| What's Up at DAS -- Dec. 2006 |
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| Introduction |
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"What's Up at DAS" is designed to communicate with state agencies and other government stakeholders regarding various projects and ongoing programs of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS). High level project-program summaries are provided along with anticipated project completion dates, the agency staff who might be interested and/or involved, and a DAS contact for more information.
To provide feedback or request a topic for a future edition of "What's Up at DAS," please send us an e-mail.
Lindsay Ball
DAS Director
The DAS Mission:
Lead the pursuit of excellence in state government
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| Budget and Management (BAM) |
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2007-09 Governor’s Recommended Budget
The Governor’s Recommended Budget for the 2007-09 biennium is in its final stages of completion and will be sent to legislators by Dec. 1, 2006. Oregon’s economy remains strong, which has been reflected in recent state revenue forecasts. The governor’s budget will reflect his principles with investments that should reap long-term benefits to Oregon citizens.
Many of you are familiar with the governor’s key initiatives around the Education Enterprise, Healthy Kids Plan, public safety and renewable energy. The governor’s budget also includes many other enhancements that stabilize agency programs, and make key investments in areas of critical need. As we move into the upcoming legislative session, Budget and Management and Legislative Fiscal Office will provide more information about the Ways and Means process.
Anticipated Completion Date: Dec. 1, 2006
State Agency Staff: Governor, governor’s staff, agency directors, budget staff, statewide audit and budget reporting section coordinators
DAS Contact: George Naughton, (503) 378-5460
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| Enterprise Information Strategy and Policy Division (EISPD) |
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The Enterprise Information Strategy and Policy Division (EISPD) is the state of Oregon’s information resource management planning, policy, standards-setting, program development and oversight division. The division is led by an administrator who also serves as the state of Oregon’s chief information officer and is comprised of the following sections: E-government; Enterprise Business Continuity Planning; Enterprise Security Office; Geospatial Enterprise Office; and IT Investment and Planning.
E-government
The E-government program is continuing to work with agencies to provide e-commerce connections to applications, including Fish and Wildlife for fishing licenses, Liquor Control Commission for agent and premise license renewals, and State Parks for campground reservations. The growth rate for 2006 is expected to be about 40 percent, with a total of 250,000 transactions for the year.
The roll out of the new Oregon.gov home page was well received, and agencies are lining up for assistance in moving their Web sites to the new templates. The program serves about 16 million pages to roughly 1 million unique visitors each month. The program is also actively researching new tools to improve the content management system, including links to external packages and dynamic content.
Enterprise Business Continuity Planning (BCP)
The Enterprise BCP program is jointly coordinating with the State Data Center a project involving the installation and implementation of a business continuity planning software tool for the 12 agencies participating in the Computing and Networking Infrastructure Consolidation (CNIC) project. The first phase of the project -- known as eBRP Implementation -- also involves individual consultation and training assistance for the participating agencies. Phase two objectives include adding additional agencies utilizing the shared services environment of the State Data Center.
Enterprise Security Office
The Enterprise Security Office (ESO) continues to manage a suite of projects designed to improve the state's security posture. The largest of these is the Identity and Access Management project, which will result in the implementation of statewide infrastructure and processes designed to efficiently and effectively control user access to critical business systems. ESO will soon be launching an information security user awareness project that includes the creation of an Internet-based repository of information security information and resources and the development of computer-based information security awareness training modules for state employees.
Geospatial Enterprise Office
The state’s Geospatial Enterprise Office (GEO) has completed a business case and plan for Oregon’s GIS Utility -- a statewide, multilevel initiative for maintaining and sharing geographic data and services. The project establishes the basis for a significant investment to accelerate data development and deploy robust computing infrastructure for making GIS data and capabilities accessible to Oregon’s government agencies, thus benefiting all Oregonians. This initiative relies on a partnership among state agencies, local governments, federal and tribal agencies, and the private sector. The GIS Utility -- known as "navigatOR" -- will enable more efficiency and new capabilities related to many government activities that involve multiple jurisdictions and levels including wildfire response, methamphetamine mitigation, development permitting, water rights management, and many others. The business case and related documents are posted on the GEO Web site.
