In a request for information (RFI) released Aug. 21, the California Department of Technology is seeking an IT project estimation, budgeting and tracking tool to assist its Office of Statewide Project Delivery (OSPD) in IT project estimation, budgeting and tracking across statewide projects. Among the takeaways:
- OSPD develops policy related to state IT projects and oversees the planning, approval, and implementation of IT projects that are non-delegated. On a yearly basis, it oversees projects as they head through the planning process and gives independent project oversight during execution. The office also advises the state Department of Finance on all IT-related budget change proposals; and per the RFI, with this level of visibility into California’s entire portfolio of IT investments, it has the ability to “understand the impact of accurate IT project cost estimation on the likelihood of successful project outcomes.”
- The tool must have high-level capabilities in seven areas. In IT project estimation, it must be able to define and store project scope, requirements, tasks and timelines; differentiate between internal and external project activities; estimate costs for project elements including labor and materials; learn from historical cost data; and adapt cost estimates. In budget creation and planning, it must be able to create project budgets at different levels; align budgeting with the state budget process and the IT Project Approval Lifecycle; create the documentation needed for budget approval; and modify cost budgeting through planning and approval changes. In IT project expense tracking and monitoring, it must be able to track and report project expenses and actual spending against budget amounts; send alerts and notifications regarding overruns or deviations; and report on project variances and estimate future costing trends.
- The tool must be able to provide resource allocation for planning and tracking, with the ability to allocate resources and change those allocations; to track resource utilization across projects; and to define and customize cost categories to match state project and cost categories. It must integrate with project management tools to push and pull data, timelines and task details for accurate budgets; make changes and updates based on changes to project scope or timeline; do “what-if” scenarios to assess project change impacts; and integrate with vendor and contract management systems to track and manage costs around procurements. In reporting and analytics, the tool must be able to generate reports on budget versus actual spending, customize dashboards by department and project stakeholders and follow project financial health. And in compliance, access and security, the tool must have role-based access control to make sure only those authorized can see and modify budget data; be able to encrypt data and offer secure authentications for sensitive financial data; and keep a detailed audit trail on budget changes, approvals and historical data, to drive accountability and compliance.
- Questions on the RFI are due by 5 p.m. Monday. Responses are due by 5 p.m. Sept. 11. Confidential discussions or demonstrations, if sought by the state, are slated for Sept. 18.
