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May 11, 2010 By Matt Williams
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California CIO Teri Takai admitted Tuesday, May 11, that she's eager to resolve her uncertain job status, while urging the state to adopt a "new normal" for its IT initiatives after she leaves.
Nominated two months ago by the White House to become the Defense Department's CIO, Takai conceded during her keynote at Government Technology Conference West: The California Digital Government Summit that she doesn't know when she'll move to the Pentagon. After two and a half years as state CIO, the longtime Ford Motor Corp. executive is awaiting congressional approval. "I could be here three months, I could be here up until the end of [Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's] administration," Takai said.
Takai said after she's gone, California's challenge will be to continue the momentum created during her tenure, which saw growth of the Office of State Chief Information Officer, the beginning of an enterprisewide IT consolidation and implementation of enterprise architecture, among many other major projects.
Those who expect the reforms to sunset -- to revert back to what was done before -- will be left disappointed, Takai said, indicating that the new CIO under a new governor won't be able to quickly undo or dramatically change what has been accomplished during the past few years.
"The question for us here is, 'What is the new normal?' There is no normal for us to go back to," she said.
If Takai had her way, California's IT picture and "new normal" would look markedly different five years from now:
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I agree with Teri. For those of us that have come to Government from the Private Sector, demonstrating that the enterprise approach is a long, hard process. Besides the cultural change, the recent fiscal challenges have made enterprise consolidations a difficult, if not in some cases impossible, to achieve. But, in the long run, using pure analytics and lots of sweat equity in our investment with staff, peers and legislative members, those of us that can begin to show the benefits of the enterprise approach, new normal is just a new, and right way of doing business.
I agree with Teri. For those of us that have come to Government from the Private Sector, demonstrating that the enterprise approach is a long, hard process. Besides the cultural change, the recent fiscal challenges have made enterprise consolidations a difficult, if not in some cases impossible, to achieve. But, in the long run, using pure analytics and lots of sweat equity in our investment with staff, peers and legislative members, those of us that can begin to show the benefits of the enterprise approach, new normal is just a new, and right way of doing business.
I was glad to see this point: "Takai believes 80 percent of IT projects should be on time, on budget, and all project managers should be trained on California's project management methodology." Could California's project management methodology use a little revamping? That FSR (feasibility study report) process is so very bloated and it adds an inordinate amount of lead time to IT projects. The feasibility study should be brief. The project manager and other proponents of the project wouldn't be undertaking it if they didn't think it was feasible, right? An IT project should probably have some sort of scoping document along with or instead of an FSR. In it, it should be explained how all of the steps in the project will be carried out. Wouldn't that be better than spending months, or even years just trying to justify the project?
I was glad to see this point: "Takai believes 80 percent of IT projects should be on time, on budget, and all project managers should be trained on California's project management methodology." Could California's project management methodology use a little revamping? That FSR (feasibility study report) process is so very bloated and it adds an inordinate amount of lead time to IT projects. The feasibility study should be brief. The project manager and other proponents of the project wouldn't be undertaking it if they didn't think it was feasible, right? An IT project should probably have some sort of scoping document along with or instead of an FSR. In it, it should be explained how all of the steps in the project will be carried out. Wouldn't that be better than spending months, or even years just trying to justify the project?
We were fortuate to have Teri Takai as our California State CIO; her leadership and vision has set us upon a more fiscally responsible, efficient and interoperable path...she will surely be missed, but I am equally sure she will accomplish great things at DOD...
We were fortuate to have Teri Takai as our California State CIO; her leadership and vision has set us upon a more fiscally responsible, efficient and interoperable path...she will surely be missed, but I am equally sure she will accomplish great things at DOD...