BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2523 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 2523 (Cooley) As Amended April 21, 2014 Majority vote ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW 12-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Frazier, Achadjian, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, | | |Allen, Buchanan, Ian | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |Calderon, Cooley, Daly, | |Calderon, Campos, | | |Gorell, Hagman, Medina, | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, | | |Quirk-Silva, Salas | |Holden, Jones, Linder, | | | | |Pan, Quirk, | | | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, | | | | |Weber | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Requires the Director of the Department of Technology (DOT) to provide a report recommending how a team of senior consulting information technology (IT) experts could be developed to serve as support for state agencies and senior project team members in state government IT projects, as specified. Specifically, this bill : 1)Makes various legislative findings and declarations relating to the state's organizational and institutional capacity to monitor and control large technology programs. 2)Requires the Director to review the California Project Management Methodology Reference Manual and recommend, based on the manual, how a team of senior consulting IT advisors could be developed to serve as support for state agencies and senior project team members in their exercise of leadership, monitoring, control, and direction over IT projects. 3)Requires the Director, in drafting the recommendations, to consider how the team of advisors can assist senior executives charged with oversight of major IT projects with addressing challenges arising from all of the following 13 areas: a) Governance; AB 2523 Page 2 b) Development and management of contracts; c) Testing; d) Organizational change management; e) Data conversion and migration; f) Schedule development and management; g) Evaluation and possible pitfalls of seeking value for taxpayers by re-engineering state systems and procedures; h) Risk and issue identification and management; i) Interface identification and management; j) Quality assurance and quality control; aa) Requirements definition and management; bb) Architecture; and, cc) Roll-out planning and approach. 4)Requires the report to be provided to the Legislature by July 1, 2016. EXISTING LAW establishes DOT until January 1, 2015, to serve as the central IT organization for California, responsible for approving and monitoring all statewide IT projects; providing centralized IT services and training to government entities; developing statewide IT security policies and procedures; and, providing oversight of telecommunication and IT procurements. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minor costs to the DOT to produce the report. However, absent a sunset extension the DOT will sunset prior to the deadline for the report. COMMENTS : According to the author, there are over 100 identified IT projects currently underway throughout state government. The author states this bill is intended to provide AB 2523 Page 3 a roadmap for developing a cadre of senior IT experts to serve as consultants for top agency managers statewide when they are tasked with managing complex, long-term technology projects. It specifically requires the Director of DOT to evaluate how such a resource team could aid projects in avoiding pitfalls in thirteen key areas. The California Project Management Methodology Reference Manual contains project management procedures that state agencies must use to comply with IT policy. The manual breaks the cycle of an IT project into five stages of concept, initiating, planning, executing, and closing. It also states that monitoring and controlling occur throughout the project cycle to ensure the project is advancing in accordance with budget and outcome expectations. This bill requires the Director of DOT to consult the manual when drafting the required recommendations. At a March 20, 2014, joint informational hearing of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration and the Select Committee on Government Efficiency, Technology, and Innovation, DOT presented on its recently launched Planning and Consulting Division that aims to provide early intervention and hands-on coaching to projects experiencing challenges. DOT reports that it has already hired experts in a variety of 12 issue areas that are similar to the 13 identified in this bill, including governance; development and management of contracts; testing; data conversion and migration; and, requirements definition and management. DOT indicates that the process to hire experts in the remaining areas is ongoing. This bill essentially codifies this division in statute. Analysis Prepared by : Cassie Royce / A. & A.R. / (916) 319-3600 FN: 0003658