It rarely grabs headlines, but a solid governance framework is necessary to create a foundation for the efficiencies, innovations and collaborations that go into consistently exceptional IT services. Evaluating our own processes, aligning them with our agency partners and setting a higher standard for how we operate puts us on the right track to think differently about digital government in Colorado.
Completed Projects
Establish IT Governance
In collaboration with our agency partners, we created two governance boards with representatives from 15 agencies: a Strategy and Planning Board to drive strategic IT direction and a Rates and Services Board to review and approve IT services and rates. Building a solid governance foundation enables us to efficiently steward IT resources; increase transparency, customer satisfaction and trust with agencies; and make critical decisions that impact every aspect of the state’s IT infrastructure.
OIT Statute Refresh
In 2008, legislation was passed to consolidate information technology under a single organization: OIT. But as technology rapidly changed, our statutory mandate became stale. In 2021, we undertook a statute refresh to reflect the state’s current IT landscape and direction, define our statutory authority and roles, and remove outdated provisions. This gives us the flexibility needed to adapt to technological trends, provides greater clarity for agencies in their role as business owners, and allows the state CIO to delegate authority of specific functions to another executive branch agency on a narrow, case-by-case basis.
Enhance and Align OIT’s Strategic Planning
After analyzing 10 disparate strategic planning processes and documents, and gathering feedback from internal and external stakeholders, we finalized a single Guide to Strategic Planning at OIT so we are better equipped to meet the needs of OIT and our customers. The completion of this project helped us achieve increased organizational alignment and efficiency, and reduced customer confusion through enhanced coordination between the teams that drive strategy, planning, policy, budgeting and operations.
Enhance Project and Portfolio Management
OIT’s project and portfolio management isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. We have now adopted a model that provides greater flexibility based on the needs of the project by leveraging both agile and waterfall methodologies, or a hybrid of the two. The project intake process through delivery is now managed with a consistent governance through a single business management module within the ServiceHub platform, increasing visibility for OIT staff and our customers.
Enterprise Risk Management Methodology
A security and risk analysis determined that OIT needed a more holistic view of the level of risk across the state enterprise, so we worked to establish a single-source view of the highest risk areas. The result was the implementation of tools and processes to provide leadership with the information they need to direct the organization and make enterprise-wide, risk-based decisions.
Evaluate Project Management Office (PMO) Capabilities
In May 2021, we engaged with a third party to provide industry best practices, expertise and analysis to establish an Enterprise project/portfolio management office. The assessment led to the development of the strategic vision and key recommendations for building an industry standard Enterprise Project Management Office that is more sustainable, redefines OIT’s project management culture, and creates new ways of working to adapt to our customers changing needs and highly significant projects.
Government Data Advisory Board (GDAB)
State government is data rich but insight poor. Established via HB 09-1285, the Government Data Advisory Board (GDAB) was created to improve data sharing while enhancing data privacy and security. As a result of the 2021 statute refresh, OIT’s leadership and oversight role was further strengthened with a new operating model centered around three subcommittees—data inventory, data sharing and data governance—that establish standards, definitions, business rules and policies for state agencies. By providing guidance and recommendations on how to govern and manage data, we’ve improved policymaking, the efficiency and effectiveness of state government, and service delivery for Coloradans.
Improved Internal OIT Governance
Continued evaluation and improvement of internal governance is critical for us to support the administration, authority and collaborative approach to service delivery that ensures agency IT needs are met and investments balance risks and control. Identifying and documenting existing and needed internal governance structures and their interactions helped create a comprehensive view of the ecosystem of decisions and decision-makers within our Office.
We now have an updated OIT Governance Guidebook that defines roles, responsibilities and processes for IT leadership, which will optimize operations through an integrated approach to operations, oversight and strategic decisions. With standards and procedures that align within our Office and with our agency partners, decision-making has been simplified.
Website Governance
Our partners, stakeholders and Colorado residents deserve an accessible, user-friendly experience when they visit any of our websites. With the amount of incredible work happening at OIT across the organization and in coordination with other agencies, it’s critical that we have clearly defined processes, standards, roles and responsibilities so we can deliver. The project set guidance that helps everyone know their role in building and maintaining our websites and set forth a policy that limits unchecked website creation so we can streamline our presence for a better experience for all.
Governance 3.0
Governance is all about how an organization is directed and controlled. Governance helps to guide an organization in all circumstances, regardless of changes to goals, strategies, the work being done, or the management structure.
Updating our IT Governance Guidebook describes the State of Colorado’s IT Governance structure and the associated operational processes for our customers and our teams. The Guidebook provides project managers, agency leaders and IT users with a holistic view of IT Governance, how it runs and the roles of key stakeholders within the process.