HomeMy WebLinkAboutIT Strategic Plan - February, 2011_201401231020113099Town of Nantucket
Information Technology Strategic Plan
Linda Rhodes Page 1 2/3/2011
Introduction
In support of the Town of Nantucket’s Board of Selectmen 2010-2011 Goals and
Objectives to improve town government operating efficiencies, the Information
Technology (IT) Department was charged with developing a comprehensive
Information Technology Strategic Plan for the next 3-5 years.
Strategic planning is the process of establishing a vision for the future, assessing
the current situation, identifying gaps and defining the goals and objectives
necessary to reach the vision. A basic strategic planning model is shown in
Appendix 1.
This strategic plan will describe the goals that the Information Technology
Department will strive to achieve and will govern the direction of IT in the years to
come. It will promote effective management of a sometimes costly and critical
asset of the town. It will improve communications between IT and the Board of
Selectmen, Town Administration and Town Departments, helping to align IT
goals to business objectives. From an operational perspective, a well-designed
strategic plan will help to effectively utilize IT resources in support of the most
important business objectives.
This strategic plan is based on the Information Technology Department’s Vision
of what is most needed by the Town, known technology gaps, current
opportunities and challenges. This Vision is the basis for the Goals presented in
this plan. These goals will be used as a starting point in creating a roadmap for
the management of IT services in the future. Each Goal includes a number of
defined Objectives that will be used to develop a detailed Action Plan that will
include costs and timeframes.
Ultimately, this plan will link Information Technology goals to the Town of
Nantucket’s business objectives and provide a mechanism for long-term
management and direction of IT resources.
Scope
This plan encompasses all aspects of Information Technology services. These
include the physical infrastructure, hardware and software, internal and external
resources, funding, and the processes and procedures necessary to support the
operations of the Town.
The services covered in this plan apply to all Town departments and Enterprises
including Our Island Home, Department of Public Works and Wannacomet Water
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with the exception of Public Safety Departments, Nantucket Public Schools and
the Airport, where limited support is provided for MUNIS.
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Challenges
In order to develop realistic, achievable Goals, obstacles and challenges must
be taken into consideration when developing Objectives and Action Plans.
These challenges will continually influence the strategic planning process and will
impact how we implement these plans. Some of these challenges include:
Resources, people and funding, are limited
Technology is constantly changing
Internal and external threats continue to increase in a mobile and web-
enabled environment
Integration of technologies is becoming more and more complex
Physical infrastructure is old and in many instances not adequate to
support the needs of the town
Access to specialized technical expertise is not always available given our
isolated location
Vision
Information Technology when applied in a cost effective and integrated manner
will provide improved efficiencies leading to enhanced and expanded public
services.
Our vision is to be a leader valued for our expertise in creating innovative
technological solutions that positively impact the delivery of services to
the citizens of Nantucket.
Goals
The Information Technology department’s primary goal is to provide a reliable,
secure computing environment that facilitates the use of technology to deliver
effective and efficient government to the citizens and business community of
Nantucket.
The IT goals defined below are broken down into three major categories, IT
Management, IT Organization & Skills and Technology & Infrastructure.
Although very much interrelated, these main categories focus on different
aspects of IT, as summarized below.
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IT Management
Strategy and business alignment
Performance management
Total cost of ownership
Contracts and third party outsourcing
Project management
Communications
IT Organization & Skills
Resource management
Resource compensation
Resource skill levels
Customer Focused
Technology & Infrastructure
Infrastructure that supports business goals
Clearly defined standards and well-documented processes & procedures
Information security management program
Integrated town-wide solutions
Simplified access to information for employees and citizens
Innovative solutions
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IT Management - Goals
Since information technology contributes significantly to the value of services that
the Town of Nantucket provides to its citizens, it is important that the goals of the
Information Technology Department support the objectives of the Board of
Selectmen and those of town departments. In order to effectively do this,
Information Technology planning needs to be integrated into the planning
processes of the town. This will not only ensure adequate resources are planned
for but will also enable IT to move towards a more proactive organization.
At present, information technology services are often not considered resulting in:
An operational environment that tends to be more reactionary than
proactive
Department goals not being understood by IT
The business expecting more than the IT infrastructure will allow
Business demands that exceed available IT resources
Limitations or costs of IT not being considered in the planning process
Goal #1 – Develop a mechanism to align information technology resources
to the priorities of the business
Objectives:
- Review and assess current information technology environment
o Inventory existing hardware, software and infrastructure assets
o Hire firm with experience in performing information technology
assessments
- Establish an executive committee consisting of members from town
departments to review approve and prioritize information technology
initiatives.
- Establish a standard measurement model to calculate total cost of
ownership and quality of IT services. By comparing the cost of
ownership to the quality of services provided by IT, the costs and
benefits of Information Technology can be determined.
o Total cost of ownership typically includes all of the elements to
be considered in the deployment of technology such as network
components, hardware, software, licenses, personnel, security,
training and on-going maintenance costs
- Improve existing processes that manage requests for IT services and
information to include approval processes, project prioritization, service
level response times and management tools to assign, track and
monitor progress.
