held by the department in an effort to hear from the vendor community about possible reforms. The first forum was held in December.

Much of the discussion at the December forum centered on how to evaluate vendors in a way that would be fair and acknowledges the responsibilities of both vendors and state project managers. Suggestions ranged from issuing a project report card to using a model based on the federal government’s database of past performance.

Ramos said the state intends to hold an ongoing series of forums. The date for the March forum has not yet been set.

In an ongoing bid to improve the state’s IT procurement system, the

California Department of Technology in March will hold a forum to examine how it might evaluate the performance of its vendors.

The effort stems from last year’s government reorganization when CalTech began overseeing major IT project procurements, a program formerly run by the Department of General Services. The transition has given the vendor community an opportunity to voice its concerns over the slow moving, overly bureaucratic system that has a history of problems.

CalTech Director Carlos Ramos said the department had heard a litany of complaints from vendors about the bidding process. And recent high-profile IT project failures, such as the 21st Century Project, have driven discussions about the need for reforming the process. The procurement program might also be subject to legislative hearings this year. To reform the system, Ramos said that he wants to mitigate the state’s risk on major projects by increasing competition, driving down costs and shortening the procurement cycle. The state also intends to evaluate vendor performance, which would factor into new procurements, with the goal of increasing private sector accountability.

The March forum is the second event

CalTech to hold forum on IT vendor

performance in MarchBy Bill Maile

Inside: Big Data Expert 2 Tech Moves 3 Cloud First for CA? 4 News Briefs 5 Bids & Contracts 6,7 Upcoming Events 8

Roundup - Volume 2, Issue 6 - February 7, 2014

Director Carlos Ramos Photo Credit: Sylvia Morado, TechWire.net

2 Te c h W i r e - Fe b r u a r y 2 0 1 4

Chandramouly emphasized that the way people benefit is more important than the technology, and it is better for the state to start sooner rather than later.

“It’s easier now more than ever to get started. The ecosystem has matured. There are a variety of tools and technologies that are available,” Chandramouly said. “My biggest advice to them is to get started and learn by doing.”Chandramouly was the keynote speaker at the Big Data Conference on Jan. 22 in Sacramento.

California should not wait to take advantage of Big Data, but the state should take small steps to avoid

big profile failures, advises at least one Big Data expert. In an interview with TechWire, Ajay Chandramouly pointed to his employer as an example. Intel ensured its success in Big Data by focusing on relatively small benefits and using few staff to gain experience without risking a great deal of money, he said.

And although Big Data can be an important part of overall strategy, one way of doing things for one state department may not work for other departments.

“Big data is a means to an end. It’s not an end in itself,” said Chandramouly, who is a big data domain owner and subject matter expert for Intel IT.

The California government could benefit from Big Data by improving services to constituents as well as streamlining the processes for themselves. However,

Start small with Big Data, expert tells California

—Amy Stewart

Photo Credit: Sylvia Morado, TechWire.net

university for the 2014 school year to apply. The new deadline to apply is March 10.

Finally, recently winning a $1.28 million contract with the Office of Systems Integration, VIP is one of the companies highlighted in the contracts section on page six of this newsletter. Be sure to see what other major IT contracts have recently been awarded by the state.

Cambria opens Florida office Sacramento-based Cambria Solutions, Inc. has opened a new office in Tallahassee, Florida to serve the firm’s clients in the Southeast region. This is Cambria’s fifth office location in addition to Sacramento, Los Angeles, Olympia, Wash., and Washington D.C. Suzanne Vitale, former deputy secretary for the Florida Department of Children and Families, has been hired to head up Cambria’s Florida office.

“Our new Tallahassee office will allow us to better serve our clients and expand our presence further in the Southeast and Suzanne is the perfect addition to our team to lead the Tallahassee office,” said Cambria CEO and founder Robert Rodriguez in a press release. “The Health and Human Services industry is undergoing rapid change as states grapple not only with the opportunities and challenges in implementing the Affordable Care Act, but also tight budgets coupled with the demand for increased quality and cost effective services. Our firm understands these challenges and we are excited to have Suzanne join us.”

In case you missed it, Cambria recently announced the firm has hired former CalTech Deputy Director Kari Gutierrez who retired from state service at the end of December.

