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Where Does Arizona Stand on Enterprise Application Development?

Despite Arizona's federated model, CIO Morgan Reed talks about how a coordinated approach is reaping benefits.

Arizona CIO Morgan Reed
Arizona CIO Morgan Reed says that the lean initiatives already completed — like slashing the timeline for help desk tickets from an average of around 20 days to four hours and making the state’s hiring process largely paperless — have improved morale and outcomes.
David Kidd/e.Republic
At the annual NASCIO conference in Austin last October, CIO Morgan Reed talked to Government Technology about Arizona's approach to enterprise application development. Reed manages about 10 percent of the state's IT workforce, with the rest distributed throughout various boards and agencies.

But the federated approach doesn't mean their IT deployments aren't coordinated. Take the state's adoption of Salesforce. As of early 2016, the state wasn't using the platform, but according to Reed, seven agencies are now using Salesforce, and 10 more are considering it.

"For the most part, when agencies need application development, we're telling them ... we have a cloud-first strategy," Reed explained. "It's not cloud-only, but it is cloud-first. 'Have you considered platform-as-a-service and software-as-a-service?'" 

In another example of enterprise thinking that pays dividends for the state, 13 separate entities expressed plans to pursue an e-licensing solution in their strategic planning documents. As Reed explains in the video above, a coordinated approach to the purchase saved a significant amount of money, and relieved each user group of most of the application development work. 

"We were able to get a $4 million solution for $600,000 through our negotiations," he said. 

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.