Answer: No, the OSCIO remains committed to working with agency business leads through the Stage Gate process as they evaluate the appropriateness and feasibility of implementing products contained in the ULA. That said, in order to ensure stewardship of public funds, all agencies will be required to evaluate products contained within the ULA as part of the alternatives analysis with their detailed business case (as currently required for Stage 2 endorsement)—considering benefits, costs, and risk. In addition to a detailed business case, agencies will be also required to conduct an Enterprise Fit-Gap analysis that determines whether the business requirements they have articulated for a particular IT initiative are met by products within the enterprise IT portfolio, including: the ULA/OMPA, existing statewide IT price agreements and current systems in production. In conducting the analysis, agencies will be asked to evaluate each of their business requirements and makes one of three determinations:
1. Fulfills with configuration. Products within the enterprise IT portfolio fulfill the business requirement with configuration.
2. Development required. Products within the enterprise IT portfolio fulfill the business requirement with development tools and modifications consistent with best practices that do not impede the ability to upgrade the system.
3. Customization required. Products within the enterprise IT portfolio do not fulfill the business requirement without modifying the core logic and/or data schemas of the delivered system, thereby sacrificing future upgrades.