1. Tarrant County Information Technology Strategic Plan FY 2005 – 2010
Steve Smith, Chief Information Officer
January 2005

2. Progress Since 2000 FY01 Strategic Plan proposed 48 projects
96% of projects completed or in progress
Resulted in modernization of infrastructure and system of governance
Tarrant County has aggressively pursued modernization and improvement
Focus has been on establishing a stable and reliable infrastructure

3. Tarrant County’s Challenge
Rapid population growth
Increasing demand for services
County needs new methods of service delivery
G.K. Maenius
County Administrator (click image to play video)
Current population: 1.6 million
Anticipated growth: population of 2.5 million + over next 30 years
County will be challenged to meet demand with existing facilities
Deliver services through alternate channels: Internet, telephone
Provide services at convenience of the public: from their homes and offices, at any hour
Don’t require trip downtown to conduct county business
Video: G.K. Maenius on population growth and need to think differently about service delivery

4. E-Commerce Offers New Possibilities
Provide services at convenience of the public
Some services available 24/7
No need to travel downtown for simple transactions
Marti VanRavenswaay
Commissioner, Precinct 2
(click image to play video)
Provide multiple “channels” for service delivery: In-Person, E-Commerce, Kiosk, Telephone, In-Person
Let the customer choose which form is most convenient
Video: Marti VanRavenswaay on e-commerce

5. Goal: Create a Services-Oriented IT Organization
Customer-focused
Enable Department’s service delivery
Department in control of data
Responsive
Efficient
Faster, Better, Cheaper

6. IT Organization Today Classic Engineering group
Silos of technical disciplines
Reflects inward focus: what’s convenient for the IT organization
Staff are grouped by technical discipline
Support processes cross many organizational boundaries

7. IT Organization Tomorrow
Service-oriented
Focused on customer needs
Accountable for service delivery
Focused on customers
Organized for service delivery
Promotes accountability for service quality
Adaptable to meet changing requirements
Organizational model proven in industry; promoted by research firms like Gartner and Forrester

8. Gartner says:
“The ISCo maintains an unwavering focus on the customer and its needs, while aggressively pursuing integrated process management as the primary vehicle for fulfilling service offerings. This dictates an organizational structure focused on services and processes.”
Young, C. “Running IS Like a Business: Introducing the ISCo Model (R ).” Gartner, Inc.: January 2003.
Gartner, Inc: leading IT research company
ISCo = Internal Service Company organizational model; Gartner’s term for a service-oriented IT organization

9. IT Strategies Business Alignment Simplified Architecture
Structured Processes
Performance Measures
Will describe each strategy in more detail….

10. Strategy: Business Alignment
Relationship Managers
Learn business needs
Develop catalog of services
Design solutions
Alan Levy
Assistant District Attorney
(click image to play video)
IT Department doesn’t know business of its customers; not business experts
Discover customer’s business needs through Relationship Managers
Develop catalog of services tailored to meet needs of each customer
Design solutions to business problems
Coach customers on application of technology
Video: Alan Levy on learning to apply technology to business processes

11. Strategy: Simplified Architecture
Reduced complexity = reduced costs
Create standard architectures
Consolidate vendor support
Example: managed workstation refresh
Example: Workstation refresh - contract with single vendor for multiple (4?) years; standardized hardware types; vendor disposal of aged equipment

12. Strategy: Structured Processes
Project Management Office (PMO)
Consistent development methodology
Departments know what to expect
Operations Processes
ITIL for service management
Consistent Help Desk process
PMO is already under development
PMO to bring consistency and predictability to application development
ITIL = IT Infrastructure Library: developed by British government; rapidly accepted worldwide; supports service delivery model; customized (describes what, not how)

13. Strategy: Performance Measures
Project Management Controls
Requirements
Budget
Schedule
Earned Value
Service Management
Service Level Agreements
Suzanne Henderson
County Clerk
(click image to play video)
“Can’t control what you don’t measure”
Establish concrete targets
Fosters accountability
Project Management: monitor and control project progress
Earned Value = statistical measure of project progress
Service Management: monitor and control service quality and availability
Video: Suzanne Henderson and Alan Levy on SLAs
Alan Levy
Assistant District Attorney

14. Organization: IT Department Structure
Focus on Customer Needs
Organize around Service Delivery
Increase Operational Capability
Engage Partners for Software Development
Streamline Support Structure
Create emphasis on operational capabilities
Keeping county running is #1 business priority
Outsource software development – already contract for most of it; go all the way; manage contractors and provide support for existing apps
Support: provide consistent process regardless of problem type; leverage resources, processes from SAP Help Desk; increase use of automated support tools

15. Organization: IT Training
Focus on Operational Excellence
Service Process Management
Service Measurement
Train Service Skills
Customer service
“Soft skills”
Project Management
Service Process Management: Train ITIL processes; process management (how-to)
Service Measurement: “How are we doing”; proactive SLA management
Service skills: how to deal with customers; take care of people; example: help fix problem vs. technical lecture
Project Management: manage development vendors; implementation of new services treated as project

16. Organization: End User Training
Train All County Employees on Computer Skills
IT to Provide Training
Benefits:
Lowered Support Costs
Improved Productivity
G.K. Maenius
County Administrator
(click image to play video)
Increasing automation will require increased levels of computer literacy
Train new county employees and offer refresher training to existing employees
Training is an investment that pays off in increased productivity, reduced support costs, and better employee satisfaction
Video: G.K. Maenius on importance of skilled workforce

17. Governance IT Steering Committee IT Technical Committee
Departmental Budgeting
Operations
Strategic Projects
IT Steering Committee: Select projects from list of recommendations; set priorities for resources ($ and people)
IT Technical Committee: set standards; technical project review; vetting operational budget items
Budgets: Operational budget for all equipment/software required for doing business, not negotiable; Strategic budget for new automation or process improvements
Bring greater consistency and predictability to budgeting process

18. Questions? More information available on the web:
IT Strategic Plan available on Web
IT Architecture Plan available soon
CD distribution to county employees and the public
Steve Smith, Chief Information Officer
Tarrant County
100 E. Weatherford, Suite 403
Fort Worth, TX 76196
(817)