In Part 1 of this commentary, published last week, Rob Klopp addressed Guiding Principles as the first of three elements in his "Draft Manifesto for State IT Modernization." Here, he addresses two final concepts: Technology Guidelines and Staff Culture.
Contributor Rob Klopp says: 'This post and the next describe a set of ideas that frame a modern software engineering program. I would like to see these concepts become a mandatory part of every software effort undertaken.'
"I am going to spin these practices to address issues I see in government IT," says contributor Rob Klopp. "I do not expect that this spin will be too different than the original intent. I hope not … but my spin might be different from how you spin."
Veteran IT executive Rob Klopp says the Department of Technology should adopt a simple definition of 'modern IT' and work to reduce redundancy as part of reforming the Project Approval Lifecycle. But CDT isn't the only culprit, he says.
"Think about agile projects in the state today. Ask yourself whether the real end users — the staff who use the code day in and day out — are engaged in the development every week. If not, you know where the problem lies. Ask yourself if the project has fooled itself into thinking those subject matter experts who work for IT, not for the real end users, are sufficient."
The best tech companies don't try to move from their old IT systems to modern systems incrementally. They jump straight in and abandon their legacy software. This jump is the only path available to government IT at this point.
The current Medi-Cal IT infrastructure is over 30 years old. It follows the same storyline you read again and again around government IT modernization: The legacy system is inflexible and difficult to extend; it runs on costly, aging infrastructure; and the notion of modernization feels big, risky and expensive.
In an opinion piece, IT veteran Rob Klopp writes: "Using open source does not always, or even usually, mean using open-source products. It does not have to suggest replacing your proprietary database management system. ... It does indicate that you need to look for components that may be reused."
How big an undertaking is the modernization of the Department of Motor Vehicles? By using modern software engineering and cloud infrastructure, it's doable, says IT veteran Rob Klopp.
In a column written for Techwire, the former CIO of a huge federal agency asserts that state government can capitalize on new technology — but first it must be willing to let go of the old.
