Government Technology - September 2008 - (Page 24)

CALIFORNIA’S PROJECT MANAGEMENT TIMELINE The state of California has launched a five-year plan to improve the management of technology projects. Establishing a minimum skill set for IT project managers and certifying project managers 10/08 Finalize and publish qualification standards for IT project managers 4/09 Standardize project management certification process 10/10 Review qualification standards for IT project managers 1/09 Certify IT project managers 7/10 Review project management certification process 10/12 Finalize and publish qualification standards for IT project managers 1/1/2008 6/30/2013 4/08 7/08 10/08 1/09 4/09 7/09 10/09 1/10 4/10 7/10 10/10 1/11 4/11 7/11 10/11 1/12 4/12 7/12 10/12 1/13 4/13 7/09 10/08 Complete hosting and data center consolidation strategy 7/12 Review enterprise architecure standards for data and data systems 7/09 Complete data strategy Establish enterprise architecture standards for data and data systems 7/09 Establish data integration framework and strategy Enabling data sharing using available technology One level up from project management, governments also are paying attention to how they manage IT initiative portfolios. “A portfolio management function should be keeping a 30,000-foot view of the status of projects,” said Mike Locatis, CIO of Colorado. That organizational goals and missions, aligning IT with business needs and getting a return on the IT investment, he said. Some governments have formed special offices to coordinate enterprisewide IT initiatives to set priorities, allocate resources “Enterprise becomes more important with portfolio management versus project management.” Davood Ghods, agency information officer, California Department of Food and Agriculture includes watching for troubled projects and setting priorities for projects across the state government, he said. “Enterprise becomes more important with portfolio management versus project management,” said Davood Ghods, agency information officer of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). Together they provide a structured and repeatable approach for conducting projects, supporting SEPT_08 and avert redundant efforts. Others have established programs to boost project management skills. For example, Washington, D.C.’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) runs a boot camp to help its project management teams. California is hiring and training project managers and teaching project management skills to all IT professionals. “It’s not just training a group of individuals and calling them project managers,” Takai said. “It’s really training all your folks to understand how important project management is and the basic project management techniques.” Future training will also focus on helping business managers understand the importance of planning in IT projects, she said. Minnesota’s Planning and Portfolio Management Division, part of the state’s Office of Enterprise Technology, created a project management academy as a resource for department-level IT project managers. The academy offers templates, models, tools and other resources. “We’ve also created a combination of classroom and online development activities for beginning and experienced project managers,” said John Lally, the division’s director. These are based on educational materials developed by the Project Management Institute, an association for project management professionals. Unfortunately recent budget 24 http://www.govtech.com

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

Government Technology - September 2008 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Up Close Fork in the Road On Time and On Target On the Record, Off the Charts Government’s Greatest Asset? Easy Access Finding the Money Security in the Wireless World The Case for Mobility Spectrum Products Two Cents signal:noise Digital Communities Contents A New Government Paradigm News is Now Transformation Web 2.0 Style Protecting Community Media Thinking Regionally Government at La-Z-Boy Speed

Government Technology - September 2008

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