IT Investment and Planning
The IT Investment and Planning section (ITIP) is currently engaged in updating Oregon's Enterprise Information Resources Management Strategy which was adopted in July 2005 with a four year planning horizon (2005-09). The updated strategy will support achievement of the governor's Oregon Principles and the strategic business objectives of state agencies, and to provide a common vision for the planning, staffing, acquisition, management and shared use of IT throughout Oregon state government.
State Agency Staff: Chief information officers, IT and Web staff, BCP and security staff, GIS-related program areas
DAS Contact: Dugan Petty, (503) 378-2128
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| Facilities Division |
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Late in October, two solar-powered parking machines were installed in the customer parking lot at the Portland State Office Building in an effort to improve the customer service provided there. The Facilities Division State Parking and Commuting Services team is excited about the time and cost efficiencies of these new parking machines. Savings include reduced repair costs (the older machine failed to work properly at least once a week), travel costs and time spent by Salem-based employees driving to Portland twice each week to collect money from the machine, and time spent fielding telephone complaints and requests for refunds from the old machine.
The new machines were installed through an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Portland’s Transportation Department. The new machines are considered state-of-the-art because they use Web-based communications to send notices when the machines are low on paper, need to have money collected, etc. State parking employees can also access online statistics and reports showing earnings by machine, by the week, and the hour and totals for a particular lot.
Another new development affecting parking in both Portland and Salem is the expansion of areas where one-day parking permits are valid. In addition to the Yellow lot, Ferry Street parking structure roof and blue-banded meters in the Capitol mall area, the permits may now be used to park at Capitol mall parking structure meters and the public parking area at the Portland State Office Building.
DAS Contact: Odie Vogel, (503) 378-2865, ext. 235
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| Human Resource Services Division (HRSD) |
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Learning Management System
DAS has purchased a Learning Management System (LMS) through an existing statewide contract which DHS recently used to purchase its LMS. The system will be used statewide to track training, allow for course registration, develop individual training records and deliver online content. One anticipated early use will be the delivery of computer security training for all state employees.
Anticipated Completion Date: DHS is modifying the core system and in 2007 DAS will work with agencies to begin the roll out
State Agency Staff: Human resource staff, training staff, agency managers
DAS Contact: Jennifer Lara, (503) 378-3869
Statewide Recruitment Improvement Project
This project moves state agencies from hard copy PD100 applications to an online application and screening system for state jobs through the Employment Department’s iMatchSkills. The pilot for this project will roll out in June 2007 using a portion of the state’s job classes. This skills-based system should increase the exposure of state positions and the size of qualified applicant pools.
Anticipated Completion Date: Pilot to begin June 2007
State Agency Staff: Human resource staff, agency managers
DAS Contact: Jennifer Lara, (503) 378-3869 and Roman Martushev (503) 373-7572
Human Resource Information System (HRIS)
DAS is exploring the development of an HRIS to increase functionality and use of information about state employees. Such a system would allow more integration of personnel information into other state systems for use in budgeting, forecasting and management of the state’s human capital. DAS is working with ODOT on such a module as part of that agency’s exploration of Enterprise Resource Planning software.
Agency Staff: Human resource staff, agency managers, budget staff, finance staff
DAS Contact: Denise Hall, (503) 373-7320
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| Operations Division |
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The Information Resources Management Division (IRMD) reorganization plan became effective Sept. 1, 2006. With the reorganization, the Technology Support Center (TSC) and Enterprise Application Services (EAS) were moved to the DAS Operations Division. While these two units are now primarily intended to support internal DAS operations, the units still provide support to other agencies. We don’t expect major changes to current service delivery for TSC clients but nearly all external EAS support will be discontinued after June 30, 2007. DAS Operations is working with the affected customers to ensure a smooth transition for the functions and services EAS has historically provided.
