LANSING – Within the next two years, Michigan will need additional data center capacity. Several universities are looking at building new data centers as are several counties. Department of Information Technology Director Ken Theis wants to build one data center and share resources.
Theis’ department was built on the idea of bringing the computer and communications infrastructure from all of the state departments together to create some uniformity and economies of scale. In an interview Monday with Gongwer News Service, he argued that same theory could be spread to other units of government.
The proposal would not be for the state to own the data center, but for the main participants to own and operate it jointly. Smaller governments could then lease space in the facility rather than building their own.
“We have a real opportunity to look at how we can leverage state IT services across government boundaries,” he said.
He said the data center was only one idea. The state could share everything from its purchasing contracts to network capacity.
The idea has already born some fruit. A recent software purchase was 10 percent cheaper, a total savings of more than $200,000 a year, by adding Macomb and Oakland counties to the bid, he said.
While the idea of sharing state purchasing contracts has been around for some time, Theis said eroding state and local budgets makes this the perfect time to look at expanding that idea.
“Given the economic situation Michigan’s in, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. “We’re seeing a great willingness of all parties to sit down and talk about how we can leverage.”
He said the process could work both ways. The state is also working with Oakland County to expand some healthcare software the county developed to accommodate proposals by the Departments of Agriculture and Environmental Quality. Since discussions began, he said some other local health departments have indicated an interest in the program.
Theis said DIT is also offering to share its security protocols with other units that might need them, particularly since some of the systems were developed under federal grants.
“I’m extremely proud about what we’ve done around security,” he said. “We’ve really done a great job hardening the outside perimeter.”
In addition to keeping viruses and hackers out, DIT has also worked to keep its data in, Theis said. He said the department expects to announce formally in the coming weeks that Michigan is one of the first states to have its entire network certified under the new security requirements for the credit card companies.
The proposals to collaborate allow governments to conserve a precious resource: money. But Theis said the department is also working on ways to conserve power.
He said the state has purchased energy-efficient desktop computers for some time but just in the last couple of months set standards for purchasing energy-efficient servers. And where possible, the department has been moving to virtualization, which allows more than one program to share a server and reduce the number of physical machines needed.
The goal, he said, is to have DIT certified as a green operation in the coming months. “That’s a major initiative for us,” he said.
Not only is DIT working to use less power. It is looking at possibly making its own power. Theis said he has been working with the Department of Management and Budget on a proposal that would have the sun or wind provide at least some of the power for the current data centers.
While DIT has been focusing on the equipment and software the state needs to operate, Mr. Theis said he is starting to focus more now on the people needed to operate that equipment and software. “We’re really focusing inward on DIT, focusing on skills and making DIT a great place to work,” he said.
Investing in personnel development provides several benefits, Theis said. It ensures that the agency can keep up with new technology. “Unless you invest in your people, over time you become stagnant,” he said.
But it can also help to make the agency more attractive to potential new hires. The recent budget cuts took with them the signing bonuses that had helped to attract new people to the department, so he is working now to get the message out that a career in state government can be as rewarding as one in the private sector.
“Hiring has been a challenge,” he said. “It helps to get the message out and brand DIT.”
The wages in the private sector continue to outpace what the state can pay, but Theis said he hopes to attract people with the none-salary benefits like training and the pure challenge of the job. “Not many organizations deal with the types of diversity of systems we have,” he said.
And hiring will be important as the department prepares to shed additional employees in the coming years to retirement. More than 40 percent of the department’s current staff will be eligible to retire in the next five to seven years, he said.
In addition to trying to replace those people, Theis said the department is working to be sure they pass on the knowledge they have of the state’s systems before they move on. He noted there are several legacy systems where only one or two people understand them well enough to maintain them.
The department also has a steady stream of new projects in addition to ongoing maintenance.
Among the latest ideas is a change to the state website that would allow businesses to register and have all of the programs they need accessible from a single page. Theis said the project, flowing from Governor Jennifer Granholm’s one-stop shopping proposal, would eventually allow businesses to not only apply for permits and licenses from various agencies, but to track the progress of those applications.
The department is also working on a single database for the names and addresses of people and companies that have contact with the state. Theis said currently every department has its own list of names and addresses, some more than one, with no way to verify among them which agency has the correct address.
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