Creative budget-cutting tactics from state CIOs: Part 2, Tennessee and Georgia

Consolidation and virtualization are two popular ways in which state CIOs are responding to ongoing budget pressures, but deploying business analytics has become a proven method of eking out greater efficiencies. In both Georgia and Tennessee, the IT chiefs have found that they can stretch the state's dollars simply by collecting more information.  

When Mark Bengel, CIO for Tennessee, took on his job he found that he had "spitting angry customers." He realized that IT service expectations throughout the government were completely unmanaged because there were no service level agreements in place. What's more, there was no objective way to measure performance because no data was being collected.

Bengel decided to deploy a metric-based management system to provide a framework for service provision and to gather performance data, he said at a gathering of the National Association of State CIOs April 29.  

He started by setting up SLAs that defined all services and created "service owners," he said. Then he implemented an automatic performance measurement system, which included an electronic Request for Service process and performance metrics that would be published, among other things. It was this publishing feature, which displays each employee's performance against that of his or her peers, that spurred a dramatic change, he said.

"We took these reports and we posted them on every cubicle door," Bengel said. "Almost by doing nothing other than measuring and publishing performance I saw a tremendous change in my organization very quickly."

The system increased accountability throughout the IT shop, and it improved morale. Bengel was better able to make informed budget decisions, and he reduced staffing by 19 percent. "People now know how to succeed," he said. "A lot of the problems we were having just stopped." 

Venkat Krishnan, CIO for Georgia's Department of Human Services, also found a way to use business analytics to improve personnel performance and save the state money, but in this case the technology was applied outside the IT department.

To help improve the state's child welfare system, Krishnan deployed business intelligence software in the child protective services operations. Reducing expenses in this department largely translates to avoiding penalties for non-compliance with federal rules, he said. Business intelligence tools have helped the agency focus its field operations on specific outcomes, improving performance and compliance, he said.  

Krishnan faces pressure not only from a budget deficit but also from rising citizen demands and expectations, he told his colleagues at the NASCIO conference. While he has been seeking ways to reduce Georgia's costs, the state has witnessed a 64 percent increase in the demand for food stamps, he said.

As part of his strategic fiscal management plan, Krishnan continues to seek economies of scale by approaching IT initiatives from an enterprise perspective rather than the infamous silo perspective. However, getting other agencies to adopt the enterprise-wide mindset is not easy. "We're first looking at the department as an enterprise and then we'll look at the state as an enterprise," he said. "It's a long road."

Related Articles:
Creative budget-cutting tactics from state CIOs: Part 1, Washington
State CIOs urged to consider personal smartphones for work
Turning data into a business