BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2523
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Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTABILITY AND ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 2523 (Cooley) - As Introduced: February 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Department of Technology.
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;
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.
AB 2523
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4)Requires the report to be provided to the Legislature by July
1, 2016.
5)Extends the sunset date authorizing DOT from January 1, 2015,
to January 1, 2020.
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 : Unknown
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
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 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;
AB 2523
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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.
AUTHOR'S AMENDMENTS : The author will be accepting amendments in
committee to remove the sunset extension in this bill as DOT
indicates that it is currently pursuing a repeal of its sunset
through the budget process.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Cassie Royce / A. & A.R. / (916)
319-3600