Why Adaptability Is Critical for State CIOs
State government CIOs must constantly redefine the way they manage a wide range of IT systems and applications.
Outbound Traffic
69% of survey respondents said their state outsources some of its tech infrastructure operations and 79% do the same for IT apps and services.
Management Model
63% said they use a managed services model for at least some of their IT operations, and 74% said the same about a shared services model.
Centralized Effort
68% said their state owns and operates a consolidated data center, up from 55% who said this in 2010.
Flexible Planning
73% said their state is either piloting or trying out agile (or incremental software development) approaches, or making "widespread use" of these methods―up from 62% who said this last year.
IT Overhaul
Three of five said at least 40% of their state's IT systems are legacies, and nearly two of five are allocating more than 10% of their total tech budget to legacy system modernization.
Cloudy Day
40% said their state has a strategy in place to migrate legacy apps to the cloud, and another 36% said they have such a strategy in development.
Top Functions/Tools Migrating to the Cloud
Email and collaboration: 91%, Disaster recovery: 85%, Office productivity tools: 81%, Digital archives: 76%, Open data solutions: 73%
Moving Forward
53% of survey respondents consider mobile devices and apps as either a "high" or "essential" priority, and 35% said no less than one-fifth of their current apps are "mobile ready."
Protective Position
72% said their state has adopted a cybersecurity strategic plan, and 77% said they've helped create a "culture of information security" within their state government.
Big Thing
47% are either formally discussing, developing, adopting or referencing Internet of Things initiatives in their state's strategic plan, up from 24% who said they were doing this last year.
To keep up with tech shifts and changing business demands, today's state government CIOs must constantly redefine the way they manage a wide range of IT systems and applications, according to a recent survey from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), Grant Thornton LLP and CompTIA. The accompanying report, titled " The Adaptable State CIO ," indicates that most state CIOs, for example, are moving toward outsourcing, managed services and shared services models for IT infrastructure and operations. Most are exploring or adopting agile software development approaches. They're also looking to modernize the wealth of legacy systems that account for a substantial portion of their overall tech portfolio. In addition, many are focusing on ongoing innovations in mobility and the internet of things (IoT). In other words, our nation's state CIOs face very similar challenges―and opportunities―as those in private industry. "(State government) CIOs are adapting to changing circumstances and expectations," according to the report. "This requires agility to respond quickly to the unexpected, but also the strategic vision to anticipate and to plan for a future that cannot be easily predicted. As CIOs view the evolving state IT and business landscape, they are adapting to changing economic circumstances, to innovations in cloud-based software and service delivery, to ever-changing security and privacy challenges, and to the expectations of a millennial workforce." CIOs, deputy CIOs and senior IT leaders representing a total of 50 U.S. states and territories took part in the research.
