CDT officials including Director Amy Tong, who is also the state chief information officer; Quentin Wright, CDT’s departmental chief information officer and chief technology officer; and Rick Klau, state chief technology innovation officer and deputy director of CDT’s Office of Enterprise Technology, joined their counterparts from the Department of General Services to share the latest insights on projects, infrastructure changes and telework. Among the takeaways:
- Headquarters move: CDT’s move from its current base at 1325 J St. in Sacramento to the Ziggurat building, at 707 3rd St. in West Sacramento, is proceeding apace. Wright provided an update on the move. Gov. Gavin Newsom has stated that he wants at least 70 percent of state workers to be able to work remotely; Wright said CDT has between 90 and 95 percent working remotely. The department’s new home is also DGS’ headquarters, which will facilitate interdepartmental collaboration. Wright called the relocation “a really good move” for all concerned. The new space will include hoteling stations for those working occasionally in the office.
- Virtual work continues: Tong and Deputy State CIO Russ Nichols both underscored for vendors that for the time being, virtual meetings with CDT representatives are preferred over in-person meetings. CDT can work with Teams, Webex, Zoom or any of a variety of other platforms, Tong said, and she encouraged vendors to use those applications when seeking to meet with CDT.
- FedRAMP cloud agreements: DGS has extended the current cloud contracts to June 14, 2022. Carol Bangs, acquisitions branch chief in the procurement division of DGS, said an ongoing procurement, RFP 33526_SSU_FedRAMP Consolidation due in July, means that “once awarded, CDT will be administering the FedRAMP contracts going forward.” The procurement may be found at the California State Government Marketplace.
- IT consulting master services agreement (IT MSA): An update to the IT MSA has been delayed by the state’s COVID-19 response but is expected to be released by the end of July. Officials have updated it in response to feedback at various forums, Bangs said, noting officials will also add more data after receiving a request from a department for “additional classifications.” The new MSA will be similar to its predecessor in that it will have tiers, a refresh period a year out and different opportunities for small business.
- Equipment procurement: DGS and CDT are also partnering on a “review of standards for computer equipment,” Bangs said, indicating that more opportunities for telework have brought the need for robust equipment capable of supporting online meetings while running multiple programs. “And so, we’re looking at making sure that our standards for the state are able to support the customers’ needs,” Bangs said. A procurement for laptops, desktops, monitors and related equipment is expected next year.
- IT and non-IT: DGS officials are working with their counterparts at CDT on a “revisit of the definition of ‘IT’ and ‘non-IT,’” prompted by changes to technology and “the way that everything works,” Bangs said. Officials are looking at modernization and adapting to change. The expectation is to partner with the new office of statewide technology procurement, she added, in the third or fourth quarter. Vendors will be engaged, Bangs said, and plans will “fall in line with (supply chain management) SCM updates.”
- Electronic Vendor Application Qualifications (EVAQ): Tiffany Angulo, CDT assistant deputy director for statewide technology procurement, said more than 200 vendors have qualified to be listed in the database and encouraged those attending virtually to get pre-qualified. “The goal is also to streamline submissions, so we can delete or eliminate repetitive administrative requirements,” Angulo said, announcing that EVAQ is now fully online, which affords applicants the ability to save their data and return to it during the application process, access embedded definitions and obtain virtual guidance.
- Pre-qualified vendor pool: CDT intends to refresh and modernize the pool during the fourth quarter of the year and has done surveys to get insights on areas of improvement and possibly adding some classifications, Angulo said. She thanked participants for their “tremendous partnership” during the departments’ still ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As challenging as it was, we did not pause in the efforts to continuously improve procurement, but we rather used it as a ... springboard, in my opinion, for new ideas and more opportunities,” she said.
