At first glance, California’s State Technology Approval Reform (STAR)– a new IT project approval process — looks a bit forboding. According to the STAR website, the approval process is broken into stages, separated by gates. Each stage develops deliverables used as inputs for the next gate, and each gate has a “proceed to the next stage” or “go back and rethink” function. However, the goals for the process — build a more efficient process, reduce risk, assist collaboration, improve success, define needs and increase approval integrity — seem a bit more hopeful.
In fact, state CIO Carlos Ramos in a video introduction to departments, says the intent is to make the feasibility study report and project approval easier and more productive for departments, to shorten the process and make it less bureaucratic. The idea is to provide checkpoints and collaboration points between the Department of Technology and state entities and agencies to help determine if a project is progressing as it should before investing further in it.
To that end, representatives from different departments and agencies are involved in the development of STAR so they can air their concerns and issues to help ensure it works when released. So how will STAR implementation affect vendors?
According to staff, contracting and procurement are being streamlined, and some project approval processes will be aligned with procurement so that, for example, vendors will only be asked for information once. As the project moves forward and the procurement process undergoes analysis, more information will be released for vendors.
STAR development just began two weeks ago, and it will be some time before it is live. A six-month pilot and transition period will launch in the summer of 2015 that will include departmental training and outreach. In the meantime, said staff, the project website will carry updates and information.