Cambria Opens Office in Florida, VIP Reorganizes, Rebrands & GovOps has an undersecretary

#TECHMOVES

Undersecretary appointed to GovOps The super agency that oversees the Departments of Technology and General Services, among others, has an undersecretary appointed on Wednesday by Gov. Jerry Brown. Tony Perez, 49, of San Diego will serve under Secretary Marybel Batjer at the California Government Operations Agency (GovOps) that was created last summer as part of Brown’s Government Reorganization Plan. Perez, a Republican, over the years has held positions at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s School of Medicine, the University of California at both the San Diego and Davis campuses and the University of San Francisco. In the late 1990s, he served in Gov. Pete Wilson’s administration as manager of legislation and public information at the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Most recently, he worked as a consultant and attorney in private practice.

VIP in the news... Folsom-based Visionary Integration Professionals (VIP) has reorganized its divisions and rebranded the firm with a new website, according to an announcement on Thursday. The new divisions outline four primary offerings under the new title of VIP Performance Delivery Solutions. They include Business & Mission Support, Technology Optimization, Learning & Performance Management, and Federal Clearance Management. Check out firm’s new website at www.trustvip.com.

VIP also recently announced they have extended the deadline for their Women in Technology Scholarship (WITS) program where they grant scholarships of up to $2,500 per recipient to women pursuing a career in computer science, information technology or a related field. Students must be enrolled at, or accepted into, a two or four-year college or

Start small with Big Data, expert tells California

As California ventures into cloud computing, the state’s rules have come from established structures and

standards developed by the federal government, a top state official said.

Ron Hughes, deputy director of The Department of Technology’s Data Center Services, said the federal Cloud First policy has inspired the state government as it designs its program for writing bids for cloud-based services.

The department recently signed a letter of intent on a contract with AT&T and IBM to develop Cal Cloud in the state’s data center, with private, public and hybrid clouds.

“We believe that it will change the way services are delivered in the future in the state of California,” Hughes said in a Q&A in TechWire’s winter issue.

The cloud infrastructure scheduled to go online in the second quarter of 2014 will be managed on state premises and have several different offerings for customers, Hughes said.

“The customer will have self-service capabilities and would be responsible for managing their application, their databases and any management software that they utilize,” Hughes said.

Though California’s venture into cloud computing has been too slow for some, like Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Hughes urged caution in moving forward. His caution may be warranted. A February 2013 study from the Cloud Security Alliance showed the top five cloud computing threats—data breaches, data loss, account or service traffic hijacking, insecure interfaces and APIs and denial of service attacks—are “security issues whose full impact is still emerging.”

“Establishing a cloud-first policy is certainly something that I believe Director Ramos would consider in the future. However, there are a number of things government is obligated to figure out first,” Hughes said. “For example, contracting models, data security and confidentiality, reporting protocols for IT security incidents when a third party owns the cloud infrastructure and much more.”

The federal government’s example has helped in developing security standards, Hughes said. But, he added the state needs more experience working with the cloud before it implements any policy change that mandates its use.

Fe b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 Te c h W i r e 4

Is California moving toward ‘Cloud First?’ By Amy Stewart

#policy

News Briefs

Fe b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 Te c h W i r e 5

DGS Awards IT MSA The state has named 155 small businesses, disabled veteran businesses and large businesses as eligible IT consulting contractors, according to the Department of General Services.

The announcement Wednesday involves a program known as the Master Service Agreement, which vets contractors and sets pricing for IT consulting services so individual agencies don’t have to advertise and bid extensively.

The contracts, which will become effective March 4, are capped at a $1.5 million order limit. Agencies must request additional purchasing authority for each individual contract that goes above the limit. Tier 2 contracts range up to $5 million and Tier 3 projects go up to $10 million.

Previous Request for Offers (RFOs) issued before March 3, 2014 may be awarded before the Aug. 31, 2014. Any award based on those RFOs must terminate on or before Aug. 30, 2015. RFOs will not be issued on MSA contracts after March 3, 2014.

IT consultants interested in contracting with the state in the future can apply to become an MSA contractor in six months.

