The budget change proposals (BCPs), released earlier this year following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s presentation of his proposed 2023-2024 Fiscal Year budget, show the board is planning to move to a new physical location while supporting telework, and is also striving to comply with the state’s Cal-Secure Cybersecurity Road Map and Statewide Information Management Manual (SIMM) guidelines. Among the takeaways:
- The Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) and its departments, including ALRB, are seeking nearly $5.8 million from various funds and $378,000 in reimbursements in FY 2023-24 and $1.2 million from various funds during FY 2024-25 to provision IT equipment for its new building. One-time equipment, maintenance and contract services costs are part of those numbers. LWDA is preparing to move in December 2025 into the former Resource Building — along with the board, the California Workforce Development Board, the Department of Industrial Relations, the Employment Development Department and the Employment Training Panel. The building will get an “extensive retrofit and when completed, will incorporate the latest features in physical infrastructure and space planning” per the BCP. That means deploying IT hardware, network infrastructure, and telecom equipment before the move. The network-ready date is by November 2025.
- Consolidating the offices at one location is consistent, LWDA said in the BCP, with the California Department of Technology’s (CDT) Vision 2023 strategic plan goals of “making common technology easy to access, use, share, and reuse across government” and of “building digital government more quickly and more effectively.” The new building’s tech needs include enterprise infrastructure services such as local application delivery servers; network hardware and services including intermediate distribution frame (IDF) switching and patching, firewalls, main distribution frame (MDF) routing and switching, equipment testing rooms and MDF servers; and the services of technical consultants to assist in project management supporting data center migration, plus relocating business environments “with minimal downtime to software developers.”
- ALRB wants $154,000 to add one permanent IT Specialist I position, including “associated funding” from the General Fund; and $300,000 from the General Fund in “ongoing contract funds” for additional IT security services and support to meet Cal-Secure requirements. The BCP noted the transition to remote work during the state’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order meant quickly expanding virtual private network (VPN) capabilities to all 70 staff, which had never been done before. Home office support and Internet speed issues continue to be challenging for some staff and, with just one dedicated IT staff person, ALRB relies on IT vendors and automated software to manage its environment.
- More devices connecting to its network from outside its physical office has made limiting cybersecurity risks a “critical need.” Historically, the board has paid for IT infrastructure upgrades and information security requirement costs via “one-time salary savings” for smaller changes. But this has become “increasingly difficult” as the landscape changes ever more rapidly and the demands of a remote workforce rise. ALRB needs to meet Cal-Secure and SIMM standards, but earlier state budgeting left it with “a $203,000 operating expense and equipment reduction beginning in FY 2021-22.” Remote work should yield savings as the result of having a smaller department, but there are upfront support costs “specifically on the IT side” — as well as the need for additional investments to fund Cal-Secure’s software and hardware monitoring requirements.
