“My experience, while I was with the state, was always that KPMG is collaborative and develops solutions with the public sector,” Ingenito told Industry Insider — California. “I always saw them as a partner.”
The California State Auditor has issued a request for proposals that seeks a vendor capable of reviewing the controls within the Financial Information System for California.
Amit Biswas brings 25 years of IT experience to the department and is an experienced technology manager, architect and engineer. Prior to joining FI$Cal, Amit worked in the private sector in the San Francisco Bay Area, Texas, Canada and India. During that time, he managed profit and cost centers, technology businesses and large teams.
Candidates are being sought by the California Department of Aging, the Department of Health Care Services, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the Financial Information System for California and the Employment Development Department.
The openings are in the Department of Finance, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Health Care Services, and the Financial Information System for California.
The roles include zSystems Services manager, data manager, section chief and digital forensic investigator.
“It is fitting that CDT and DOR go live in FI$Cal on the 10th anniversary of onboarding the first wave of departments to the system,” writes Michelle Moody, deputy director of FI$Cal’s Business Operation and Solutions Division.
The five largest purchases of IT goods by the Financial Information System of California were with the same five vendors as in the first quarter of 2023: Mythics VIII LLC, HF Tech Services Inc., OPTM West, Allied Network Solutions Inc. and Dynamic Systems Inc.
The opportunities are with the Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal), the Department of Industrial Relations and the Department of Conservation.
Positions are open within the Financial Information System for California, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, the Department of Community Services and Development and the Employment Development Department.
The move to the cloud is still underway, with the first phase of the migration of back-office systems and services complete. The department will now turn its attention to migrating “non-production environments to the cloud,” Murty wrote.
The online event on March 5 will pose five areas in which the California Department of Transportation is seeking vendors’ ideas, suggestions and proposals.
“Aligning with the governor’s multi-year cybersecurity roadmap, FI$Cal’s Cal-Secure initiative incorporates people, process and technology to employ cutting-edge solutions that will strengthen the department’s cybersecurity defenses,” writes FI$Cal Director Jennifer Maguire.
“Cybersecurity is a top priority for the department,” writes Subbarao Mupparaju, chief deputy director of the Financial Information System for California. “In 2023, we advanced our efforts to technically optimize the system and improve our cybersecurity maturity using a combination of on-premise and cloud-hosted technologies.”
The California Department of Technology and the Department of General Services will hold the event Dec. 14. Several top IT and procurement executives from state government will speak.
The Financial Information System for California spent $1.4 million on its five largest buys of IT goods in the third quarter of 2023, and it spent just under $5 million on its two purchases of IT services in the same period.
“As we work toward becoming the accounting book of record for the state of California, I am proud information security is part of this journey,” writes Jennifer Benson, chief information security officer for the Financial Information System for California.
Recruitments are underway by the Office of Technology and Solutions Integration, the Financial Information System for California, and the Department of Health Care Services.
The state’s spending transparency project has been supported mainly by OpenGov, but that contract ends in September. As the deadline approaches, the department is moving more of its tech in-house.
“We look forward to the ongoing modernization of the system and continue to seek innovative tools to improve the way California does business.”
The State of Technology: California Industry Forum on Thursday will offer attendees a variety of perspectives from technology leaders across state government.
Jennifer Benson’s previous roles in state government include CIO and deputy director of the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, and management positions in the California Environmental Protection Agency and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
The Financial Information System for California, which provides financial functions to departments statewide including budgeting, accounting, procurement and cash management, formally completed its deployment in 2022. It works with IT companies regularly via vendor days and has a detailed road map for updates.
Candidates are sought for positions including chief, analyst, information security specialist, IT procurement specialist and manager.
The Financial Information System for California is planning a Vendor Day for May 31. Interested tech vendors must first answer a series of questions in order to be invited to participate.
Two budget change proposals from the California Department of Technology seek several million dollars to assess issues around statewide broadband deployment and to migrate financial processes to a more modern solution.
“Each year, the state of California sets goals to procure goods and services from Small and Micro Businesses and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises. For the ninth year in a row, the Department of FISCal (FI$Cal), has exceeded state procurement goals.”
