As states across the country continue to focus on modernization, this can be a pressing question. But one state — North Dakota — has found an answer. Earlier this year, North Dakota Information Technology (NDIT) started using a steering committee in combination with a dashboard to not only prioritize which modernization projects it undertakes and when, but to make the progress transparent to its more than 60 internal agencies.
North Dakota's Portfolio Steering Committee and its NDIT Dashboard have together helped the state provide insight into project priorities and progress, said Andrew Sherwood, enterprise portfolio manager for NDIT. The committee is made up of technology officials and executive leaders across the state who meet regularly to try to align strategy and improve the transparency of decision-making.
Effectively organizing an IT portfolio across stakeholders involves three key components, according to Sherwood. The first is that the work should be transparent. The second is that decision-making, while it may be IT-influenced, should be customer-driven. The third is that the portfolio plan should be adaptable. Using these three driving factors can improve efficiency because of increased focus on a single initiative, rather than having staff's focus divided between many projects.
The silos that exist as a result of disparate systems and teams in government can create inefficiencies, as multiple agencies may separately be focused on a similar challenge or solution. A strategic and transparent portfolio planning approach can support improved cross-agency collaboration.
One example of this in North Dakota is the state’s work to release its mobile ID in September, which has value to the Department of Transportation, State Highway Patrol and the Department of Health and Human Services.
“There’s opportunities — for enterprise solutions, or for consolidated efforts — that if you don’t have that transparency, it’s hard to find that opportunity,” Sherwood said.
Sherwood’s background in the private sector gives him experience in portfolio management. The key difference in the public sector, he said, is serving the diverse range of customers across all state agencies, while adhering to the rules and regulations state government requires.
The specific structure used in North Dakota may not be the right solution for every state IT department, Sherwood said, noting that the model is still evolving even within NDIT. For example, more frequent convenings are now taking place than initially planned.
Also, states have different service structures, with some states having IT teams within each agency and others using a federated approach. To address various projects among different agencies and stakeholders with competing priorities, Sherwood recommends that all approaches strive to include transparency, customer-driven decisions and adaptability.
“And if you do those three things in state government for IT, I think you're generally going to be winning,” Sherwood said.
When prioritizing any IT projects, however, other projects will inevitably be deprioritized, which can require difficult conversations with agency leadership. As Sherwood said, “The hard part is the ‘no.’”
Having these difficult conversations with leaders can help assure them that, although another project may be coming first, theirs is still coming down the pipeline. Providing transparency into which other projects may come first and how those decisions are made can mitigate frustrations around this challenge, as can ensuring that there is follow-up with leaders of those projects that do not come first.
“[State leaders] generally want the best products possible, the best services possible — within reasonable financial constraints for the state — for our citizens, for our stakeholders,” Sherwood said.
The other part of the state’s transparency focus in this space is the NDIT Dashboard. The state has recently increased focus on data transparency, and this is one piece of that broader effort. The dashboard was created to serve as a tool for NDIT staffers to understand what projects were open and their status, Sherwood explained, but it has since been opened up to other state agency leaders. This further improves transparency regarding ongoing projects.
“The first way to fix any problem is to shine a light on it,” said Sherwood.
The other benefit of this resource is the insight it provides into staffing needs, current and future, informing internal planning for projects by making staffing needs clear and enabling people managers to address those proactively.
The state’s approach enables more precision and focus on each project, leading to more effectiveness in project completion rate. Early data is indicating that processes are improving, Sherwood explained, and agency leaders are able to look at projects with a more long-term view to make planning decisions for the future.
“And my job isn't necessarily to make those leadership decisions," Sherwood said, "but it's to enable tools that allow leaders to lead well.”