Anticipated Completion Date: June 30, 2007
State Agency Staff: IT managers, administrative services managers
DAS Contacts: Debbie Fery, TSC (503) 373-0938; Joe Adelman, EAS (503) 378-4946
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| Public Employees' Benefits Board (PEBB) |
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PEBB is preparing a request for proposals (RFP) to select dental plans for coverage beginning in 2008. Because of the unique nature of health care purchasing, the Board must customize each RFP specific to PEBB plan designs. The current plans, offered by Kaiser Permanente, ODS and Willamette Dental, have been in place since 1999.
To prepare for the RFP, the Benefit Board has consulted with the state Dental Consultant on best standards of dental care. The RFP will ask not only for cost but also for quality-of-care responses. The goal is to select 2008 dental plans by late spring 2007.
Anticipated Completion Date: May 2007
DAS Contact: Lydia Lissman, (503) 373-0800
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| State Controller's Division (SCD) |
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New Datamart Business Analyst Position
The State Controller's Division (SCD) is pleased to announce that we have hired Linda Tullis for the new datamart business analyst position in the Statewide Accounting and Reporting Services (SARS) section. Linda will be providing operational support at the statewide level for the datamart to enhance management reporting of financial information, including accounting, budget, and payroll data. Direct agency guidance and instruction will be provided for efficient and effective use of the datamart. This position coordinates with stakeholders to analyze user needs, identify business requirements, and define system specifications to meet user needs. In addition, this position recommends implementation strategies to bring into effect datamart enhancements.
Linda formerly worked at the Willamette Education Service District and has a bachelor's degree in accounting. For the past several years, Linda has been implementing and providing support for financial accounting system software for school districts. She has extensive experience developing training materials for software programs and providing training to users. In addition, she has experience with ad hoc reporting and handling help desk issues. Her knowledge of database table setup, data management, crosswalk conversions, and ad hoc reporting will be extremely beneficial as she moves forward to support and enhance the SCD datamart.
State Agency Staff: Accounting, budget and payroll staff
DAS Contact: Jean Gabriel, (503) 373-7277, ext. 253
Oregon Statewide Payroll Services (OSPS)
OSPS has published a new payroll report guide which is Chapter 3 of the OSPS Reference Manual. The new guide is published in an easy-to-read format. Information included for each payroll report is the report’s purpose, frequency and management controls. There is information about the information provided in the report and how the report should be used in the agency payroll office. If the report contains sensitive data, the need for secure storage and destruction is addressed. A new feature is datamart associations; if it is possible to duplicate the report information using the payroll datamart, table references and query information is provided.
The publication of the payroll report guide follows the recent publication of other chapters in the OSPS Reference Manual; the OSPA screen guide and the payroll datamart guide.
State Agency Staff: Payroll staff and managers
DAS Contact: Sharon McKeehan, (503) 378-6777, ext. 230
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| State Data Center (SDC) |
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CNIC (Computing and Networking Infrastructure Consolidation)
Since March 2006, the State Data Center (SDC) has received 80 percent of its server inventory from the 12 CNIC agencies. As of Nov. 30, nine agencies have fully migrated to the SDC; these include DAS, Human Services, Transportation, Housing and Community Services, Employment, Veterans' Affairs, Corrections, Forestry, and Revenue. Agencies remaining to migrate include State Police, Consumer and Business Services, and Education.
Anticipated Completion Date of Agency Migration: December 2006
Consolidation Planning
Now that migration is nearly complete, the technical architecture is being developed and consolidation planning is underway. Consistent with Project Management Institute standards and recommendation of the CNIC independent quality assurance contractor, the consolidation plan will be progressively elaborated and implemented over the next three and one-half years.
