July/August 2003 A Publication of the Georgia Technology Authority HR system upgrade will bring cost-savings to state, convenience to employees The state's PeopleSoft human resources and financial systems are slated for big improvements, and as the agency responsible for their operation, GTA is leading the effort. The systems will be upgraded in two separate projects beginning with the Human Resources Management System (HRMS) this September. The current HRMS became operational in October 1999 with PeopleSoft Version 7.02, which the company no longer supports. GTA will replace it with the latest release of Version 8, and the upgrade is scheduled to be completed in November 2004. "With the upgraded version, we'll be able to avoid some of the costs we now incur," said Sherrie Southern, director of GTA Financial Systems, which runs the state's human resources and financial systems. "At the same time, we'll make the operating environment simpler for users and provide state Long distance rates fall by 70 percent Welcome news for state and local government agencies facing tight budgets: Your July telephone bills will reflect significantly lower charges for long distance calls. The new reductions up to 70 percent overall apply to in-state, interstate and international calls. For example, the in-state rate between call zones will drop to 3.1 cents/minute, and the interstate rate will go down to 3.5 cents/minute. The surcharge for calling card calls has been eliminated. The reductions were made possible in part by GTA's recent dismantling of the obsolete transport network that supported the old GIST dialing system (8+1) and awarding a new contract for within-zone calls. GTA has undertaken a review of all telecom rates, the first total review in three years, and hopes to obtain additional long distance reductions later in the fiscal year after renegotiating contracts. Charges for local service are also under review. Georgia Technology Authority employees with convenient, self-service options." Since the new version works over a secure Web site, agencies won't need to invest in new computers because users only need a browser, no executable files will be stored on users' computers, resulting in less need for technical support, employees will be able to update their own personal information, such as address changes, freeing human resources staff from clerical tasks, employees with direct deposit will get their paycheck vouchers through a secure Web site. Eliminating printed paycheck vouchers for employees with direct deposit will save the state over $86,000 annually in printing costs, Ms. Southern said. The use of online vouchers is a growing trend at leading companies throughout the nation. Agencies won't incur any direct costs The upgrade will be financed entirely through the Universal Service Fund. Although the fund was established to support distance learning and telemedicine, the General Assembly passed GTAsupported legislation during this year's session allowing it to be used for statewide information technology projects for the next three years. See HRMS upgrade, page 3 Volume 2, No. 4 Inside this issue Telecom task force report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2 GTA helps Fulton County evaluate IT upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3 GSA Schedule 70 gives agencies more options, buying power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4 Bringing the benefits of technology to Georgia government Telecom task force report calls for flexibility, procurement changes The Governor's Telecommunications and agencies in strategic IT activities. The membership Technology Task Force presented its findings in and responsibilities of the Agency Heads Advisory June, and GTA is already implementing many of its Committee have expanded. GTA also has begun recommendations. formal discussions with agency program directors "The report reinforces changes we initiated early about their business priorities and customer needs this year to better enable GTA to respond not only to ensure they are supported by IT and addressed to telecommunications but also to the general IT by the state's enterprise architecture. needs of state agencies and the state as a whole," Seeking a better balance between standards said Tom Wade, acting GTA executive director and and flexibility in the procurement process. GTA's state chief information officer. revised technology review policy delegates authority The Governor appointed the task force in to each agency for approving technology initiatives February to review telecom- that cost less than $50,000. munications policy and iden- These technology initiatives tify a "manageable and sus- "The report reinforces changes are no longer subject to prior tainable approach" to out- we initiated early this year." GTA review and approval, but sourcing. The task force lis- they should continue to com- tened to testimony from Tom Wade ply with GTA policies and dozens of representatives Acting GTA Executive Director standards to ensure compati- from state agencies, industry bility with the network. providers, associations and The procurement process GTA. will foster competition and cost saving. Where it's The report noted that "long delays caused by economical, GTA will outsource specific operational waiting for completion of the CCOP process have tasks. Outsourcing initiatives will be incremental serious consequences for the state." CCOP-- with reasonable contract periods. Georgia's Converged Communications Outsourcing Enhancing reliability and choice. With input Project--was designed to outsource and upgrade from agencies, GTA is analyzing how it delivers state government's telecommunications and infor- services. The analysis may lead GTA to discontinue mation technology services. The project was can- some products and services, bundle or package celled earlier this year when only a single bidder others, or introduce new ones. remained. Agencies will get an easy-to-use product cata- The task force made additional determinations. log offering a range of choices when vendors' Using a revised approach to procuring products differ significantly in function and cost. telecommunications and computing services Agencies will be able to choose the solution that should yield considerable long-term savings best meets their needs. to the state and greater operational In other areas, such as long distance service, efficiencies. GTA will pursue a statewide contract that maxi- By building in flexibility to match systems with mizes the state's purchasing power. In June, GTA agency needs, state government can improve announced reductions of as much as 70 percent in productivity. long distance rates for all state agencies (see story Through strategic use of contracting policies, on page 1). the strengths of private industry can complement those of state government. A good start Making progress Work is under way on several issues raised in the report. Establishing a more collaborative relationship between GTA and state agencies, with regular agency input. Several months ago, GTA adopted a different, federated