Download Shared Networks Integration Project (SNIP)

NASCIO
Collaboration
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Shared Networks
Integration Project
(SNIP)
NASCIO Staff Contact:
Eric Sweden, MSIH MBA
Program Director,
Enterprise Architecture &
Governance
NASCIO
NASCIO represents state chief
information officers and information technology executives and managers from state
governments across the United
States. For more information
visit www.nascio.org.
201 East Main Street, Suite 1405
Lexington, KY 40507
Phone: (859) 514-9153
Fax: (859) 514-9166
[email protected]
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Copyright © 2012 NASCIO
All rights reserved
Project Initiation and completion date
Project Initiation began in June 2009; Project Completion is ongoing.
Organization and primary point of contact
Jessica Moy
Director, Office of Technology Partnerships
Center for Shared Solutions and Technology Partnerships
111 S. Capitol Avenue
10th Floor Romney Building
Lansing, MI 48933
(517) 373-7910 (o)
(517) 373-2939 (f)
[email protected]
Business problem Description
In Michigan, as with many states, the public sector data network has best
been described as a patchwork of service with varying levels of availability,
reliability and cost. While some of the state’s 800 facilities, 1,800 local units
of government and 500 school districts have completely lacked coverage, others maintained duplicative networks with excess capacity that went unused.
Prior to 2009, Michigan’s state and local government data networks were unnecessarily suffering from a lack of high-speed, reliable connectivity. As one
of only 10 states where there can be up to three layers of general purpose
government, there is a high level of jurisdictional complexity. In addition
to political boundaries, historical ownership, past investments, and future
operating agreements, there was a general lack of awareness of much needed
network availability. As a result, many of Michigan’s 800 state office locations, 1,800 local governments and 500 school districts either went without
or had their own individual broadband or network service (often times with
excess capacity).
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Over time, multiple layers of construction, maintenance, support, and administration were also required. These factors,resulted in increased costs to
Michigan taxpayers at a time when every dollar counted. And this issue would
have only intensified as the private sector began to leverage the $248 million
of American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to expand broadband service throughout the state.
Business solution description
Thanks to the Shared Network Integration Project (SNIP), data networks can
now leverage and share existing connectivity for reduced costs, improved
reliability and connection speeds. The project overcame common partnership barriers through support from the Cross-Boundary Technology Steering
Committee (XBTSC), which is Co-Chaired by local units of government and
comprised of 16 informationtechnology leaders from both state and local government levels. The committee and this project are sponsored by the State’s
Department of Technology, Management and Budget’s Center for Shared
Solutions and Technology Partnerships (CSSTP). Together CSSTP and XBTSC are
instrumental in forming local and state partnerships on technology initiatives,
with a proven track record for breaking through historical silos that in the
past have inhibited progress.
With a focus on identifying, assessing, and coordinating the delivery of
broadband capacity bandwidth to state government offices, local government
offices, and school districts, SNIP was a blend of technology, agreements,
and relationships resulting most directly in shared network capacity between
state and local units of government.
It began with a thorough assessment and visual mapping of the State’s
infrastructure, down to the street level for building and telecom network
locations. The State of Michigan’s consolidated IT Department was a precursor that provided the ability to pull this data together (from a single entity
instead of collecting it from several sources). The data was then coupled with
CSSTP’s geo-spatial mapping capabilities and allowed the State to visually
depict opportunities for interaction between existing network infrastructure
and local/State government facility locations. The ability to view the data in
this manner was a critical point in both presenting the project to the XBTSC
and also in priority planning.
Once the project was formalized and initiated, using the State’s Project Management Methodology (PMM) component of its Standardized Unified Information Technology Environment (SUITE), CSSTP began building a repeatable process for interacting with local jurisdictions and sharing networks. Elements of
the process included:
• Re-assignment of State’s Telecommunication Director: Allowing
him to focus entirely on this project for the critical 6 month startup phase
• Standard Discovery Meetings: Met with School Superintendent(s),
County Commissioner(s), County IT Directors
• Opportunity Analysis: Conducted for each site or location
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• Solution Design/Return on Investment Proposals: Developed for
each site
• Standardized Inter-Governmental Agreements (IGA): In Michigan,
these must are approved by County Board of Commissioners and
signed by the Governor
• Network or Solution Delivery: Installation and implementation of
the network solution with the involvement of local governments.
Benefit to government
Michigan’s Shared Network Integration Project transforms Michigan’s state,
local government and education telecommunications infrastructure into the
most robust and advanced in the nation by establishing a long term, mutually
beneficial relationship between the public and private sectors for the successful delivery of telecommunication services. The project has resulted in
the following outcomes for participating organizations:
• State and local leaders have realized cost savings with broadband
service
• State (including local and educational) offices have increased
bandwidth.
Benefits to customers
Faster more reliable networks will result in better service to citizens at state
office across the State of Michigan.
Best practices employed (e.g., governance, relationship management, communication and marketing,
etc.). That is, what business practices contributed
to the success of this project, helped maintain commitment, funding and adoption.
The IGAs became a best practice approach that allowed each subsequent
agreement to build off of the prior one until a standardized template was
complete. Developed in concert with the State’s Attorney General’s Office,
the agreements document contacts for agreement management, the relationship and duties of each of the parties, payment and termination details.
Another best practice, or significant contributor to success, was the State’s
ability to finance each of these efforts within in its current rated structure
to State Agencies because the return on investment period is relatively brief.
This innovative approach (for state government) to seed each area within the
existing revenue stream provided flexibility to the effortand the ability to
overcome funding obstacles.
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Describe why and how this collaborative effort is
transferrable to other jurisdictions.
This innovative project is informative for other states that have yet to develop cross-boundary relationships and have a divergent approach to delivery
of telecommunication services. A critical component is forging relationships
between state agencies, local units of government, and school districts to
have discussions about collaboration and leveraging of services.
The project has solidified a network base for the State to collaboratively
partner with and work across governmental and private sector boundaries to
identify other services that can offer similar outcomes. This partnership has
enhanced the opportunity for additional cost saving programs in the future.
Longer term it will provide a forum for innovation, discussion and coordination on further network infrastructure build-out and other opportunities.
Quite often it’s that first realized success that leads to the tipping point of
collaboration and cooperation.
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