Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) update, Vol. 5, Issue 9 (Sept. 3, 2013)

GETS Update - September 3, 2013

Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) Update
Volume 5, Issue No. 9 September 3, 2013

Mark it with a digital star in your digital calendar
I hope you're planning to attend next month's Georgia Digital Government Summit, and that you'll encourage members of your agency's business leadership and IT team to do the same. For all of us, schedules are tight. Priorities are many. But as you know if you've attended previously, this summit is one you do well to make time for, and later you're glad you did. You can expect the same from this year's event.
The summit convenes October 30-31, this year at the Westin Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta. Agenda themes include new technologies, citizen engagement, digital government trends, mobility and more. If these are a surprisingly close match for the challenges your agency or entity faces, it's by design.
You can thank many of your Georgia public sector IT colleagues for serving on the summit's advisory committee and bringing these subjects forward for discussion. CIOs from numerous Georgia cities, counties and agencies served. That suggests they're convinced of the value of participating. As the state's CIO, I'm proud to see that level of engagement and how it has grown over the past several years.
See the summit website for a full agenda and for registration details. Cost is $25 again this year for public sector employees. I don't have to tell you, that's hard to beat. You can expect high caliber speakers, breakout sessions to explore the details, and vendor participants on hand to talk with you about products and services that could help your business. Continuing a segment introduced in 2012, we will recognize honorees of the GTA-sponsored Technology Innovation Showcase. It's a chance for the state's public sector IT innovators to be recognized for their creative work, and for all of us to borrow a great idea or two.
If I sound a bit like a salesman, it's because I'm sold on the benefits of the Georgia Digital Government Summit. Those rewards stand to grow as more of us across state and local government ranks participate.
Maybe the most tangible benefit you'll take from the summit - the connections you make with other attendees. These are the folks who know exactly what you mean when you ask, "is it time to go into the cloud?" or "how can I share data securely?" or "am I managing mobile devices effectively?" They're grappling with these issues, too. You don't have to go it alone. Let's learn from each other. The summit is a great forum to do just that. I'll look for you there.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Calvin Rhodes State Chief Information Officer GTA Executive Director