The full list of current MSA contractors is on the DGS’s MSA program website at: http://www.dgs.ca.gov/pd/Programs/Leveraged/masteragreements/InformationTechnologyConsultingServices.aspx

LA Mayor Garcetti appoints Peter Marx as Chief Innovation Technology Officer Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti on Tuesday named his city’s first innovation technology chief, a former executive at Qualcomm Labs, Inc. and Mattel.

Peter Marx’s job: to improve government technology so residents can get better services.

“Incredibly talented, a force in the tech community, and an L.A. native to boot, Peter was my top choice from a very strong pool of applicants,” Garcetti said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to have him on the team and look forward to working with him to better serve Angelenos and foster the already strong tech ecosystem here in the City of Angels.”

Among Marx’s first projects: improving the MyLA311 mobile application, which allows Los Angeles residents to report graffiti, potholes and bulky object pickup, as well as pay water and electricity bills, according to the mayor’s office. Marx also will work to improve the city’s websites and

determine how to share and analyze data to improve government performance.

“I’m looking forward to working with the mayor to take the city of the future further into the future,” Marx said in a statement.

A former vice president of business development at Qualcomm, Marx also served as vice president of the Technology and Digital Studio at Mattel, Inc., which earned a Webby award. He also managed Analog Protocol, served as the chief technology officer for Vivendi-Universal Games and as vice president of Emerging Technologies for Universal Studios.

NASCIO releases issue brief on RFP process California has released reports in an attempt to improve the procurement process, but according to a report from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), the problem actually lies in the timing of RFP awards. The NASCIO report says that the current procurement process relegates contract awards too far to the end of the process.

“The RFP process is such an important part of the procurement process yet oftentimes takes a backseat to other aspects of the process,” said Alex Pettit, co-chair of the NASCIO Procurement Modernization Committee and CIO for the state of Oregon, in a statement.

The report, titled “Rethinking the Dynamics of the RFP Process for Improved IT Procurement,” asserted that the government lags behind innovation because a department will plan and budget an IT solution before choosing a vendor, leaving the contractor out of the project planning.

Vendors also complained in the report of problems in technology standard misunderstandings, culture, lack of communication and concerns about risk.

In August 2013, the California Task Force on Reengineering IT Procurement for Success released a report recommending that the state could improve procurements by prescreening vendors, embedding government staff on the project team and developing a library of terms and processes so that vendors and the government are on the same page.

The issue brief can found online at: http://www.nascio.org/publications/documents/NASCIO_ITProcurement_RethinkingRFPProcess.pdf

Fe b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 Te c h W i r e 6V i s i t h t t p : / / d a t a . t e c h w i r e . n e t f o r m o r e d e t a i l s .

Recent Selected Bid AnnouncementsTechWire.net

Motor Vehicles Automated Knowledge Testing Expansion TerminalsContract Date: 1/31/2014Statewide Contract$2,676,968.00Supplier: Western Blue, an NWN Company

Health & Human Services Agency (Systems Integration) Systems Engineering Support ServicesContract Date: 1/30/2014Master Service Agreement$1,286,400.00Supplier: Visionary Integration Professionals (VIP)

Franchise Tax BoardMicrosoft Software AssuranceContract Date: 1/30/2014Software License Program$1,135,307.73Supplier: CDW Government

Caltrans WebsenseContract Date: 1/28/2014Software License Program$747,300.00Supplier: Evolve Technology Group

Health & Human Services Agency (Systems Integration) Microsoft softwareContract Date: 1/31/2014Software License Program$662,325.21Supplier: Insight Public Sector, Inc.

Franchise Tax BoardEMC Hardware MaintenanceContract Date: 1/30/2014Informal Competitive$597,427.63Supplier: Global Blue DVBE

Public Utilities CommissionconsultingContract Date: 1/28/2014CMAS$499,860.00Supplier: Mission Consulting, LLC

Social ServicesIV&V for CWS-NSContract Date: 1/31/2014CMAS$418,968.00Supplier: Public Consulting Group Technology Consulting

Industrial RelationsWeb UI TrainingContract Date: 1/29/2014CMAS$412,800.00Supplier: IBM

CaltransFirewall ApplianceContract Date: 2/3/2014WSCA/Coop$326,204.91Supplier: Cisco Systems Inc.

Health Care Services IT Consulting ServicesContract Date: 2/3/2014CMAS$298,000.00Supplier: Stanfield Systems, Inc.

