Mission Statement

Provide leadership and knowledge to assist our customers in achieving their mission through the innovative use of information technology.

• ITD Profile
• ITD Personnel Flow Chart (16kb pdf)
• Framework for the Future: 2005-2007 Strategic Plan (540kb pdf)

Vision

We see ITD partnering with our customers to proactively develop cost-effective technology solutions that meet expectations.

We see ITD promoting existing services and developing new opportunites through employees who demonstrate knowledge and expertise.

We see all ITD employees working together in a culture that challenges everyone and fosters creativity.

We see ITD as a well-managed organization that provides value to our customers and stakeholders.

Guiding Principles

ITD's guiding principles provide the foundation for our organization. They are standards for how employees and managers are expected to act and interact. They provide a goal for how we want ITD to be in the future. Each employee should strive to embody these principles, and challenge management to do the same.

Respect

We treat everyone with dignity and respect.

Teamwork

We recognize ITD's success depends on partnerships and collaboration.

Achievement

We develop quality solutions that best address the needs of our state. We are committed to delivering results – on time and within budget.

Integrity

We build long-term, lasting relationships through mutual trust. We value open, honest, two-way communication.

Leadership

We encourage initiative and creativity. We are committed to investing in knowledge and expertise.

Service

We hold ourselves accountable for a positive customer experience.

The History of ITD

Established as a department in 1999, ITD's history dates from 1969 when it was first created as the Central Data Processing Division with the Office of Management and Budget. The division set up an electronic data processing center used by all state agencies except the institutions of higher education, Job Service, and the office of the Adjutant General. The Higher Education Computer Network (HECN) was funded after a 1969-70 interim legislative study. In 1981 the director of CDP was directed to supervise all executive branch agency data processing activities and to approve data processing equipment acquisitions.

The division was renamed the Information Services Division in 1989. Job Service and the Adjutant General were brought under the division's jurisdiction in 1997. At this time, the division was required to prepare guidelines for agency information technology plans, develop a statewide plan based on those plans, develop statewide information technology policies, standards, and guidelines, coordinate services with political subdivisions and systems and services with higher education, and report non-compliance to the legislature.

Responsibilities

The Information Technology Department (ITD) is responsible for all wide area network services planning, selection, and implementation for all state agencies, including institutions under the control of the State Board of Higher Education, counties, cities, and school districts. ITD is also responsible for computer support services, software development, statewide communications services, standards for providing information to other state agencies and the public through the internet, technology planning, process redesign and quality assurance.

With the 1999 legislation, a Chief Information Officer (CIO) appointed by the Governor oversees the department and all that it administers. ITD has broad responsibilities to all state agencies and the citizens of the state in building a secure state wide area network providing for the aggregation of data, voice, video, and multimedia into a backbone insuring functionality now and in the future. The CIO is a member of the Statewide Wide Area Network Advisory Committee that advises ITD with respect to planning and implementation of the state's wide area network. The CIO is an ex-officio member of the legislature's Information Technology Committee that reviews the ITD and its business plan, and statewide technology standards, policies, plans, and projects. The CIO is also a member of the Criminal Justice Information Sharing board.

Funding Process

The department is funded through a process of defining and assessing a fair and equitable billing structure for services that provides for payback of the initial investments and ongoing operations. This is accomplished by determining the actual cost of providing a specific service and establishing a unit rate for that service. ITD generates monthly billings at the beginning of each month for the services provided the previous month. Currently, the services are divided onto three separate billings: Data Processing, Telecommunications, and Micrographics.

Organizational Structure

The Information Technology Department exists for the purpose of leading state agencies in discovering, assessing, and implementing information technologies. ITD is committed to better understanding state agency needs and in assisting in the implementation of the proper technology solution to accomplish these needs. It is organized to provide a broad range of technologies including mainframe and desktop computing, local and wide area networks, voice and data technologies, web, client server and mainframe software development, video conferencing, and emerging technologies. This is accomplished by investing in the development of highly skilled employees along with contracting outside vendors who maintain a level of expertise that is not available in-house or is limited due to the demands for a particular service.

Seven divisions with 229 employees make up the organizational structure of ITD.

Customer Services is responsible for coordinating ITD's people, process, and technology in a way that promotes customer-centric services. This division fosters customer relations and aligns ITD's services with customer expectations. The Service Desk is the heart of this division; it provides customers with a "Single Point of Contact" for advice, guidance, and the rapid restoration of services.

