IT Project Oversight Transformation

Progress to date - August 2023

We are currently in the implementation stage. Our four focus areas for improvement include:

• Customer-focused, tailored oversight.
• Efficient and effective processes.
• Role clarity.
• Value add service.

Project team working to design and prepare for recommended changes to oversight. A few notable recommendations include:

• Assign oversight consultants to agencies or groups of agencies​.
• Simplify the project intake process.
• Implement a new risk assessment tool/approach​.
• Require Sponsors and project managers who will lead projects under oversight to attend training​
• Tailor oversight based on risk of project​.

Background

WaTech’s Office of the CIO (OCIO) is required to approve and monitor all major IT projects within executive branch agencies, provide guidance to agencies, and track business outcomes.

In 2019, WaTech contracted with Plante Moran to conduct an independent assessment of existing project approval and oversight processes and practices, statutes and policies, and supporting tools, and to develop recommendations for an improved model based on the best practices. While Plante Moran found that WaTech’s existing approach aligned with best practices of high-performing peers, even in a challenging federating model, state agencies and the OCIO have observed: 

• The OCIO project registration process does not recognize different types of investments and is unnecessarily burdensome for some maintenance and operations investments.  
• The investment planning process does not provide adequate opportunity to refine cost and schedule estimates at key project phases or milestones, often making estimates unreliable.    
• One-size-fits-all oversight adds time and cost to agency projects.  
• The current oversight processes can be difficult to navigate and adds process and steps not necessary for adequate oversight.
• The growing number of policy waiver requests indicates an opportunity to update and refine policies. 

This project builds upon the work conducted by Plante Moran and aims to transform WaTech’s Project Oversight program. This transformation seeks to unlock the value, engagement, and expertise of the oversight consultants for agencies to maximize project success and mitigate risks for projects in the state’s portfolio.

Program objectives

• Our customers trust us for being proactive, predictable, and consistent. 
• We engage with a consultant-based mindset where we consult and advise customers, becoming a partner in solving problems together.
• We offer multi-disciplinary services to meet customer needs. 
• An oversight process is efficient and adds value in balancing the customer journey with the requirements of the authorizing environment.
• We work with agency partners to consistently mitigate project risk and support project success.
• We fully leverage oversight consultants as strategic project advisors. 
• We embrace continuous improvement and will proactively and consistently engage the voice of the customer.

What's underway

This is the current roadmap with details on key activities.

Questions?

Submit your questions or feedback here.