October Minutes

ITAC MEETING MINUTES
For October 18, 2007

Attendees:
Frieda Artis, Reggie Brown, Niamh Darcy, John Killebrew, Gloria McNeill and Vass Johnson

Due to work schedules, Darryl McGraw, Robert Michaud and Sondra Chaffee could not participate in today’s meeting.

Wake County:
Vel Wallace and Lib Wanner

The meeting began at 9:07 a.m. Lib Wanner welcomed everyone to the group. She briefly discussed the agenda for today’s meeting which included an overview of the IS Business Plan – Concepts & Organizational Structure for FY 2008-2010.

IS Strategic Planning Initiatives:
Lib Wanner gave the group an overview of the discussion topics: Business Unit Engagement and the IS Org Chart & Challenges. Lib stated that one of the things learned at the CEB (Corporate Executive Board) work session was that if you can engage the business units effectively, you get better performance because they are with you in the project and are more invested in the project as a team effort rather than just an IS project.

Lib stated another thing she learned from the work session was, instead of talking about service level agreements and statistics with business units, focus on how to work better with them, discuss future projects and their business goals and strategies, and how to manage IT costs. Lib said she learned the IT staff is more effective with the business units when they have demonstrated good project management skills and when they understand work the business unit does and then figure out how to apply technology to help them.

Lib asked the group what their thoughts were on business unit engagement she shared. Vass asked what recommendation to replace data for the external customers who have to report up through their structure in terms of metrics. Lib replied that the traditional metrics still needed to be in place but not discussed. The business units expect good performance and would rather discuss their business goals and strategies.

Lib then asked if there were any other observations from the group. John Killebrew stated that the focus areas were on target and managing IT costs is hard to measure. Lib agreed and asked John if they looked at relationships with business units or how the project has has helped their business. John replied, some of both.

Lib stated that some of the research the Corporate Executive Board has done indicated that IT works better with business units when you tell them the rules of engagement. Lib stated that Wake County has fallen short in the area of publishing policy guides. She stated that she has typically handled communication like this through e-mail or Power Point presentations. She stated that the IT department is going to post a “how to work with Wake County IT" guidebook on the intranet and answer any questions that may arise about working with the IT department. Vass stated that they had the same type of situation with Wake County Schools, where the work done is through relationships rather than a set policy. Vass stated that he would be interested in knowing how the handbook works out.

Niamh asked Lib if she had a good example of a communications plan that has worked well. She stated that would be useful to others coming into the organization. Lib replied she does not but she would ask others at the MIX Conference, a professional IT organization, to determine if the members they had good examples.

Lib stated that another lesson learned at that work session was that the business units would like an idea of where IT is heading with clarity and clear understanding. Lib then talked about an Ernst & Young’s innovation brochure called “Technology Futures Universe.” She stated that the diagram shows what Ernst & Young plans to be doing over a 3-plus-year period.

Lib stated that she meets with the department heads every year to find out how things are going and what things are on their radar screen. She stated that in the past she has had tactical discussions with the department heads rather than strategic. She stated that, going forward, she wants to have more of a strategic discussion, so she took the information from the IS business plan and created two target charts, strategic plan and tactical plan, using the Ernst & Young diagram as a model. Lib stated that she is reviewing these two charts with all the department heads, and Dan Edwards, who has moved into a strategic planning role, is reviewing these charts with all of the IT teams. She stated that the idea is get input from both groups and, by December/January timeframe, include these ideas in the update to the business plan.

Lib then talked about both target charts. She stated that what she saw immediately is that Wake County is doing a lot of work in Infrastructure and Productivity quadrants and not much work in Messaging and Collaboration and Mobility quadrants.

Lib then paused for a moment and asked the group to give her their initial reaction about the diagram – what they saw missing from strategic thinking that she should consider. John stated that the band goes three years and there is not a lot listed in that section except document management and strategic network redesign. He stated that, strategically thinking, she may want to add some longer-term items. Lib stated that the IS Business Plan is a rolling three-year plan, so what she wants to do is add four more years to it because Wake County’s Capital Planning horizon is generally seven years.

Niamh asked Lib, in developing strategies, how she would distinguish between internal versus the external customers. Lib replied that Wake County tends to focus more on serving internal customers, who, in turn, serve the citizens. She also referred to the target chart and stated that in the messaging and collaboration area is where Wake County would probably reach out more to the citizens. John stated that he could see where Wake County would have two pictures, one for internal and one for external, depending on how much is focused on external and if it would be a significant enough portion to warrant having a separate picture.

Lib then talked about the tactical plan and stated that a lot of work is in the productivity area. Lib stated that the strategic plan elements should then turn into the things you would see on the tactical plan. She stated that she also plans to use the charts to show what the County’s investment in IT is buying, and that to do anymore than this or things any faster will require resource changes.