In a report to be published Thursday, the California State Auditor will look into how CDT handles IT procurement, governance, vendor selection, information security and staffing.
Technology veteran Ken Ketsdever has held a series of leadership positions in state government, including chief information officer and chief information security officer.
Agencies seeking candidates for these openings include the California Department of Justice, the Department of Community Services and Development, and the Financial Information System for California.
The Financial Information System for California seeks someone to assume full responsibility for all of FI$Cal’s sensitive data/systems — automated and manual, physical and logical, on-premises and cloud-deployed.
“Planned enhancements include electronic fund transfer, a vendor portal, bond accounting and other enhancements to process common transactions,” Director Jennifer Maguire writes.
Last year, the department received approval to hire 64 new positions as part of the Spring Finance Letter budget process. The department has job openings in the areas of information technology, cybersecurity, accounting, administration and more.
Vendors attending the virtual event will be given an overview of the Employment Development Department’s EDDNext initiative and have a chance to ask questions and be invited to submit proposals or ideas.
Kanuri Murty won statewide recognition with an IT Leadership award while he served as chief of Business Intelligence and Analytics Services for FI$Cal. The veteran technologist also has a deep background in the private sector.
Vendors attending Friday’s virtual event will be given an overview of the Employment Development Department’s EDDNext initiative and have a chance to ask questions and be invited to submit proposals or ideas.
Gaining project approval or a budget bump often comes down to knowing one’s audience and how to deliver a message in a way they can understand. The insiders offered their insights during last week’s California Public Sector CIO Academy.
The California Department of General Services is hoping to proceed with a “Procurement Division E-Marketplace Implementation” and an “Enterprise Technology Solutions Information Technology Workload Adjustment,” as two budget change proposals show.
The financial agency is accepting applications for the Feb. 22 event from technology providers who may have a solution to propose. The virtual event will be by invitation only and not open to the public.
“We are at an exciting juncture as a department, and working on these and other initiatives for a system of this scale is a unique challenge. … Above all, I am happy to come home to this department,” writes Subbarao Mupparaju.
The recruitments are being done by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the Financial Information System for California, and the Employment Development Department.
The Office of Systems Integration and the Financial Information System for California have new chief deputy directors. And two state departments are recruiting for chief information officers.
The following commentary was first published by the Department of FI$Cal (Financial Information System for California).
Those with active recruitments include the Financial Information System for California, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, and the Office of Data and Innovation.
During remarks Thursday at the California Cybersecurity Education Summit in Sacramento, state technology and security leaders emphasized the value in working together to keep residents’ information and state assets secure, and highlighted workforce needs.
The bill, signed recently by the governor, offers considerable formalization and clarification on the roles and responsibilities of a state office and a state department.
Units of state government are recruiting for a cloud solutions architect and a cloud infrastructure administrator.
The two have deep backgrounds in technology — one in the private sector and the other in California state government.
The state’s financial agency is accepting applications for the Sept. 28 event from technology providers who may have a solution to propose. The virtual event will be by invitation only and not open to the public.
Notable positions in recruitment include chief roles as well as several in the area of application development.
The longtime state executive has been elevated to a key role in her former department’s parent agency, the California Government Operations Agency. She was sworn in Monday.
The new chief information officer, who will also serve as the board’s deputy executive director, has worked for several large state agencies, and he began his career in the private sector.
Other departments with leadership recruitments include the Financial Information System for California and the California Department of Transportation.
Vendor presentations are by invitation, and they’re not open to the public. Interested companies have until June 15 to register for consideration.
Technology companies that have solutions to propose on the topic of Software Testing Tools are invited to fill out a survey, and if their solutions match FI$Cal’s needs, they’ll be invited to present.
The Financial Information System for California is offering vendors an invitation-only chance to pitch their IT solutions once a month before a virtual audience of department executives and technologists. Each month’s topic will vary. The department began accepting applications Tuesday for this month’s gathering.
“Moving forward, we will continue to improve our world-class customer service, strengthen our robust security, fine-tune our data management strategy, and continue our aggressive journey to the cloud.”
The delay likely will continue to hamper the ability of the State Controller’s Office to complete annual financial reports on time, which could eventually harm California’s credit rating and increase borrowing costs, the audit says.
