Report 2022-114 Recommendation 13 Responses

Report 2022-114: California Department of Technology: Weaknesses in Strategic Planning, Information Security, and Project Oversight Limit the State's Management of Information Technology (Release Date: April 2023)

Recommendation #13 To: Technology, California Department of

To improve the effectiveness of the PAL process at ensuring the success of projects, CDT should take the following actions:
Revise the PAL process to require agencies to ensure, and CDT to verify, that proposed projects align with statewide strategic initiatives so that all approved projects are contributing to the State's strategic goals.

1-Year Agency Response

The Procedures/Standards, PS-027 have been completed. Furthermore, the enacted procedures, State Information Management Manual (SIMM), and internal enhancements to further ensure projects clearly align with Vision 2023 have been completed.

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

We reviewed the Procedure/Standard PS-027 on CDT's website and the State Information Management Manual and verified the requirements that proposed projects align with statewide strategic initiatives.

6-Month Agency Response

CDT has fully implemented Procedure/Standards (PS-027) and issued the portfolio template to include instructions and data capture of statewide strategic alignment.

CDT has reviewed policy and procedure areas and determined no State Administrative Manual (SAM) policy changes are required but has enacted procedures (State Information Management Manual (SIMM) and internal) enhancements to further ensure projects clearly align with Vision 2023, the statewide technology strategic plan.

CDT has also revised its budget change proposal (BCP) review, project planning and portfolio instructions and checklist templates to verify and validate that projects align with Statewide Strategy.

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

60-Day Agency Response

OSPD will develop a Statewide IT Strategic Plan checklist which requires departments to identify which goal/initiative their project aligns to. Prior to approval, OSPD will include OTech, ODS, EA, and other CDT program experts to ensure that the project and proposed technical solution align with CDT strategies, including but not limited to State's Digital Strategy, CalSecure, and statewide technical architecture and standards.

CDT issued a Procedures/Standards Update (PS-027) to its portfolio report template, including specific reporting and guidance on statewide strategic alignment.

CDT will review and determine where additional policy and procedure changes (e.g., PAL, Agency Portfolio, BCP review) to further ensure projects align with statewide strategic initiatives during the budget review and planning phases.

CDT/OSPD will revise the budget change proposal review, project planning, and Agency Portfolio instructions and templates checkpoints to verify and validate that projects align with Statewide strategic initiatives.

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

All Recommendations in 2022-114

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.