over server administration functions to the ITS
Infrastructure group, Business Services beginning to provide application
support and project management services for additional departments as well. |
|
Document
Management |
Implement
Document management and imaging as required by County departments |
In Process |
Dependant on study completion |
RFP's
under review, study should begin by the end of May, plan to complete study
and begin pilot this year, depending on funding. |
|
Disaster
Plan for Data Center |
Plan
developed, implemented, and periodically tested |
In Process |
|
Investigating
gas-based fire suppression with Facilities and Risk Management |
|
Device
attachment to the Network |
Standards
developed, implemented, and maintained as required. |
In Process |
|
Standards
being developed. |
|
Thin
Client Standard |
|
Future |
|
Plan
project for study later in 2001 |
|
Miscellaneous
standards |
Standards
developed, implemented, and maintained as required. |
Future |
|
Workflow,
virtual private networks, personal digital assistants (Palm Pilot, etc),
integrated email, voicemail, and faxing, voice recognition |
|
Video
conferencing standards |
Standards
developed, implemented, and maintained as required. |
Future |
|
|
|
County-wide
Disaster Recovery |
|
Future |
|
Will
use ITS Data Center as model for other facilities |
|
Decommission
mainframe |
|
Delay |
|
Although
no new applications are currently being developed for this platform, it
should be considered as a possible solution for the financial, human
resources applications. These
application replacements are scheduled to be selected mid 2001. |
|
Decommission
AS/400’s |
|
Delay |
|
Used
by Public Health, Motor Vehicle, and Parks and Recreation |
|
Single
sign on |
|
Delay |
|
May
not be needed. |
|
Broadband
satellite offices – DSL |
Rollout
as technology becomes available |
Complete |
|
Currently
implemented for all locations possible |
|
Acquire
bandwidth |
|
Complete |
On going activity |
Expansion
of Internet connection completed, more circuit expansions planned for 2001 |
|
Notification
of outages |
Method
for contact established |
Complete |
On going activity |
|
|
24
X 7 Help Desk |
On
call process established |
Complete |
On going activity |
|
|
Service
Level Agreements – Memo of Understanding |
Using
the MOU, under development, as needed. |
Complete |
On going activity |
|
|
Upgrade
to Help Desk |
Statistics
reported regularly |
Complete |
On going activity |