2021 was a year of pivotal change in tech leadership at the state and local levels. A look back at the headlines in California public-sector technology may reveal more about the future of the state’s IT governance than about the past.
The Financial Information System for California’s five most expensive purchases of IT goods this year accounted for many millions in spend, and three were made with the same vendor.
From Jan. 1 through Dec. 1, the California Department of Cannabis Control’s single largest expenditure for IT services was $30 million with Metrc LLC for the state’s track-and-trace system, which documents the movement of the commodity from seed to sale.
The Financial Information System for California has named a new chief information officer, a new chief information security officer and a new chief deputy director, filling key vacancies on Director Miriam Barcellona Ingenito’s management team.
“Now that FI$Cal is the owner and operator of the state’s integrated cash management, accounting, budget and procurement system, we have already begun to streamline the way state government does business,” says Miriam Barcellona Ingenito, director of the Financial Information System for California.
The chief deputy must be “a change agent for the state, providing leadership and direction.” The executive “advises and consults with the statewide project governance and oversight organizations, state departments and agencies, and the Legislature, and provides statewide leadership and direction, technical knowledge and advice.”
Chinyere “Chi” Emodi has worked in IT leadership roles for the California Department of Technology, the Financial Information System for California and Los Rios Community College District. In her new role, she will also serve as deputy director for the Office of Statewide Project Delivery.
“Over the course of more than six years, Neeraj has been the face of the FI$Cal project,” Director Miriam Ingenito told Techwire. “He has spent countless hours working on developing and implementing the right solutions for the FI$Cal system; his accomplishments and contributions are innumerable.”
“I believe that FI$Cal will continue to push the envelope and lead the way for California government entities in the adoption and use of modern technologies, systems and practices,” says Miriam Ingenito, director of the Financial Information System for California.
The CIO is responsible, according to the job posting, for IT strategic planning, policy development, goal setting, management of enterprise architecture, information security, applications services, technology and infrastructure services, and department legacy systems interfaces.
Bringing all remaining state agencies and departments into the state’s accounting and budget system means robotic process automation and end-user training will offer key opportunities for vendors to help.
Director Miriam Ingenito will provide an update on what her department has been focused on in the past year, what’s on the front burner now, and what opportunities may lie ahead for those in the vendor community.
Miriam Ingenito will provide an update on what her department has been focused on in the past year, what’s on the front burner now, and what opportunities may lie ahead for those in the vendor community.
“Because of our success to date, as well as being the first department in the state to pilot a permanent hybrid telework program, FI$Cal was chosen by the Government Operations Agency’s Center for Government Excellence and Transformation pilot program,” writes FI$Cal Deputy Director Jennifer Maguire.
The CISO will report to the chief information officer and will have full responsibility for all the department’s sensitive data/systems – automated and manual, physical and logical, on-premises and cloud-deployed.
The state watchdog’s findings point to problems with the Employment Development Department and the Financial Information System for California, and it says those are among the factors putting state government at risk.
Departments with active recruitments in these areas include the Financial Information System for California, Covered California, the Office of Systems Integration and the Department of Water Resources.
“... We’re looking at ways to possibly digitize the invoice process so vendors can upload their invoices to the FI$Cal system and departments will no longer have to deal with paper invoices,” writes Neeraj Chauhan, chief deputy director of the Financial Information System for California.
Subbarao Mupparaju, an award-winning technology executive in the private and public sectors, has set his sights on new goals with a different state agency.
Among the key roles in play are chief information officer/deputy director; head of strategy and procurement; division chief; and data manager.
“Subbarao has successfully led several technology improvement initiatives, and his efforts resulted in transforming FI$Cal ITD into one of the most efficient and capable IT teams in the state of California,” said FI$Cal Director Miriam Barcellona Ingenito. “He has positioned our IT division to support the system operations and enhancements, technology operations and upgrades, and continuous improvements to FI$Cal’s posture for years to come.”
“I’m getting ready to write at least a mid-five-figure check,” said board CIO Bill Glaholt. “I said, ‘Hold on. You’re telling me that for less than $1,000, I’m going to be able to ... build the thing that I want to, using your tool?’ Sign me up!”
