AWARDS & RECOGNITION
2001 Awards: Information Architecture
WINNER Pennsylvania: PA Commonwealth Connect
[Download Nomination - Word]
When Governor Tom Ridge came to office in 1995, he directed the Office for Information Technology (OIT) to pursue technology initiatives that would improve public service delivery while holding down operational costs. One immediate area of interest was the potential benefit to be gained from standardizing all state agencies on the same core desktop software and a common e-mail network.
In August 1997,
the Office for Information Technology (OIT) began holding roundtable discussions
with leading software producers to explore the value
of standardizing on a single software product for office productivity
and e-mail capabilities. After months of meetings and comparative evaluations,
the Microsoft (MS) proposal was selected. This agreement covers the desktop
operating system, office suite (for word processing, spreadsheet, and
presentation applications) and e-mail software. In addition to delivering
software, Microsoft also agreed to provide consulting services to state
agencies and the new migration team. This consulting help has included
advice on the optimal hardware configuration and on the best plan for
managing the software rollout.
The desktop software and e-mail standardization project came to be known as "Commonwealth Connect." Since mid-1998, the Commonwealth Connect team has been working closely with Microsoft to plan and implement the migration of 47 state agencies under this initiative. To date, 38 agencies, representing 30,000 users, have been successfully transitioned to the new software and e-mail system. When finished, more than 40,000 personal computers will have been united within the Commonwealth Connect environment.
In executing the
Commonwealth Connect project, Pennsylvania 
became
the first state to establish a strategic partnership with a global software
company and the largest state government to standardize software across
the enterprise.
Benefits of the Commonwealth Connect project include:
- Reduced Software Costs: Agencies' software costs have been cut by $9.2 million over three years.
- Reduced Total Cost of Ownership: A 1999 study revealed Total Cost of Ownership savings of another $8.96 million annually.
- Heightened Productivity: Employee frustrations due to incompatible software have been reduced, and employees no longer have to be trained on multiple software packages.
- Strategic Enterprise Management: When software purchases can be managed on behalf of the entire organization, instead of just segments, purchases are not only less expensive but can be used to position the entire enterprise more strategically.
- Reduced Administrative
Burden: The network infrastructure is less complex without the gateways
and bridges needed to integrate dissimilar software. Hardware needs
have been reduced and network administration is simplified.
Contact Information: John Carmelite, Project Director, Office of Administration, Bureau of Desktop Technology, Commonwealth Technology Center, 1 Technology Park, Harrisburg, PA 17110, (717) 772-4240, jcarmelite@state.pa.us
Other Nominations:
Click on the link to download program submission.
California
MyCalifornia
District of Columbia
The
DC Government Web Portal
Indiana
The Millennium
eGovernment Team is Born
Kansas
Information
Architecture: State of Kansas Web Portal Redesign
Kentucky
Revenue
Evaluation and Decision Support System
New Jersey
One EASE
E-Link
New York
Human Services
Modernization: Shared Front-End-Project
North Carolina
Common
Payment Service
Virginia
Government
Without Boundaries
Washington
Applications
Template and Outfitting Model
West Virginia
State
Library Network 2000
