Government Technology - April 2008 - (Page CA3)

PPM a Hot Topic California Department of Food and Agriculture sets PPM standard for other agencies. provides the ability to update the CDFA AIO and executives with a single point of contact and authorization that they need to assess all of our projects from an executive, or portfolio, view.” Improvement Through Integration The CDFA’s IT governance process is the foundation upon which CA Clarity™ PPM is conﬁgured and is essential to applying this process to all projects. “It’s our project portfolio — one-stop shopping, if you will — for how we manage and implement projects here at CDFA,” Cruz said. “It’s our system of record.” New initiatives at the CDFA dictated the need to transition to a more powerful tool for applications and processes that were both repeatable and sustainable. With CA Clarity™ PPM now in place, the department has realized an increase in efficiencies in all those areas. CA Clarity™ PPM has brought numerous efficiencies. “It helps CDFA monitor projects to ensure they are managed within budget, scope and schedule,” said Cruz. “Those are the things that concern me, and the tool gives other managers and me the capability to really forecast. It gives an idea whether there are potential pitfalls so we can evaluate those before they actually happen.” “The goals and objectives of our organization are aligned with our IT projects. That’s a big deal.” —Chris Cruz, CIO, California Department of Food and Agriculture You know you are doing something right when several agencies are calling you for advice. Since the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) adopted a project and portfolio management (PPM) strategy, it has been asked by several other California agencies for information regarding PPM. “We’re getting a lot of inquiries,” said Chris Cruz, CIO of the CDFA. With the sponsorship and support of CDFA’s Agency Information Officer (AIO) Davood Ghods, Cruz and the project team — consisting of Katie Fears, CDFA’s IT coordinator, and an external consultant — worked closely with CA to conﬁgure and implement CA Clarity™ PPM. The CDFA started using CA Clarity™ PPM in October 2007 and since then, the department has quickly become a trendsetter for PPM within the state. The CDFA works to ensure safe food products for California citizens. It also protects against pests and diseases, promotes best agriculture practices and supports the state’s huge agricultural industry. To manage projects within the department, the CDFA took a PPM approach. “The tool gives other managers and me the capability to really forecast.” — Chris Cruz, CIO, California Department of Food and Agriculture Currently the CA Clarity™ PPM tool helps manage the department’s portfolio of IT projects and enables detailed management of each project on a day-today basis. “PPM provides the CDFA with a repository that is required to manage all of our projects in a data documentation process,” said Cruz. “This repository Cruz said executives want to avoid issues within the projects they oversee. They want projects to succeed, and they want to know about risks in advance. “This tool allows us to make projections on projects or see risks that may be coming so you mitigate those appropriately,” he said. 3

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - April 2008

Government Technology - April 2008 Contents Point of View Big Picture The Last Mile On the Scene Four Questions for... Freeze Frame How Safe Is Your Data? Easy Street Gadget Overload Indiana Overhaul First Person: A Better Bill Data Defense Strength in Numbers Public Storage Products Two Cents Spectrum Personal Computing signal:noise

Government Technology - April 2008

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