The Human Resource Division provides a variety of services to ITD including but not limited to recruitment, selection, and retention of highly qualified employees; aiding in strategic planning; policy implementation; maintaining job classifications; employee/manager relations; benefits; compensation; legal compliance functions; training and development; Risk Management/workplace safety as well as other employee related programs. ITD successfully hired the talent needed to provide outstanding service to our customers. IT employees must be technically brilliant and possess strong interpersonal skills to effectively work with customers. Thus, it is becoming increasingly more important for HR and IT to partner on strategic goals. ITD's 2006 Employee Satisfaction Index Survey rated ITD employees as being 100% satisfied with our flex scheduling and balancing work and family.

Human Resources Initiatives:

• Continued focus on improving the culture of ITD.
• Recognition Programs: Program recognizes individual performance. The committe is launching a team recognition feature that will celebrate team goal achievements and project milestones.
• ITD implemented a Wellness at Work program with nutrition education and walking programs.
• Implemented a new e-learning training vendor - anytime, anywhere, affordable training.
• New Employee Orientation Program has been revised to make the new employee feel more welcome and a part of our ITD family.
• Fair and Equitable Work Environment - Policy Committee meets to identify potentially unfair employee treatment.

The Policy and Planning Division assists state agencies with setting direction and achieving results so that the state maximizes the value from its investment in technology on a statewide basis. The Planning and Policy Division has been assigned responsibilities outlined in North Dakota Century Code 54-59 regarding planning, oversight and related activities including: providing statewide technology planning and project oversight; developing statewide technology standards and policies; assisting agencies (including ITD) with the implementation of best practices related to technology planning and management; providing research coordination; supporting the initiatives of the CIO; acting as staff to the legislative IT committee; conducting policy research and making recommendations; directing enterprise initiatives. The Policy and Planning Division provides leadership and coordination for three enterprise initiatives by facilitating the governance,developing the strategic plan and reporting on performance. The three initiatives are:

• Criminal Justice Information Sharing Program
• ConnectND, the State’s implementation of the PeopleSoft Financial, Human Resource and Student Information Systems
• Geographic Information Systems Hub

The Administrative Services Division includes accounting, contingency planning, security and records management. A rate analyst was added to the accounting staff to assist with the rate setting process and assist customers with rate questions that arise as ITD continues to expand services. Over the past year the Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) infrastructure was migrated to the latest version of FileNet and Teleform, two of the core technologies in our EDMS infrastructure. EDMS continues to be a service in high demand from our customers. Accordingly, we have increased our focus on meeting and managing customer expectations for the service and have added staff from the Software Development division to assist in the implementation of EDMS projects.

Software Development Services is in charge of the development and maintenance of computerized applications and project management services. This is the largest division in ITD and supplements it's workforce with consultants to help keep up with the growing software development workload. Nine consultants are currently engaged in software development at ITD. The division's responsibilities include applications design, development, and support of mainframe computer programs along with new systems developed for electronic document management and web technology. The web has changed the manner in which state government conducts business. Software Development Services is proactive in leading state government in web technology and service oriented architecture.

The Computer Systems Division provides a technical computing infrastructure and the expert skills required to host our customer's applications. The infrastructure model is based on a distributed environment carefully architected to ensure system interoperability and maximization of resources, while meeting end-user performance and availability requirements. Clustered servers, redundant storage, multi-path networks, environmentally controlled data centers with generator backup and uninterruptible power supply systems provide the basis for all of the necessary configurations required by our customers. An approximate staff of 50 talented individuals, organized within four sections, all share an integral role in supporting the functions and services provided by the division.

The Telecommunications Division provides a variety of services to government and education. In the past school year over 24,000 academic classes and meetings were supported on STAGEnet. STAGEnet also provides internet access for all of K-20 education and for North Dakota citizens to access government services. The division also provided over 1 million minutes/month in long distance access for state agencies. With over 80,000 computers and 10,000 telephones connected, the network has become the circulatory system for government and education in North Dakota. The division staff insures that it is reliable and secure from the threats of viruses, worms, and hackers. The division is on-guard 24/7 to insure information flows freely to the right people, at the right place, at the right time.

Annual Survey

The department surveys its customers annually to determine their satisfaction with the quality, price and timeliness of the services it provides. It closely monitors what the private sector, and other governmental agencies, charge for the same service. If it cannot provide the service for the same or lower cost, it will consider outsourcing; however, quality is always considered before any outsourcing decision is made.