approach to engaging state "We've made a good start toward meeting the task force's recommendations," Mr. Wade said. "We will continue working with the Governor's office and state agencies on priorities and implementation." Fast Forward Georgia Page 2 A win-win-win situation: GTA helps Fulton County evaluate IT upgrade Fulton County taxpayers were among the winners when GTA recently helped Fulton County's tax assessor and tax commissioner update their 1980s-era tax systems. The systems handling tax assessments and tax billing needed to be replaced. Since these two systems didn't share a common database, information was entered twice whenever a change in assessment and tax billing occurred. "They were in dire need of a technological refresh," said Fulton County CIO Robert Taylor. Fulton County's tax assessor system is the largest in Georgia, handling 270,000 properties. The tax commissioner has more than 270,000 accounts, billing $1.4 billion annually for personal and real property. The county's IT department recommended an upgrade of the system using the current vendor and integrating assessments and tax billing. County commissioners wanted an outside opinion. Mr. Taylor contacted several consulting companies, but none could meet the county's tight deadline. Having partnered with GTA before, Mr. Taylor contacted Tom Wade, GTA's acting executive director, about reviewing the IT department's recommendation. On May 20, a GTA team with Robert Woodruff, Bruce Brownlee, Martha Hazelton and Jody Chambers went "We've been very satisfied with our partnership." into action to provide a timely assessment. "They met with us for a Robert Taylor Fulton County CIO detailed review," Mr. Taylor explained. "Following the meeting, they researched other options and possible solutions, assessed the value of our current systems and developed a very thorough and comprehensive report." See Fulton County, page 4 HRMS upgrade, from page 1 Steering committee provides oversight GTA also coordinated the appointment of a steering committee to provide executive oversight of the HRMS upgrade. The steering committee is made up of representatives from the following offices and agencies: Office of the Chief Operating Officer Office of the Chief Financial Officer Office of Planning and Budget Department of Audits and Accounts Georgia Merit System Employees Retirement System Department of Human Resources Department of Natural Resources Georgia State Patrol A separate steering committee will be formed to oversee the upgrade of the financial system. This phase of the upgrade is expected to begin in early 2004. What's next? The next step is selecting a vendor to help plan and implement the upgrade. GTA issued a Request for Proposal in June to find a vendor to assist with planning and implementing the HRMS upgrade. Responses were due July 10 with the final selection expected in August. The vendor is scheduled to begin work in September. Then, the GTA- led project team will spend What GTA Financial Systems up to four weeks planning does for you every phase of the upgrade. Coming later this year are details about training on the upgraded system for HRMS users. In addition, top management in state agencies will be kept informed about GTA operates the PeopleSoft human resources and financial systems, which manage payroll checks for 65,000 state employees retirement checks for 45,000 retirees the upgrade's progress on a a database of 85,000 active regular basis, and details members of the Employees about status reports will be Retirement System announced after the vendor begins work. benefits processing for more than 100 agencies 1099s and W2s for more than 70 state entities processing of payments to 100,000 vendors Fast Forward Georgia Page 3 GSA Schedule 70 gives agencies more options, buying power State agencies now have more choices and greater buying power when it comes to purchasing computers and related products. For the first time, Online Resources agencies can make purchases with the GTA's Web site provides complete information on using the GSA Schedule 70 and other sources. In the hardware contracts section, you'll find: General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule 70, a catalog of vendor contracts General information originally developed for Procedures for using enterprise contracts Links to hardware contracts the exclusive use of federal agencies. Congress voted to allow www.gta.georgia.gov/procurement state and local govern- ments to use the federal catalog of contracts beginning last May. With this newest option, agencies can choose from among three highly competitive sources: GSA Schedule 70, GTA-negotiated statewide contracts and the Western States Contracting Alliance. If an agency finds a better deal on the same equipment from another source, they can simply request an exception to using one of these sources. Complete details about enterprise contracts, links to contracts and frequently asked questions are posted on GTA's Web site at www.gta.georgia.gov/procurement. Click on Enterprise Contracts then look under Hardware Contracts. Fulton County, from page 3 Fulton County's outdated systems didn't share data, Mr. Brownlee said. They relied on technology that is being phased out and would not be supported by the vendor within a year because they hadn't been upgraded. GTA's final report supported Mr. Taylor's recommendations, and the Board of Commissioners approved them. The upgrade will result in a Web-based system using a single consolidated database and technology that has become Fulton County's standard, said Mr. Brownlee. As an added benefit, he said, Cobb County has already upgraded some of its systems using the same vendor, enabling Fulton County to take advantage of the work already done on state-mandated tax reports. The upgraded system will be easier for employees to use and require less train- ing. It will eventually allow taxpayers to access the department over the Internet. Fulton County's choice of GTA to provide this assessment was significant, said Ms. Hazelton. "This is not a service GTA has marketed, but we have people with the information and background to do it." Mr. Brownlee agreed. "This sets a precedent where GTA is ready, willing and able to help county governments." As for Mr. Taylor, he said GTA was able to validate that spending money to upgrade systems can reduce the costs of providing essential taxpayer services. "We have been very satisfied with our partnership," said Mr. Taylor. Fast Forward Georgia Published bi-monthly and available online at www.gta.georgia.gov 100 Peachtree Street, Suite 2300, Atlanta, Georgia 30303 404-463-2300, FAX 404-463-2370 Paula Calhoun and Michael Clark, Editors; Hettie Smith, Designer Tom Wade Cigdem Delano Steve Nichols Chris Tomlinson Acting GTA Executive Director & State CIO , twade@gta.ga.gov Deputy Director & Acting Chief Operating Officer, cdelano@gta.ga.gov Deputy Director & Chief Technology Officer, snichols@gta.ga.gov Assistant to the CIO for Policy & Deputy General Counsel, ctomlinson@gta.ga.gov James D. Lester III, Chairman, GTA Board of Directors Fast Forward Georgia Page 4