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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:
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
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