| CNIC Work Group Summary - September 2005 |
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| Overview, Implementation Plans |
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This summary of CNIC work group activities for the period of September 2005 is provided by the CNIC Peer Communications Group. It is intended as a brief synopsis of the activities of various CNIC work groups.
The agency implementation planning stage of the CNIC project launched in late August following conclusion of the detailed design stage. A key element of this stage is development of agency-led implementation teams for Servers, Mainframe, Storage, Security, Network and Operations. These teams are addressing readiness of the State Data Center and the details of relocating agency operations to the center.
Another critical task the implementation teams are addressing is creation of a staffing plan for each functional area during a transitional period and for the long-term staffing needs of the center. These plans will outline projected workload and corresponding staff requirements for each function. This process enables the State Data Center to base future recruitment efforts on the analysis of the staff and managers responsible for delivering these services today.
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| Network |
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The Network Implementation Team is jointly managed by three agency managers: Randy Whitehouse, ODOT; Al Grapoli, DHS; and Steve Nelson, DAS. These managers have formed several subgroups to address various focus areas, all of which report to the larger team. The following are the main accomplishments and activities for this period:
- MPLS training for WAN technicians is scheduled for mid-October.
- Network cross-training between DAS/DHS/ODOT/DOC has begun and will continue.
- Checkpoint Firewall Software has been ordered.
- A decision was made to use the DAS/NOC version of Remedy for the four agencies that do WAN networking (DAS/DHS/ODOT/DOC). Training has been launched for WAN technicians (for the first agencies to consolidate). Other agency personnel will be trained if the need arises.
- The infrastructure planning group toured the Fortix facility to look at Command Center Designs.
- Command Center Design recommendations have been forwarded to the Operations Implementation Team managed by Dave Howard. [A report on the activities of the Operations team will be included in the October work group summary.]
- The Network Management subgroup toured the Open Source Data lab in Beaverton and received a high-level overview of the lab's tools and processes.
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| Server |
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The Server Implementation Team is led by agency manager Derek Settlemoir of DAS. The group reports the following activities and accomplishments during September:
- Vetted a revised server architecture schematic for the WinTel environment.
- Validated the AIX server requirements for submission to the State Procurement Office for processing.
- Created a project planning template for an agency server migration exercise.
- Created a draft list of detailed tasks for agency server migration planning.
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| Mainframe |
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The Mainframe Implementation Team is led by agency manager Jim Long of DHS.
On September 12, 2005, the Mainframe team provided the CNIC Steering Committee with new financial information related to the mainframe strategy for the State Data Center. (An earlier decision had been made to use one mainframe.) Based on the new information presented, the committee decided to adopt a two mainframe approach. The focus of September activities involved revising the following documents to reflect the two mainframe approach:
- zSeries Mainframe Architecture.
- Consolidated Mainframe Detail Design.
- Integrated Project Plan.
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| Storage |
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The Storage Implementation Team is led by agency manager Deanna Dyer of DAS. The team is charged with addressing storage backup strategies including architecture and planning. The backup strategy for the migration/transition period is data migration and lift and drop. During the transition period, the team will design and recommend the backup consolidation approach.
Tape Library requirements are being fine-tuned and an open procurement will launch through the ORPIN* system in October. Specifications are now being prepared for a disk brand name procurement. This procurement is scheduled to launch in December.
Draft tasks for this stage of the project have been developed and the details of the schedule will be incorporated into the overall CNIC schedule in October.
*ORPIN is the Oregon Procurement Information Network sponsored by the State Procurement Office.
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| Security |
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The Security Implementation Team is led by agency manager Marshall Wells of ODOT. This team participated in the following activities during this period:
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Development of draft acceptable use policy and non-disclosure agreement.
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Development of requirements for log aggregation and correlation.
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Development of requirements for firewall recommendations.
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Gathering requirements for anti-virus recommendations.
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Creation of a matrix and process flow for regulatory and statutory requirements related to security.
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Development of a staffing model for State Data Center security.
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| Logistics |
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The Logistics Work Group is led by DHS Project Manager Bryan Nealy. The group has been formed to address many of the details of transitioning agencies from their existing environment to the environment of the State Data Center. The group has been focusing primarily on providing support for various aspects of project procurement. Another area of focus has been preparing guidelines and toolkits for agency planning. Agencies will use these materials working with the CNIC Project Office to address the details and sequencing required for successful agency migration to the data center. The group is also addressing the details related to inventory transfer.
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| Accounting |
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The Accounting Work Group is led by agency manager Tami Dohrman of the Dept. of Corrections. September activities for the group included the following:
- Preliminary work to establish rates for State Data Center services.
- Working through the detail of the chargeback model for the transitional biennium (2005-2007) and for the ongoing operational state of the center (2007-2009).
- Development of guidelines for asset transfer from the CNIC agencies to the State Data Center.
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| Human Resources |
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The Human Resources Work Group is comprised of HR managers from the participating CNIC agencies; the group is facilitated by Jerry Korson, DAS Personnel Manager.
Information related to a revised staffing strategy was released in September. The new strategy involves a delay of hiring until more detail about data center workload requirements are known. Identifying these requirements is being addressed by the agency-led implementation teams for each functional area.
The Letter of Agreement reached with SEIU in February is still in place and the state will abide by the terms of that agreement throughout the process and at the time of hiring.
The revised staffing strategy includes:
- Creation of staffing plans by function area based on realistic workload estimates (this effort began in September and is continuing).
- Recruitment and hiring by function area according to the following sequence:
- Network and Security
- Estimated timeframe to launch recruitment - within three to six months
- Mainframe, Storage/Tape
- Estimated timeframe to launch recruitment - within the first or second quarter of 2006
- Servers
- Recruitment for this functional area will follow those listed above.
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| Change Management |
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Organizational and Individual Change Management
The Change Management Work Group is facilitated by ODOT Project Manager Claudia Light. The primary focus of the group in the month of September was the first in a series of "change readiness" surveys. The purpose of these surveys is to assess the readiness of staff within the CNIC agencies to navigate the changes brought about by consolidating the state's data centers and networks. The work group analyzed the results for trends and made recommendations to the Steering Committee and Project Office regarding project areas needing improvement and outreach to in-scope and affected staff.
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| Peer Communications |
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The Peer Communications Group is facilitated by Dennis Green of the Employment Department. The group continued in its role to assist the CNIC project with communications including rumor reporting and control; participated in an all hands meeting on September 30; and developed a revised charter to address the implementation stage of the project.
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