In This Issue
DR testing success can mean identifying points of failure Mainframe -- a workhorse, and still working hard There's no disputing the need for accurate invoices Briefly... (GOV Talk) (IT strategy summit) (GETS Education, phase II) (NASCIO award)
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DR testing success can mean identifying points of failure
A successful disaster recovery (DR) test doesn't stop at confirming what you can do. Just as valuable, determining what you cannot do or are not prepared for, so you can then mobilize recovery plans to overcome challenges.
The sixth enterprise DR exercise, conducted August 2-9, under the GETS program showed continued growth in the state's DR capability. There were some confirmations of readiness and some not-ready realizations. Planning is already under way to turn those cannots into cans in subsequent tests.
IBM is moving toward implementing permanent infrastructure (as opposed to being shared among many clients) for GETS at its backup facility. That's significant since it boosts our testing efficiency and it betters the odds of successful recovery, should we ever face that need.
Part of that more permanent backup environment for GETS will help provide the state some basic e-mail capability, were unexpected events to leave us without use of our primary email system tools housed at the North Atlanta Data Center (NADC). The value of this communication path in troubled circumstances can't be overstated. The August 2013 DR testing showed progress toward ability to recover that capability and others the state of Georgia relies on.
Agencies participating in last month's 168-hour exercise included: Dept. of Community Health, Dept. of Driver Services, Dept. of Human Services, Dept. of Juvenile Justice, Dept. of Administrative Services, Dept. of Revenue, Dept. of Public Health and Georgia Dept. of Corrections.
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Mainframe -- a workhorse, and still working hard
In today's IT environment, with discussion tending toward things like virtualization and cloud computing, mainframe computing can sound, well, old fashioned. It has been around longer. But it's far from past tense, and for some purposes it still provides a viable option. For GETS customers who use mainframe, they rely on this time-tested workhorse to accomplish critical business. They need to understand the ins and outs of GETS mainframe offerings and their service consumption. That was the topic of an August GETS Education program session.
Customers can manage their mainframe consumption on several fronts. First, carefully monitor how jobs and queries perform. Are they efficient and taking the expected amount of time (measured in CPU hours, or processor usage time)? Second, where printing is involved, review whether those materials continue to meet a need. Should they be reevaluated or even discontinued? Third, ensure that backup and storage for mainframe aligns with your agency's information retention policies. Could backup or storage volumes be trimmed?
Within the mainframe realm, two processor paths (general purpose engine and zIIP engine) are available. Their capabilities differ, as do prices for their use. As an additional consumption management step, customers can evaluate their mainframe needs to see where use of the zIIP engine (cheaper CPU hourly rate) may be suitable.
Where you deal with bulk data and high-volume processing, mainframe can meet the needs. GETS mainframe service volumes have increased over the last few months. To promote the continued good health of the GETS mainframe environment, an additional zIIP engine was put in place earlier this year. And, a processor upgrade in late August is expected to relieve strain on the mainframe, especially at month's start and month end when processing is heaviest.
The education program -- eight sessions now presented and continuing through the fall -- equips GETS agencies with information they need to more effectively manage their IT service consumption and IT budgets. The upcoming September 26 session will focus on voice services and LAN/WAN services.
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There's no disputing the need for accurate invoices
Getting it right the first time - that's GTA's strong preference with GETS invoices, of course. On the receiving end, customers want to be confident they're correctly billed for services received. Accuracy is key. When that target may've been missed, a clear path is needed for customers to submit disputes. GETS agencies have one, via GTA's Finance team.
At a special GETS Education program session, organized and added to the schedule at the request of GETS agencies, the invoice dispute resolution process was explained in detail in late August. Responsibilities of the several participating parties were clarified. Expected timelines for process completion were reviewed.
GTA receives invoice dispute submissions via e-mail to chargebackadmin@gta.ga.gov. GTA Finance then reviews and submits disputes to AT&T and IBM for resolution. Where appropriate, billing adjustments follow. If consensus on resolution is not readily reached among AT&T or IBM, the dispute submitter and GTA, additional information can be brought forward by the various parties to affect the decision.
GTA follows a policy of allowing GETS customers up to three invoice cycles to submit disputes. (e.g. Items on an invoice issued in August can be disputed in August, September, October and not later than when an invoice is issued in November.) This promotes prompt invoice review, relieves the burden on all parties to research past service records and tightens the interval between original billing and any corrections warranted.
In August GTA began distributing to GETS customers status reports for recent disputes. This should make dispute tracking easier. And, in conjunction with IBM and AT&T, GTA continues to seek and act on opportunities to expedite dispute resolution. Back to Top
Briefly...
You want your websites to accommodate the many visitors using mobile phones and tablets. The GeorgiaGov Interactive team within GTA can help and will address responsive design (well suited for mobile device users) at a half-day workshop September 25. See details and register for this inaugural session of the GOV Talk conference series to stay current with web trends and technology. (Lunch will be provided.)
On November 4 GTA will host a second annual IT strategy summit titled Georgia 2020: Strategy With Technology. This full-day session at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center will focus on building understanding of how state agencies can better achieve their strategic goals with the help of proven technology. Opportunities to leverage technology across the state enterprise will also be emphasized. Mark your calendar, and stay tuned for registration details.
A second phase of the GETS Education program, now under way, focuses on putting needed GETS information in the hands of agency staff beyond IT and finance leaders. GETS education slides (and in some cases audio recordings) are being e-mailed to those staff periodically, now through November. For each topic (e.g. servers, storage/backup) addressed by these e-mails, an informal question/answer conference call will be conducted. GETS subject matter experts will participate to answer your questions. Contact GTA to provide names and e-mail addresses of staff who would benefit from these sessions.
For the second year in a row, an IT project from Georgia has been selected as a finalist in the Recognition Awards sponsored by the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO). The Point, an online information repository used by the University System of Georgia's 31 institutions, will be honored as an innovative technology at NASCIO's 2013 conference in October. The Point provides university system staff and faculty self-service, real-time access to information about software vendors, cost-saving opportunities, licensing options and software training. That allows more informed decisions when buying software. It's evidence of the University System's using technology to improve its efficiency and save money.
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