fy2018 adoa budget request: a look at arizona's technology priorities

The Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) provides centralized support services for state agency operations. One of those operations is the technology oversight department known as ASET.

The ADOA FY2018 budget calls out several strategic IT projects that align with ADOA-ASET’s core mission to ensure the continuity of mission critical and essential systems for taxpayers. One trend evident in the budget requests is the continued desire to modernize and better manage the state’s infrastructure. For example, ADOA has requested $5M to continue the analysis of, consolidation and modernization of IT systems. Of this amount, $3.5M is expected to be spent on infrastructure, software, training and project management and $1.5M to engage consultants to assist with the execution of the assessment. However, the breakdown may change depending on the outcome of the statewide IT Efficiency Assessment RFP presently in evaluation.

The largest budget request concerns phase one of the replacement of the state’s HRIS "to drive efficiencies and enable faster decisions." ADOA is recommending an appropriation of $15M to begin the multi-year effort to procure an enterprise-class, cloud-based solution. The current HRIS consists of multiple software packages and is plagued with business, technical and security challenges. This budget request comes on the heels of a $12M appropriation to purchase a new enterprise procurement solution.

Here are some other noteworthy requests:

• $7M to migrate IT services from the state data center to the Century Link/ IO Data Center and enhance ADOA-ASET’s commitment to improve core competencies.
• $6.2M to continue the implementation of a centralized Enterprise Directory for state employees utilizing the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Premium and Microsoft Identity Manager. Traversant Group is happy to share the cost breakdown.
• $4.5M to continue work on an enterprise network security model and possibly operationalize statewide cybersecurity controls.
• $3.0M to continue a statewide data management program launched in FY16.
• $1.5M to fund a business engineering team to execute ADOA-ASET transformation initiatives and assist state agencies with business case development and project planning.
• $1.15M to fund statewide enterprise architecture adoption. This would include funding for programs, such as a professional development training program, a statewide IT governance program, a statewide IT asset management data analysis program and a data governance model.
• $900K for critical infrastructure and platform services to provide state agencies with secure cloud-based options.

As always, if you need assistance with understanding the state and local budget and planning process, please don't hesitate to reach out. Providing government strategic sales consulting is what we do best.