Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) update, Vol. 3, Issue 9 (Sept. 2, 2011)

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Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) Update
Volume 3, Issue No. 9

September 2, 2011 In This Issue
Success for fourth DR exercise in 12 months Upgrade to modernize tag and
title system New SSL VPN to improve
remote access
Briefly...

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KPMG assessment identifies gaps, affirms state's direction
KPMG recently completed its independent assessment of the GETS program, and we held a briefing for GETS full-service agency heads this week. Conducting a "health check" at this point in a large and complex IT project like GETS is an industry best practice.
We were not looking to KPMG to grade our performance; we were asking their opinion about course corrections we should make now that we have progressed to a greater maturity level in the state's IT outsourcing and transformation. Nothing we learned was surprising. In fact, much of what the assessment told us confirms what we knew:

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Communicating effectively with our agency customers, involving agencies in decisions, providing performance metrics, and clarifying roles and responsibilities will be key to the success of GETS.
We also learned that the difficulties we are experiencing are not uncommon to largescale initiatives like ours. Georgia's IT transformation, according to KPMG, is as big as any in the public or private sector. In addition to transforming IT, we are maintaining and improving operations. The initiative also represents an enormous cultural shift for state government, a process that often takes several years.
While our transformation remains a tall order to be sure, KPMG emphasized that we are on a better path than if we had done nothing. The risk the state was shouldering was unsustainable. Although the issues we face are difficult, they are manageable.
The assessment acknowledged that we have made significant achievements already. Reducing risk was the main goal when this initiative began, and it remains so today. Even at this early stage, we can point to accomplishments to ensure more secure and reliable IT services. We have an enterprise-wide disaster recovery program, routine security patching, an ongoing program to refresh aging equipment, and a currency program that is removing worn out, unreliable and insecure equipment.
Agencies have an important role to play in addressing the gaps identified by the KPMG assessment, as well as the assessment of the Request for Solution (RFS) process conducted by North Highland. Agencies will be closely involved in governance and decision-making for GETS, and we are asking CIOs to encourage their agencies to participate on teams to develop plans and recommendations for moving forward. Teams will include Governance, Communications and Customer Experience, Resource Unit Pricing, Transformation, Service Levels and Contract.
We have hard work in front of us, and I appreciate your continuing commitment to the GETS program. We are all partners, and while there are areas of improvement for each of us, a large number of those rest on GTA's shoulders - we recognize that GTA is ultimately the service provider.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Calvin Rhodes State Chief Information Officer

GTA Executive Director
Success for fourth DR exercise in 12 months
A successful Disaster Recovery (DR) exercise conducted last month marked the first full year of DR testing experience for the state enterprise.
The exercise, which began on August 21 and concluded on August 27, lasted 150 hours, making it the longest test conducted so far. It was the fourth DR exercise for the enterprise since August 2010.
The test focused on T0 and T1 applications for the departments of Administrative Services, Community Health, Corrections, Public Health and Revenue; the GBI; and GTA. T0 applications are those that are to be recovered within 32 hours; T1 applications are to be recovered within one week.
All applications, a total of 17, were successfully recovered during the exercise, and a number of problems discovered in previous tests were resolved. The test was completed on schedule despite the effects of Hurricane Irene on other customers along the East Coast who also depend on IBM's back-up capabilities in Boulder, Colorado. Back to top
Upgrade to modernize tag and title system

Few IT systems within state government touch as many Georgians as the Department of Revenue's Georgia Registration and Title Information System (GRATIS). A system failure or delay can quickly lead to long lines and frustrated customers at tag offices across the state; interruptions in taxi cab, commercial bus and for-hire vehicle license plate registration; delays in printing of titles; and parking of commercial vehicles waiting for their credentials for intrastate commerce.
AT&T is nearing completion of an upgrade to the tag and title system as part of the GETS transformation. The upgrade will help to minimize service interruptions and delays.
Each year, GRATIS processes more than eight million vehicle registrations and collects more than $200 million in tag and title transactions, including the collection of ad valorem taxes, fees and penalties. It also interfaces with systems related to law enforcement, driver's licenses, vehicle emissions and insurance companies. Serving tag offices throughout the state's 159 counties, the GRATIS network was in need of a refresh of its Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN). The sites were using a combination of DSL and T1 MPLS WAN transport and were supported by hubs and switches that were at or nearing the end of manufacturer support.
As part of the upgrade, the new WAN will be deployed using AT&T's Virtual Private Network (VPN), which allows AT&T to secure GRATIS and separate it from other agency networks. This dedicated access provides a much more stable platform and greater proactive management capabilities. Managed routers at each location will aid in detecting intrusions and network anomalies. The new LAN equipment at each site brings the agency up to current specifications and includes additional security mechanisms to help alleviate threats to agency data.
The upgrade, which is about 80 percent complete, will move GRATIS to new, standard platforms that will allow for shorter intervals for repairs and changes to the system, as well as provide better tools for network and security monitoring.
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New SSL VPN to improve remote access

Like workers in the private sector, state employees are becoming more mobile. Connecting to an agency's network while away from the office - either teleworking from home or working from a remote field location - requires both high availability and security. As part of the GETS transformation, AT&T is implementing a centralized Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution for remote users.
This managed solution creates secure, encrypted SSL connections and allows use of web browsers to securely access resources on agency networks. The new SSL VPN platform provides remote users secure connections from any platform, such as Windows, Mac, Linux and some mobile devices.
The goal is to upgrade the equipment to a best-of-breed technology delivered on a redundant platform managed by AT&T that will keep SSL VPN network operation at a high performance level. The managed service provides 24x7 coverage, proactive outage notification, system utilization reports and a solution that will include disaster recovery capabilities and failover to a back-up site in Boulder, Colorado.
Migration to the new platform will occur in three stages, the first of which was successfully completed in August.
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Briefly...
AT&T offers VoIP AT&T has begun working with a small number of customers for whom Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) may be an appropriate solution. More information about the service will follow in the next issue of GETS Update.
Service level trends View a chart showing service level trends for IBM and AT&T.
Service Catalog update Monitors and peripherals bundled with leased desktop and laptop PCs are now available for purchase instead of lease, effective August 1. Bundles displayed in the Service Catalog (OrderNow!) now show the purchase price of monitors and peripherals, and workstations will continue to display their monthly lease rate. The request process and lead times remain the same. If you need more information, please contact

your GTA Service Delivery Consultant. Back to top
Georgia Digital Government Summit
q October 31 and November 1 q InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta q Only $25 for public-sector employees q Planned specifically for managers, executives and policy makers q For conference topics and registration information, visit the Summit website Back to top

We welcome your comments about service delivery, the state's IT transformation and related topics.
You can submit comments online or call our toll-free number to leave a recorded message.