Report 2014-116 Recommendation 36 Responses

Report 2014-116: California Department of Consumer Affairs' BreEZe System: Inadequate Planning and Oversight Led to Implementation at Far Fewer Regulatory Entities at a Significantly Higher Cost (Release Date: February 2015)

Recommendation #36 To: Consumer Affairs, Department of

To ensure that future training for BreEZe system rollouts is timely and effective, Consumer Affairs should work with the regulatory entities to develop training that is specific to each entity's business processes.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2021

This recommendation has been adopted as standard for all non-delegated IT initiatives at the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). This adoption is illustrated by the first group to deploy functionality under the Business Modernization umbrella. The Business Modernization Cohort 1, consisting of the California Acupuncture Board, the Bureau for Private Postsecondary, the Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists, deployed its first release on September 16, 2020. The effort required that training sessions were tailored to the specific program where applicable and the sessions were held within 60 days of implementation. The training sessions were held 3 weeks prior to deployment. A departmental policy outlining these requirements was issued October 4, 2021 via an all staff Policy Directive OIS 21-01.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2020

This recommendation has been adopted as standard for all non-delegated IT initiatives at the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). This adoption is illustrated by the first group to deploy functionality under the Business Modernization umbrella. The Business Modernization Cohort 1, consisting of the California Acupuncture Board, the Bureau for Private Postsecondary, the Board of Chiropractic Examiners and the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists, deployed its first release on September 16, 2020. The effort required that training sessions were tailored to the specific program where applicable and the sessions were held within 60 days of implementation. The training sessions were held 3 weeks prior to deployment. A departmental policy outlining these requirements will be submitted to the DCA Policy Committee in early 2021.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2019

A primary tenet of the Department of Consumer Affairs' Business Modernization Plan is to analyze the business needs of the boards/bureaus on an individual basis and has been implemented for all boards/bureaus that have begun their business activities. From those specific and individualized requirements come board-specific functionality that therefore must be trained on a board-specific basis. The Business Modernization's focus on the board-level requirements at all levels, ensures that training is delivered in the same manner. The recommendation calls out specifically further training in Breeze, but DCA has extended this requirement to all reportable technological investments.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

Although DCA indicates that it has adopted this recommendation as a standard for all training associated with reportable technological investments, DCA explained that it has not yet formalized a policy to reflect this recommendation. DCA indicated that it intends on formalizing a policy in 2020, when the first group of regulatory entities are scheduled to begin their projects.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2018

For phase 3 regulatory entities, the planning of training activities will be part of the required project planning included in the California Department of Technology's Project Approval Lifecycle (i.e. PAL). Because phase 3 entities will be partnering with the Department in completing the PAL, the Department will ensure planned training activities include business-process specific training elements. During BreEZe's second release, the Department supplemented the planned training activities in the Solution Vendor (i.e. Accenture) contract with a separate Organizational Change Management (OCM) contract. The OCM activities included developing numerous business process-specific artifacts that the phase 2 entities used prior to and after launch to effectively execute business activities in the BreEZe system.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2017

For phase 3 regulatory entities, the planning of training activities will be part of the required project planning included in the California Department of Technology's Project Approval Lifecycle (PAL). The Department will ensure planned training activities include business-process specific training elements.

Implementation Timeframe: For phase 3 regulatory entities, the dates may vary as each entity proceeds through the planning stages of the PAL.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented

In its one-year response, Consumer Affairs explained and provided supporting documentation that it deployed an Organizational Change Management team to assist the phase 2 regulatory entities with their transition to BreEZe. Specifically, the Organizational Change Management team was charged with working with the phase 2 regulatory entities to develop and execute training that was specific to each entity's business processes. Because of this, we assessed this recommendation as partially implemented. However, until Consumer Affairs works with the phase 3 regulatory entities to develop training that is specific to each entity's business processes, we will continue to report this recommendation as partially implemented.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2016

The Department deployed a skilled Organizational Change Management (OCM) team to assist the Release 2 boards and bureaus with their transition to BreEZe. This OCM team was charged with working with the Release 2 boards and bureaus to develop and execute training that was specific to each entity's business processes. This training was the last stage of the multi-stage training approach detailed in response to Recommendation #35. This response remains as partially implemented as the training plan for the programs formerly in Release 3 is yet to be developed.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented

1-Year Agency Response

The Department has deployed a skilled Organizational Change Management (OCM)team to assist the Release 2 boards and bureaus with their transition to BreEZe. This OCM team was charged with working with the Release 2 boards and bureaus to develop and execute training that was specific to each entity's business processes. This training was the last stage of the multi-stage training approach detailed in response to Recommendation #35. This response remains as partially implemented as the training plan for the programs formerly in Release 3 is yet to be developed.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented

6-Month Agency Response

The Department has deployed a skilled Organizational Change Management (OCM) team to assist the Release 2 boards and bureaus with their transition to BreEZe. This OCM team is charged with working with the Release 2 boards and bureaus to develop and execute training that is specific to each entity's business processes.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

The Department has deployed a skilled Organizational Change Management (OCM) team to assist the Release 2 boards and bureaus with their transition to BreEZe. This OCM team is charged with working with the Release 2 boards and bureaus to develop and execute training that is specific to each entity's business processes.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2014-116

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.