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- Evaluate and utilize efficiencies in outsourcing where it lowers the cost
of ownership
- Continue to standardize platforms for hardware and software to further
lower cost of ownership
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IT Organization and Skills
The demands on technology resources have grown over the last 3-4 years with
resources remaining level. As technology changes and becomes more complex,
the amount of effort required to support the environment increases. Problems
become more difficult to resolve resulting in an organization that becomes less
responsive over time. People are the cornerstone of a customer-focused,
responsive, and technically informed organization. An appropriate level of
investment in people and the resources they need to do their job is necessary to
enable the IT organization to effectively support the Town’s technology needs.
Goal #1 – Provide appropriate resources to support the Town’s technology
needs
Objectives:
- Evaluate and assess human resources taking into consideration future
growth and expansion
o Assess job roles and compensation
o Assess skill levels (third party certifications, training)
o Assess need for extended hours coverage
o Pursue cross training to ensure appropriate backups for
personnel
- Evaluate and assess support resources
o Departmental vehicle
o Test Lab
o Building Access
o Training Center
o Dedicated, secure equipment storage area
o Clerical/administrative resources
- Catalogue existing and known future projects
Goal #2 – Promote Customer-Centered Information Technology Services
and Support
Objectives:
- Emphasize the importance of documentation of processes, solutions,
how-to instructions to reduce the time it takes to resolve issues
- Implement formal Help Desk system to keep track, prioritize and
assign incoming requests and time spent
- Continue to utilize remote assistance and other tools to work through
issues with users
- Plan for future resource needs (Our Island Home, Communications
Specialist, Full-Time MUNIS administrator)
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Technology and Infrastructure
This section deals with the larger components of IT – the hardware, the software,
the infrastructure and the processes and procedures that are required to
integrate them. All of these components are important in delivering IT services
and need to be managed, supported and continuously improved.
Goal #1 - Continue to provide a reliable, robust and secure method for
access to information and technology
Objectives:
- Implement a formal life-cycle hardware replacement program
- Implement a formal life-cycle software upgrade program
- Implement a software license tracking tool
- Develop a comprehensive written Information Security Program
- Formulate and implement a Disaster Recovery Plan, including data
and hardware redundancies
- Research and implement security monitoring and notification tools
- Develop a license agreement to protect use of Town’s GIS data
Goal #2 - Maintain and improve networking infrastructure to support town
growth, vitality and relevance
Objectives:
- Develop plan for improving network communications between town
buildings i.e. Our Island Home, Park & Recreation, Public Safety
Facilities, Fire and School
- Improve physical environment for equipment (Air Conditioning,
Security, Location)
- Evaluate options for a more secure location (datacenter) for IT
operations
Goal #3 - Enhance technology to support improved, integrated town
processes for daily operations
Objectives:
- Continue to promote work-group printing environment
- Implement data integration between business applications and
departments
o New Water Tower Communications System
o Permit Tracking System
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o Document Management
o MUNIS (Dashboard, Employee Self Serve)
o GIS (Mapbook Production, Permit integration)
Goal #4 - Improve and support town administrative efficiency for all
employees, residents and visitors
Objectives:
- Provide increased public access to information by expanding E-
Government services on the internet
o Live streaming and on-demand viewing of recorded meetings in
conjunction with PEG
o Expand web access to conform to Open Meeting Law
requirements
o Expand web access to town documents (Town Clerk Records,
GIS, Building Plans)
o Offer citizen-centric services via a web-portal that not only
provides access to information but allows for the processing of
requests (permit applications, bill payments) and incident
reporting
- Encourage employee self-sufficiency by providing
o Technical Training
o Departmental technical liaisons
o Computer Based Training classes
o Tips & Tricks Knowledgebase
o Issue Knowledgebase
o IT Newsletter
- Evaluate options for resource scheduling (conference rooms,
equipment, meeting facilities)
- Evaluate web access monitoring methods that allows employees
appropriate internet access so that they can perform their jobs
efficiently
- Evaluate Remote Access options
- Evaluate new MUNIS features and functions (Citizen Self-Serve)
Goal #5 - Use technology to support improved communication and
communication services for town employees
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Objectives:
- Establish standards for Web-enabled phones and PDA devices to help
minimize maintenance and support costs
- Evaluate and implement Voice over IP technology to replace current
phone system. VoIP will provide overall costs savings, increased
functionality and improve workforce productivity and mobility
- Utilize social networking tools to enhance communications in the
workplace allowing employees to better discuss ideas and share
information
- Evaluate E-mail archiving solutions that integrate with our existing
email system and meets record retention guidelines
Goal #6 - Plan and manage information technology by exploring new and
emerging technologies and anticipating future needs.
Objectives:
- Take advantage of webinars, vendor conferences, technology and
professional organizations to gain an awareness and understanding of
technology trends (i.e. virtualization, cloud computing).
- Engage consulting firm periodically to provide insights into
technological solutions that provide continuous improvement, flexibility
and scalability
- Enhance GIS website functionality
- Implement multi-year update cycle of GIS aerial photos and data layers
Basic IT Strategic Planning Model – Appendix 1
IT Vision
Establish mission, values,
and strategic direction
Current IT Environment
Document IT capabilities,
and “gap” analysis
Future IT Environment
Develop strategic plan that
organizes objectives,
priorities, projects, resources
and timelines to implement
vision
Communication Plan
Inform Town of Nantucket
about the vision and status of
the IT strategic plan
Accountability
Develop monitoring,
evaluation, feedback, and
formal assessment
mechanism to review and
revise plan