Health Care ServicesIT SWITCH CARDSContract Date: 1/28/2014WSCA/Coop$270,679.72Supplier: Cisco Systems Inc.

Employment Development DepartmentIT MaintenanceContract Date: 2/4/2014Informal Competitive$270,244.36Supplier: Allied Network Solutions, Inc

Motor Vehicles Cisco SwitchesContract Date: 1/27/2014SB/DVBE Option$256,311.72Supplier: SLED IT Solutions, Inc.

Source: Department of General Services

Fe b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 Te c h W i r e 7V i s i t h t t p : / / d a t a . t e c h w i r e . n e t f o r m o r e d e t a i l s .

Recent Selected Bid AnnouncementsTechWire.net

Department Bid # Bid Title Bid Type Published Deadline

Caltrans RFI ePermits2014

RFI for Electronic Permitting System (ePermits)

RFI 1/10/2014 2/10/2014

Corrections and Rehabilitation RFQ 13-039 Public Payphone Maintenance RFQ 12/26/2013 2/11/2014

General Services 128257 DWR, Modernization, Department of Water Resources Data Center

IFB 1/2/2014 2/11/2014

Motor Vehicles ISD13-0001 Sybase Enterprise Support Renewal 2 Yr

RFQ 1/29/2014 2/11/2014

California Highway Patrol 13C047002 UPS Maintenance, Repair & Battery Replacement svcs

IFB 1/28/2014 2/12/2014

Public Employees' Retirement System

2013-6919 Information Technology Consultants Spring-Fed Pool Refresh No. 2

RFP 1/6/2014 2/18/2014

Motor Vehicles 1401-018 Bell and Howell Criterion IV Sorter Machine

IFB 1/30/2014 2/19/2014

Department of Technology RFP STPD-MA-1311-01

Radio Infrastructure/Subscriber Equipment

RFP 11/25/2013 2/24/2014

CSU Dominguez Hills DH54-0178 Hosted/Cloud VOIP Solution RFP 1/24/2014 2/25/2014

Dept. of Education RFP CDE 6110-99

Standardized Account Code Structure (SACS) System Replacement Project

RFP 4/9/2013 3/4/2014

University of California UCOP/DY-1/2013

Pension Administration System for the University of California

RFP 12/20/2013 3/13/2014

Corrections and Rehabilitation IFB 13-001 CDCR Converged Telephony Enterprise network (CTEN)

IFB 11/25/2013 3/28/2014

CalSTRS 5000000141 Pension Solution RFP 11/13/2013 4/24/2014

Motor Vehicles RFP DMV 2740-191

Centralized Customer Flow Management & Appointment System(CCFMAS)

RFP 1/6/2014 8/1/2014

Board of Equalization RFP BOE 0860-094

Centralized Revenue Opportunity System (CROS)

RFP 7/1/2013 8/25/2014

Department of Technology RFQP 12-001.3

RFQP 12-001.3 Continuous Application Process

RFP 6/27/2013 10/28/2015

*The Information contained in this publication, gathered from official government sources, is intended only as notification of contracting & bid opportunities. Information contained here may not be comprehensive of all bid opportunities. Official contact information has been provided for more information. Techwire.net is not liable to any subscriber or user for any damages or any other costs incurred in connection with the use of and reliance upon information contained within. Information is subject to change without notice or typographical error.

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SharePoint Breakfast This month’s topic: SharePoint 2013 Success with Search When: Tuesday, February 11th 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Where: Microsoft Sacramento Office, 300 Capitol Mall Suite 100, Sacramento

CIO Academy When: February 25-26 Where: Sheraton Grand Hotel 1230 J Street Sacramento, CA 95814

Government and Industry forum on Telecom, Cloud, and Security When: Monday, February 10 from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Where: CalPERS Auditorium, 400 Q St., Sacramento Speakers include: Ron Hughes, Chief Deputy Director, CalTech Bernard Soriano, Deputy Director, DMV Barney Gomez, Chief Technology Officer, DHCS David Noronha, CIO, Dept. of Insurance Karen Wong, Deputy Director, Office of Emergency Services Chris Chambers, Assistant Bureau Chief, CA DOJ

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