In new policy guidance issued Monday, California's agency-level chief information officers (AIOs) have been delegated authority to approve newly conceived IT projects that will fall under the Department of Technology's oversight.
The reason for the change? The Department of Technology said agencies have a "strong understanding of the constituent and program needs of their agency-affiliated state entities."
Specifically, AIOs will now approve projects through the Business Analysis phase the first stage of California's four-part Project Approval Lifecycle. The Stage 1 Business Analysis lays the foundation for a statewide list of "Conceptually Approved Projects" the Department of Technology now publishes on a quarterly basis.
"The CDT wishes to empower Agencies to serve as an independent and objective body for Stage 1 Business Analysis review and approval, enabling Agencies to make their own determinations on departmental business problems considered for IT solutions. With this delegation, the CDT expects Agency Chief Information Officers (AIOs) to confirm that business problems identified through this process can and should be solved," the new policy letters says.
Read the policy letter here (.pdf).
PAL's four-stage process includes a business analysis (Stage 1), alternatives analysis (Stage 2), solution development phase (Stage 3), and project readiness and approval (Stage 4). At the conclusion of each stage, project managers and oversight staff reach a go/no-go decision point where a project can be halted if more work is needed.
The Department of Technology announced in a separate memo in August that Project Readiness and Approval (Stage 4) has now been completed. The intent of Stage 4 is, in part, to establish "realistic schedule and cost baselines."
