3 CIOs Weigh In On Tech, RFPs and Vendors

Cybersecurity, economies of scale and recruiting/retention are among the challenges facing California’s county governments, three CIOs agreed Thursday during a Techwire virtual briefing.

The participants were Jerry Becker, director of the San Joaquin County Information Systems Division (100 IT employees, $35 million annual IT budget), and CIO Tim Dupuis of Alameda County (200 IT employees, $70 million IT budget), and Mike Pettit, CIO of Ventura County (170 IT employees, $54 million IT budget). Together, the three serve as the executive board of the California County Information Services Directors Association (CCISDA), which comprises 36 of California’s 58 county governments. The 70-minute teleconference was led by Joe Morris, vice president of research for e.Republic, Techwire’s parent.

On most issues, the CIOs cited common priorities, challenges and goals:

— Cybersecurity, modernization and “KTOL” (keeping the lights on and all systems running) are among the top priorities cited by all three CIOs. As cyberthreats increase, IT leaders must also update and upgrade — or entirely replace — older legacy systems, some of which are decades old. And they must fix the plane while flying it; in other words, the technology must continue to support government needs, even as those needs change.

— Recruiting and training new IT staffers is a growing hurdle as more Baby Boomers reach retirement age, a theme echoed by several top IT leaders in state government at this week’s California Technology Forum in Sacramento. Ventura County’s Pettit lauded his county’s commutable proximity to Los Angeles while also being a nice place to live.

— Taxpayers expect to engage online with their city and local governments — and they expect the technology to meet those demands. Becker cited among his department’s priorities the promotion of fiscal responsibility, good governance, public safety and economic development. “Our agency is focused on innovation, security, core operations and increasing organization capabilities — delivering IT as a workforce multiplier.”

All three CIOs mentioned cyberthreats.

“Security is way up high on our list,” said Dupuis, who’s been Alameda’s CIO for five years and was the CTO before that. He said the “bread and butter work” the county does in IT revolves around maintaining technology for its criminal justice system, as well as property tax collection, ERP, payroll and HR, and finance.

Notes for vendors:

— Dupuis noted that Alameda’s IT hardware spending is trending down due to increased use of cloud operations. Network-related spending is consistent, he said, while spending on cybersecurity is increasing, as it is for apps and business solutions. He cited VoIP technology as a priority, noting that the current telephony tech is “very legacy.” “I’d like to make a giant leap forward over an iterative improvement and go straight to what’s modern today.” He said he expects to be issuing some RFPs soon for more modern telephony.

— Becker of San Joaquin said his department is expanding VoIP technology to more county departments and will be looking to buy equipment and licenses, new radio towers and generators. He also noted that a “very large” audio-visual upgrade is being planned for the county administration building. Becker said vendors may reach him at techwire@sj.org — but he added a caveat: “I get so many contacts every day from the vendor community, and the ones that get my attention are from those already doing business with someone like Tim or Mike, or someone we meet through CCISDA.”

— Pettit of Ventura County said he’s looking at “how new, innovative technology can enhance county services.” As an example, he cited a scenario in which a resident could go online, register a pet, and have the dog license delivered by Amazon.

— All three CIOs said they want to hear from vendors who do their homework and take an ongoing interest in a county’s projects  not someone who just wants to make a one-time sale. And vendors can also score points, they said, through useful, informative seminars and training sessions.

The CIOs also plugged CCISDA’s “Waves of Change” conference, scheduled for October in Monterey.