NEBRASKA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION

Special Meeting
Wednesday, May 23, 2001
Varner Hall-Videoconference Room, 3835 Holdrege Street
Lincoln, Nebraska
APPROVED MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT:
Lieutenant Governor David Maurstad
Greg Adams, Mayor, City of York, Nebraska
Dr. Eric Brown, Manager, KRVN Radio, Lexington, Nebraska
L. Merill Bryan, Senior Vice President, Information Technologies, Union Pacific
Dr. Doug Christensen, Commissioner, Department of Education
Hod Kosman, CEO & President, Platte Valley Financial Services, Scottsbluff, Nebraska
Dr. Dennis Smith, President, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska
Pamela Vanlandingham, Senior Vice President, CSG Systems, Inc.

MEMBERS ABSENT:
Gary Kuck, CEO, Centurion International, Lincoln, Nebraska

CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND MEETING NOTICE

The Chair, Lieutenant Governor David Maurstad called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. Roll call was taken. There were six members present. A quorum existed to conduct official business. Lieutenant Governor Maurstad stated that the NITC special meeting notice was posted to the NITC and Nebraska Public Meeting calendar on Friday, May 18, 2001.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

NIS (NEBRASKA INFORMATION SYSTEM) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
Tom Conroy, Project Manager

Mr. Conroy thanked the Technical Panel for providing assistance and expertise with the project and review of the implementation plan. Special thanks was also give to Don Mihulka, who served on the core team at the Technical Panel’s request. Mr. Conroy provided a brief summary of the vendor evaluation and selection process. Three vendors had submitted proposals: J.D. Edwards, SAP and Oracle.

Dr. Christensen arrived at 1:39 p.m.

J.D. Edwards rated highest of the vendors. The project is in contract negotiations with J.D. Edwards. Mr. Conroy introduced the following persons who were also present: Lori McClurg, Director, Department of Administrative Services; Theresa Wintringer, J.D. Edwards, Project Director; Mark Kudia, Project Manager; and Bruce Dienes, IBM representative.

Discussions centered on the following issues, concerns and comments:

Stakeholder Acceptance.

• The Governor and Lieutenant Governor need to take the lead role in supporting the project through communications (written and verbal) to state agencies and employees.
• State agencies that are affected must buy into and support the project.

Implementation.

• Fit gap analysis. This will occur after the contract has been signed but normally should be done before the signing of a contract. Scope of work therefore needs to be reassessed which usually means increased costs. Responsibility for functionality gaps was addressed.
• Fixed cost contract and decision-making. The State will need to have the ability to make quick decisions. It was recommended that it be designated in writing as to who is empowered to make decisions as well as what types of decisions. There is currently 15% built into the budget for contingency funding.
• Independent Project Management Review. This type of review process will be critical and should involve state government representation and management.

Change Management and Training.

• It was recommended to do a user analysis in order to plan for training. The work plan did not include explicit training tasks. Organizational structure and the hesitancy of staff not willing to change from old processes needs to be addressed. Early organization of helpdesk support would be beneficial.

Linkage to NETCOM.

• An IP centric network is needed.
• J.D. Edwards utilizes a "fat client" software approach on local equipment and therefore requires heavy network use on the Internet.

Commissioner Smith moved to adopt the Technical Panel’s resolution including the listed conditions. Commissioner Bryan seconded the motion.

Discussion followed regarding the decision-making process and authority. Further discussions will occur with the DAS Director and Project Director regarding empowerment and scope.

Commissioner Smith offered a friendly amendment to the original motion to include the Project Director in the second bullet regarding written empowerment. Commissioners Smith and Bryan accepted the friendly amendment. Roll call vote: Vanlandingham-Yes, Smith-Yes, Maurstad-Yes, Kosman-Yes, Christensen-Yes, Bryan-Yes, Brown-Yes, and Adams-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.

The resolution now reads as follows:

“The NITC recognizes the NIS project as an enterprise project of primary importance to the State of Nebraska and provides conditional approval of the project plan. The conditions are:

• Need for tangible evidence of agency commitment such as providing project team members, incorporating agency training plans per project implementation plans, participation in design workshops, and providing executives for the process decision team.
• Written empowerment from the Project Sponsor allowing the Project Director and the NIS Project Team to make time critical decisions.
• Detailed process for evaluating and eliminating duplicative systems.
• Detailed description of the NIS project scope, including base functionality and management of contingency funds to address unforeseen events.
• Contract negotiations result in a total project budget not to exceed $29,728,529.
• Prepare a realistic post implementation budget.
• Development of an independent project management review process that involves state government representation and management.

As part of the reporting processes pursuant to Section 81-1196.01, the Chief Information Officer shall report to the Governor, Legislature and the NITC, the on-going status of these conditions.”

NITC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION

Michael Winkle announced that he will resign as the NITC Executive Director at the end of June. The NITC will need to secure a new Executive Director and can do this though two options: (1) conduct a formal selection process, or (2) empower the Chair to make a recommendation that would be approved by the NITC. The Commissioners advised the Chair to make a recommendation.

Mr. Winkle was thanked for his efforts and work since the inception of the NITC.

OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business.

NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT

The next regular meeting of the NITC will be held on Wednesday, June 13th, 1:30 p.m. in Lincoln. The location will be determined.

Lieutenant Governor Maurstad adjourned the meeting at 2:50 p.m.

Minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by staff of the Office of the CIO/NITC.

Meeting Minutes