Lib stated that the other discussion she had with her management staff is ongoing support and the expense related to it. Lib asked the group if they had any other ideas of how to show the ongoing support. John said Lib’s picture on pg. 16 of the Power Point uses a good way to show this. Lib stated that the trick is when to add in the headcount, because it is not always clear. Vass stated that the school districts use formula-based – for x number of students you need x number of support staff – but in IT, we all know it is not always a 1-1 correlation, because you developed efficiencies over time. He stated you can do more over time, but it is very important to accurately measure when you need to increase headcount. John stated that sometimes it is useful to contract the work out and when it gets to a certain size then bring it in-house. He stated that it may be more economical to in-source rather than to outsource.

Lib stated that she has been struggling with this, because it is not a 1-1 correspondence and it depends on the talent that you have and their workload. She asked the group how to determine the full cost and how to present it to the organization as you bring on new projects. John stated that the organization should consider the cost at the front end when they are contemplating new projects or replacement projects. He also stated that the ongoing support cost for the project should be included in the initial consideration for the project. He stated that the cost would be an estimate. Lib replied that John made a good point and stated that Wake County would need to come up with an estimate and be visible with how they came up with the estimate.

Lib concluded the first topic of discussion and stated that she hopes that discussing the target charts with the department heads and the IT staff, she will get a more meaningful and fruitful discussion about the use of IT in the organization. She stated that she will get an improved business plan by adding the strategic element to it, and that she would be better able to articulate to budget requests.

IS Org Charts & Challenges:
Lib then talked about the organizational charts on page 18. She turned to the Applied Technologies slide. She pointed out the eWake (ERP) Team and stated that this team will be in place until the end of this fiscal year. She stated that the initial implementation of the HR/Budget/Finance System will be complete by about July 2008, and the ERP team will go to the Business Application Area (Legacy Fin/HR/Budget).

Lib then talked about the Applied Technology area and stated that, in the area of technology project management, she is trying to recruit seasoned project managers. She pointed out on the organizational chart that there is one vacancy and two contractors. She stated that she is currently trying out some contractors to determine if their skill set matches the organizational needs and if they fit our culture in terms of how they do project management work. She stated that, if it is a good fit, then a permanent position posts for one of the contractors to apply.

Lib stated that one of the things she is learning in this area is that Wake County’s pay is around the $70-80K salary range, and the market seems to be higher. Lib asked the group if they run into problem in their recruitment efforts for project managers in terms of what the market is paying. Vass stated that they do not have project managers at the schools. John stated that they have had their networking staff manage projects until now, and they recognized that they could not do that and get to the level of technical and operational efficiency that it needs. Therefore, they recently hired a program manager, which is a wider responsibility than a traditional project manager is, and the price tag for a seasoned business process/PM's credentials was six figures.

Niamh stated that the range would be probably $80 to $120K, depending on the years of experience, size of the project and the ability to do a broader set of tasks. Lib stated that she might consider continuing to use contractors and charge them to the project they are working on. Niamh stated that when the contractors are working, it would be a good idea if there were employees in the department that could mentor into that role, as well. Niamh stated that one of the things you lose with contractors is that all the institutional knowledge skills would be lost.

Reggie stated that Lib could consider the employees in the department and offer them a raise, but not to the level of bringing in someone from the outside. Niamh stated that if they do not have all the skills initially, that it would be a good idea to pair them with a contractor for six months to give them the ability to grow into those skills.

Lib then switched gears and talked about the Business Applications organizational chart. She stated that one of the biggest challenges she has had for years is the Oracle Database administration work. Now, there are two vacancies on the Oracle Database team. She stated that most of the potential candidates are asking for six-figure salaries. Lib asked the group if they are finding this problem recruiting Oracle DBAs. The group said they had problems recruiting in this area, as well.

Lib stated that she is also having some challenges with internal equity. She stated that, through the organizational chart, you would notice a number of positions within the same area. She stated that some employees came in earlier than others did, when the market was not as high, and their salary is thousands of dollars less than the new employee is. She stated that this is becoming more of an issue now. She asked the group if this situation occurred in their organization and, if so, what resolution was determined.

Vass stated that they have it with the school district and it directly affects retention. He stated that they are not effectively dealing with it. John stated that they had a young individual who works, they paid him above the other engineers, and it still was not enough to keep him. Lib stated that she was counting on the quality-of-life factor and that she really asks for 40-45 hours a week average from the professional staff. She stated that her assumption was that Wake County might not be able to compete with salaries but maybe compete with quality of life. She stated that the workload has gotten more intense within the last couple of years, so even though the hours are higher, the intensity and complexity of the work they are doing is wearing on them.

Lib asked if they had noticed this and if they had any ideas. Reggie stated adding headcount is one possible solution and the other thing is a reduction of services.

Lib then informed the group that she wanted to change the agenda for November’s meeting. She stated that she wanted to discuss the Property Tax System Rewrite. She stated that this has been a complex system to rewrite, and Wake County partnered with a company called IIS out of Durham. She stated that she would like to discuss a case study with them and invite their thoughts and observations on what could have been better.

Meeting adjourned at 10 a.m.