Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) update, Vol. 4, Issue 5 (May 7, 2012)

Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) Update
Volume 4, Issue No. 5

May 7, 2012

In This Issue

GTA to host Workforce Mobility Summit

Hosted Contact Center migration gathers momentum

Project aims to increase usability of
GETS invoices

New milestones for GETS, transformation
The GETS program and the transformation initiative both marked major milestones during recent weeks. A signifcant change to the governance structure of GETS gives agencies greater influence on decisions. Transformation took a big step forward as well, with agencies' approval of the end-to-end transformation plan and the completion of baselining for the initiative.

Proactive response heads off malware
threat
Handbook offers guidance for EUC refresh process
Service Desk continues to earn high marks
Quick Links

Agency Management Committee
The Agency Advisory Council took important action last month that gives participating agencies a larger role in decision making about the use of IT in their agencies. Members - all CIOs of GETS full-service agencies approved a charter that restructures the council and renames it the Agency Management Committee.
Agency CIOs are elected to serve as vice-chairs on a rotating basis. I am pleased to tell you that Terry Wolf, Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, and Tom McMurry, Department of Driver Services, have agreed to serve as the committee's first vice-chairs. Terry will serve a one-year term, while Tom will serve for six months. The staggered terms are designed to help lend continuity to leadership of the committee. GTA's Lanny Creedle will serve as chairman.

Previous Newsletters
GTA Website
GETS Customer Resource Center
GETS Financial and Billing Resource Center
GETS FAQs

Under its new charter, the Agency Management Committee will make and approve technology-related decisions; identify opportunities for cross-agency collaboration; ensure enterprise strategic goals and service performance levels are achieved; and monitor and review initiatives, progress and lessons learned.

End-to-end transformation plan

After individual reviews with each GETS full-service agency and adjustments based on agency input, the transformation plan is proceeding. Baselining is complete, and a schedule has been developed. The plan will give all of us visibility into the status of transformation projects and enable us to measure progress. Participating agencies will be able to stay up to date through periodic reports.

These milestones would not be possible without agency commitment. I am grateful for the thought agencies have given to the Agency Management Committee and the transformation plan. I believe we are on course to achieve the success we are aiming for.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Calvin Rhodes State Chief Information Officer GTA Executive Director

GTA to host Workforce Mobility Summit
GTA invites you to a summit on the use of mobile technology in government. It focuses on how to ready your agency to best manage a dynamic technology that's affecting both your workforce and customers.
The summit is not just for IT staff. It includes Business, Financial and Technology tracks, and there is no charge for staff from public-sector organizations. With input from leading vendors in the mobile technology industry - Apple, AT&T, Motorola, Sprint, Verizon and others - we'll examine how iPads, iPhones, Androids and other increasingly commonplace mobility devices may figure into efforts to more effectively address your business needs.
This full-day mobility summit, the first in GTA's IT Roadmap for Georgia Government series, is slated for:
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 8 a.m, to 4:30 p.m. Georgia Tech Global Learning Center Midtown Atlanta
Take a look at the full agenda, then register early to reserve your spot.
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Hosted Contact Center migration gathers momentum
A cost-effective, robust, scalable and user-friendly contact center solution that is the goal of the Hosted Contact Center migration program. The program has an aggressive schedule which calls for migrating 17 agency contact centers from their current hosted platform to AT&T's Hosted Integrated Contact Solutions (ICS) by the end of December 2012.
The program is on track to meet this aggressive goal with initial planning and discovery meetings completed with all 17 agencies. Four agencies have begun implementation projects, with the first agency, the Professional Standards Commission, slated to go live on the new solution before the end of May. The State Board of Workers' Compensation will follow soon after. Five additional agency migrations are expected to kick off this month, with the remainder starting in June and July.
The migration team is working hard to ensure the deployments run smoothly and efficiently, using lessons learned from recent successful implementations. Hosted ICS will bring many benefits to agencies, including:
Improved system reliability with enhanced redundancy Administrative changes on the fly without requiring vendor requests, via an easy-to-use portal Telephony independence - solution can be delivered using any 10digit phone number Opportunities to reduce network bandwidth requirements and improve quality of service Additional features designed to improve the customer experience and agent productivity
The team expects to be very busy throughout the fall, with agency deployments scheduled weekly beginning in late August.
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Project aims to increase usability of GETS invoices
Among the many benefits of the state's IT transformation has been an improved billing system that enables agencies to see more clearly what services they are buying and what they are paying for them. The invoices allow our customers to "drill down" for specific information that was unavailable before GETS. GTA's finance team is kicking off a new effort, called the Invoice Communication, Education and Enhancement (ICEE) Project, that seeks to provide additional training to agencies and further improve the billing system.
Making a tool available doesn't necessarily make it useful. It only has value when it can help customers get the information they need. With that idea in mind, the project will offer training to deepen agency knowledge about the billing, asset management and change request tools at their disposal.
A second arm of the project will focus on making changes to the invoice that customers will find helpful. Clearly, the only way to know what changes customers would like is to ask them. That was the purpose of focus groups hosted by GTA on May 3. Almost 30 finance personnel from GETS fullservice agencies participated and shared their concerns and ideas. Their input will help drive the invoice enhancements the team pursues.
We will keep you posted on the progress.
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Proactive response heads off malware threat
When Microsoft detected a significant risk a few weeks ago, IBM took quick action to help protect IT systems in GETS full-service agencies. A proactive readiness campaign got the word out before any damage occurred.
IBM and GTA sent notices to agencies urging GETS users to allow automated updates to be made to their computers. Since transformation began, IBM has worked diligently to deploy protective patches to thousands of servers and workstations. Although having multiple operating systems and versions in the state's IT enterprise adds complication, efforts to reduce risk have been successful.
That kind of rapid response and positive outcome would not have been possible before GETS. IBM has extensive resources and expertise previously unavailable to the state. As risk reduction continues, transformation is bringing clear benefits to the state's IT environment, from greater uniformity of IT systems and more modern equipment to more reliable patching and improved monitoring.
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Handbook offers guidance for EUC refresh process
A new handbook is available to guide agency representatives through the end user computing (EUC) refresh planning and execution process.
The handbook consolidates information about the EUC refresh preparation process, and explains the various milestones, checkpoints, materials due at each stage and related documentation. It also includes messages agencies will want to share with end users during the refresh process.
The handbook is intended for all agency representatives involved in administering the refresh process, including the agency refresh single point of contact, asset management lead, and application and information technology resources.
As adjustments to the processes for EUC refresh are adopted, the handbook will be updated accordingly. The most current version will be posted on the "Account Services" tab of the GETS Portal.
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Service Desk continues to earn high marks
Customers of the Consolidated Service Desk gave their overall experience positive ratings on surveys for the first quarter of 2012. IBM and AT&T scored between Satisfied and Very Satisfied during January, February and March, exceeding targets set for the service level agreement (SLA) for Service Desk satisfaction. Both service providers earned scores in the same range throughout 2011.
The survey asks respondents to answer questions by choosing from a range of answers:
Very Satisfied Satisfied Somewhat Satisfied Somewhat Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied
Numbers 6 (Very Satisfied) through 1 (Very Dissatisfied) are assigned to each response and used to calculate the score.
GTA used data collected in 2011 to set the 2012 targets for the SLA for Service Desk satisfaction. For both IBM and AT&T, the expected value is 5.0 (Satisfied), and the minimum value is 4.5 (between Somewhat Satisfied and Satisfied).
The response rate for the quarter was just over 27%, with 1,194 surveys returned.
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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.