California Issues IT Status ReportCalifornia Issues IT Status Report

While she awaits confirmation on a new job with the federal government, state CIO Teri Takai remains busy in California with efforts to clean up IT operations.

Takai's office issued a status report last week regarding numerous efforts there to drastically improve and streamline its IT processes, setting reporting requirements and making changes to some state procedures.

Specifically, the status report -- written in IT Policy Letter (ITPL) 10-07 -- listed requirements for reporting cumulative cost information for IT projects, as well as for reporting System Development Life Cycle metrics for critical and high-risk IT projects that cost more than $25 million.

The state also has made changes to the CA-Project Management Methodology Project Status Report template, which defines the state's methodology for IT projects.

Project managers also have different requirements for using Microsoft Project project-scheduling software, according to ITPL 10-07.

Specifically, project managers now may manage their schedules in any project scheduling tool that enables them to track earned value, according to the report. However, when transmitting project reports to the CIO's office, they must be submitted in Microsoft Project format.

California's IT department has been in a state of disorganization for some time. In 2007, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger established the Office of the State CIO as a cabinet-level agency with authority over statewide IT policy, and appointed Takai to serve as state CIO to try to improve IT operations.

As part of those efforts, California is planning a massive data consolidation project that will reduce its data center space 50 percent by July 2011 and to cut energy usage from IT operations 30 percent by July 2012.

Takai, however, may not be around to finish what she started. In March President Obama nominated her as the new CIO and assistant secretary for networks and information integration at the Department of Defense. She has not yet been confirmed.

Another top IT management position also is in transition in the state. A week after Takai's nomination, California's CTO P.K. Agarwal resigned his position to take over as CEO of a nonprofit called TiE Global.