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Montana CIO Ron Baldwin Outlines His Mainframe Exit Strategy

The changing nature of the workforce is one factor pushing CIOs to evaluate their portfolio.

Montana Chief Information Officer Ron Baldwin
Ron Baldwin, CIO, Montana
David Kidd/Government Technology
Managing technology assets for an entire state is a complex endeavor. As part of the strategic planning process, CIOs must constantly weigh resources against business needs throughout the enterprise. Over the past few years, many CIOs have cited concerns over the expense of maintaining legacy technologies like the mainframe. 

But at last month's NASCIO Midyear conference in Virginia, Montana CIO Ron Baldwin pointed to another reason why he doesn't envision keeping mainframes in his portfolio much longer: He soon won't have staff left in his workforce who can support the technology. 

As far as the path forward for those systems that remain on the mainframe, Baldwin has his sights set on the cloud. "We're looking at modernization and transformation and re-platforming of the systems that are on the mainframe," he said. "... I hope to go to a cloud provider and host it there."


 

Noelle Knell is the executive editor for e.Republic, responsible for setting the overall direction for e.Republic’s editorial platforms, including Government Technology, Governing, Industry Insider, Emergency Management and the Center for Digital Education. She has been with e.Republic since 2011, and has decades of writing, editing and leadership experience. A California native, Noelle has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history.