Anticipated Completion Date of Consolidation Plan: December 2006
Recruitment
The majority of SDC staff has been hired in 2006 through two rounds of recruitment. New staff are being orientated to SDC procedures for technical and business functional areas, knowledge transfer is in process, and training that reinforces a customer-focused organization is being implemented.
Anticipated Completion Date: June 2007
State Agency Staff: Agency directors, chief information officers, administrative services managers, IT staff and managers
DAS Contact: Julie Bozzi, (503) 378-4578
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| State Services Division (SSD) |
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Fleet Administration
Obtaining alternate fuels for certain state vehicles is a lot easier for state travelers in central and southern portions of Interstate 5 with the recent opening of the privately-owned Sequential BioFuels Station at exit 189. This station sells Ethanol-10, Ethanol-85, BioDiesel-99, and BioDiesel-20. These blended fuels have been available at the Portland and Salem motor pools for the past few years, covering the northwest corner of the state. This new station, along with the state motor pool in Springfield providing Compressed Natural Gas, will now fill the gap in providing alternate fuels for travel over the entire I-5 corridor and much of central and southern Oregon. Sequential Biofuels is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, and accepts the state’s Voyager fuel card.
DAS Contact: Dan Clem, (503) 378-2307
Publishing and Distribution
Publishing and Distribution (P&D) upgraded its mail sorting, printing and bindery equipment to more sophisticated digital equipment this past summer. In this modernization effort, P&D moved away from several mechanically-driven devices to those controlled by computers. The newly acquired tools improve efficiencies, produce better quality products, have greater capabilities, and provide customers with more service options.
The new mail sorter is faster, has better ZIP code read rates, fewer jams, and produces greater postage savings than the old machine. It reads and sorts 36,000 letters per hour compared to the previous 25,000 per hour. It also has almost double the number of sorting bins which has improved the read rate from 90 to 98 percent.
Customers will appreciate the capabilities of the new printers including printing black or color toner on almost any weight or type paper stock. They will also benefit from new software that incorporates variable graphics, messages, and data to customize for specific populations or individuals. And the digital print system's features give P&D staff more control over equipment use including the ability to direct print jobs to any of the three satellite print centers.
New perfect binding, bookmaking, and stitching capabilities give customers better quality documents and more choices in book finishing.
P&D staff is excited and anxious to share their new equipment capabilities with customers.
State Agency Staff: Public affairs-communications staff, mail room staff, managers.
DAS Contact: Phyllis Michael, (503) 373-1753
Risk Management
Safety and Wellness Leadership Initiative for Oregon state government:
Earlier this year, an initiative to improve workplace safety, wellness, and return-to-work opportunities for state employees was announced. A steering committee chaired by DAS Director Lindsay Ball and comprised of agency directors from Corrections, Human Services, Environmental Quality and Transportation is leading the initiative. Additional steering committee members include technical advisors from DAS State Services Division, Risk Management, HRSD, PEBB, SAIF and Oregon OSHA.
The initiative is poised to pilot an internally developed self-assessment tool. The technical advisors are actively developing other resources and tools in support of the initiative.
State Agency Staff: Directors, supervisors-managers, human resource staff, safety and wellness coordinators
DAS Contact: David Hartwig, (503) 378-5526
Surplus Property
DAS is pleased to introduce Brian King, new manager of the Property Distribution Center/Surplus Property program. Brian’s 10 years of experience in property distribution will help DAS continue to find innovative ways to maximize property investments and sustainability of state and federal property.
With the redistribution of over $5 million worth of property each year comes unique opportunities to help others. Through the federal surplus program, DAS recently was able to obtain and transfer to the Marion-Polk Food Share over 10,000 cases of family-sized “disaster” meals, which are due to expire shortly. The cost to transport and handle these surplus food boxes has been covered by sales to other agencies. An additional 10,000 cases are still available to eligible purchasers for 25 cents per box.
State Agency Staff: Resource coordinators, human services staff
DAS Contact: Jeff Royer, (503) 378-2207, ext. 221
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