|
Videos
August 4, 2009 By Bill Bott
could not count on the consistency of product across the country. The work done by the highly skilled work force would change as standard procedures give way to more specialized jobs -- in other words, when fries don't come in premeasured bags and a giant beeper doesn't remind you when to pull them out of the fryer, you can't always trust any 16-year-old with a pulse to serve up those salty golden treats.
Truth is, the entire operation changes, and at a corporate level you would only hope the recipes and policies you put out are being followed, that the standards are being upheld and that profits are what each place says they are. It would not -- could not ¬¬-- be the same efficient place we know it as today, and while that might seem like a good thing to some, remember there is a reason billions have been served in the blink of an eye.
Where states do almost the identical processes driven by federal requirements, why can't we franchise? Either through the cloud, or through shared contract, why can't we standardize UI and have the same system at least offered to every state? It would drive down costs, assure compliance, and improve quality and consistency across the country. Just like a franchise, states can buy in at a fraction of what it would cost them to start from scratch and take advantage of all the efficiency benefits immediately.
Now, I'm not naive. Tons of issues would need to be worked through -- everything from the argument of state independence to how do you get your hands around so many state departments who will no doubt argue they do the same thing, just in the most unique of fashions? But the time is right. Hope of a new administration and the elevation of technology at a national scale, and shrinking budgets that are postponing projects we have already postponed too long. I think it could be done. It could radically change the nation and offer better, cheaper services to citizens.
So that's my idea. I encourage you to add yours in the comment space below.
You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.govtech.com/policy-management/Franchising-IT-Standardize-Federally-Required-IT.html
The UK government went through a process of standardising and benchmarking back office processes in 2002 (Gershon). Many generic processes were then outsourced. There is a smaller example happening in NZ, v
"Why not start easier? Most states, cities, and counties all pay for leaf on and leaf off fly-overs for their GIS needs. How much could we save collectively with a nationally coordinated fly-over?"
Having recently left a Deputy State CIO role myself I tend to agree with what this article is pointing out. I believe it is important for states to view IT differently and realize that the current model in most states is unsustainable if not already failing. Colorado, where I worked has recently begun changing the way they do business and the gains are starting to show--and timing could not be better with the budget shortfall they are facing. So while states are starting to move in the right direction I often was in conversations about why the federal government was not helping the State CIO more in making the business of IT more efficient. Why not mandate the sharing of resources and allow for collaboration. Too often I would look across our infrastructure and see efficiencies for the taking, but have it quickly pointed out that such and such was off limits because it was purchased with federal funds. Now I realize this was often more of an excuse the reality, but it slowed down the progress and continues to baffle me. So my request would be for the federal government to stand up and offer clear guidance that sharing is not only allowed, but encouraged and IT resources, while needing to serve the funded purposes can also be leveraged across the enterprise of a state. Building off the UI example in the article it woudl be great if the federal government would commission a system and then mandate that the states use their system rather than having 50 systems created using 50 different technologies and not be able to leverage the experience of one state to the next. If I stopped at a fast food chain 50 times and had 50 different experiences I would be dumb founded to say the least.