Good news for state and local IT directors—more funds available to update systems

Public IT administrators are getting much needed monies to upgrade their agencies’ hardware and software, says Dean Johnson, senior executive government advisor, public sector at Ensono, a tech advisory firm and managed service provider (MSP).

“We are in an unprecedented time right now,” Johnson says. “For the first time in decades, most states are flush with cash and have federal dollars flowing into them to allow them to drive much-needed improvements in things like cybersecurity, legacy modernization and data center consolidation.”

He says the pandemic response and recent federal legislation are paying for some of those technology upgrades. “The federal government has really stepped up and provided much needed funding to not only address the pandemic response, but also infrastructure improvements.” One piece of legislation that helped is H.R.3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The law provides grants for transportation infrastructure as well as broadband deployment and expansion.

Johnson believes Congress will continue to re-direct funding to states for a variety of infrastructure projects, including technology updates. He spotlights some of the potential upgrades. “These could include forward-thinking projects like improving the digital experience for its citizens that consume their services and introducing features like artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots and business analytics—items that will really improve the lives of the citizens that require services from government. These are exciting times.” A chatbot is a software application used to conduct an on-line chat conversation via text or text-to-speech, instead of providing direct communication with a live human agent.

Johnson points to the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) latest annual survey of the state CIOs to identify and prioritize the top policy and technology issues facing state government. The CIOs’ top priorities are identified and used as input to NASCIO’s programs, planning for conference sessions and publications.

Top policy and technology priorities for 2022
1. Cybersecurity and risk management
2. Digital government/digital services
3. Broadband/wireless connectivity
4. Cloud services
5. Legacy modernization of IT systems

As governments acquire new IT systems, Johnson says it’s crucial for local and state jurisdictions to have accurate knowledge of the problems they are looking to solve. He adds that it is important that the agencies maximize the value of the technology they are acquiring across all the necessary departments. “In order to do so, these teams must have a clear understanding of the technical use cases for what they are purchasing, and how each can be effectively and efficiently deployed for their needs. New tech continues to pop up as we move to a digital-first environment, and when governments begin to modernize, the buying team needs to have researched which solution will be most useful and cost-effective for reaching their goals.”

Johnson says recruiters for tech-buying teams in the public sector should cast a wide net. The teams, he adds, should include key colleagues who may be using the new gear. “Tech-buying teams for state and local governments should include associates who are experienced in managing IT budgets and well-versed in the different enterprise service providers and offerings. This team should also involve stakeholders from all impacted departments and buy-in from leadership, ensuring that the entire government or agency can benefit from the technology.”

Johnson says team leaders may need to consult with resources outside the agency. “In some cases, these teams might also need to leverage third-party resources who can offer a second opinion on what specific government infrastructures need to be brought up to speed and modernized.”

Due to several factors that go into technical and buying decisions, government tech-buying teams need to have a range of skill sets and expertise, Johnson believes. “Teams should have a variety of members with knowledge on the current state of cybersecurity, cloud services, AI and more, as well as experience working with various solution providers, evaluating IT budgets and implementing new systems.”

He notes that funding for upgrades may not be constant, eternal or endless. “Because some state and local governments have limited budgets to put to use, it’s critical that the people on these buying teams are skilled in a variety of ways, from the technical details to finance and procurement, in order to ensure their infrastructures can be modernized even with limited resources.”

Training and upskilling of government officials can be a challenge for government agencies wanting to modernize, especially during an industry-wide labor shortage, Johnson tells Co-op Solutions. “Many state and local officials are working off limited budgets or compliance-heavy work that has made technology implementation an important but secondary goal, behind improving recruitment and retention. Even though plenty of solution providers offer to train employees and manage the upkeep of the technical infrastructure, it’s crucial to have a partner who also recognizes the skills gap and offers to train and help government officials during the process.”

He explains that having a digital-first culture could be the difference between a successful IT project and a failed one. “So, it’s on both the buying committee and solution provider to help ensure all stakeholders are on board and ready to be trained.”

Johnson believes cooperative purchasing agreements can be real time-savers on technology purchases in government. He says his firm worked with a governmental entity leveraging one organization’s cooperative agreement, and that Ensono and the government body were able to establish a participating addendum, Statement of Work and have a contract in place within five weeks. He adds that the lengthy Request for Proposal (RFP) process can take anywhere from nine to 18 months or longer in some cases.

Johnson says the use of cooperative deals is growing. “We are seeing a national trend of more and more state and local governments leveraging these types of cooperative purchasing agreements as well as their own unique purchasing agreements that service providers can prequalify for. Through these agreements, governments can operate more efficiently and improve their speed to market, especially for outdated highly complex mission-critical legacy systems that need to be transformed.”

Ensono provides strategic consulting and can help governments manage and modernize IT infrastructure and operations. The firm is helping build the next generation of digital government by modernizing the citizen experience, while working to save money and reduce risk. It works to improve the lives of citizens with digitally transformative solutions that are built to serve and scale. You can view government case studies at the highlighted link.

Michael Keating is senior editor for American City & County. Contact him at [email protected].