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different. It's also no secret that HB 1516 is state law, and everybody has to get used to the new order. Victor Gonzalez, CIO of the Texas De- partment of Agriculture, said he expects the consolidation to make life easier for him as the CIO of a state agency, though the picture is still a bit fuzzy. "Since it's in the beginning stages, the things that are in scope or out of scope _ meaning the things that will go to the [state] data center - are still being de- fined," Gonzalez said. "Until that's done, we're not certain whether our file servers, "The things that get a little hairier are file server and e-mail, calendaring and all those sorts of products, because you want to maintain flexibility in granting folder privileges, for example," Gonzales said. "Yet you want to make sure you're not pay- ing too much for that service." A Different DIR As agencies and the DIR create new working relationships, another interesting question the consolidation raises is what came first - HB 1516 or a new DIR? Olson took the job of both Texas CTO "Since it's in the beginning stages, the things that are in scope or out of scope - meaning the things that will go to the [state] data center - are still being defined." - Victor Gonzalez, CIO, Texas Department of Agriculture for example, have to go to the data center or whether it's just application-level servers." Gonzalez is part of an advisory commit- tee of state agency CIOs, which was created by the DIR to seek input on the consolida- tion process. That organization represents an important step, Gonzalez said, in easing the tension between agencies' traditional independence, and the DIR's new role and heightened level of authority. "Given that the legislation passed and there's new leadership at the D1R, people are less reluctant to try to participate:' he said. "Also, becauseoftheopenness with which the D1R is approaching things, that helps a lot. We're at the point where everybody realizes and recognizes that this is going to happen, and the more we contribute to that cause, the more control we'll have over what happens to every agency. .. Gonzalez said he's seen the DIR take a cautious approach to defining the consolidation's scope - an approach that's working well so far. In an ideal world, he said, agencies wouldn't care about the boxes and who managed them; and any- thing having to do with the agencies' business, such as applications and application development, would be man- aged by individual agencies. and executive director of the DIR in April 2004. He had been out of the public sector for several years after serving as the first CIO of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 1999, where he orchestrated data-center consoli- dation and moved state agencies to a com- mon e-mail platform, among other cost- saving efforts. Pennsylvania reported saving $270 million in IT infrastructure expenditures because of consolidation efforts, Olson said in one of his first reports to the Texas Legislature - and Texas can save even more money. But the consolidation is about more than saving state government money, he said. "The biggest benefit is the ability for us to really strengthen our common efforts to build an IT enterprise for Texas," Olson said. "Once we start working closer togeth- er between agency and agency, that is the foundation that will allow us to move so much further as a state. "It's going to be the most long-term bene- fit," he continued. "In the past, agencies have worked together, but it's been on a piecemeal basis. HB 1516 moves us aggressively to that shared environment and common infrastruc- ture that's going to benefit everybody." Gonzalez said there's no question the DIR of 2005 is a different animal than the D1R he's observed over the five years he's worked for the Department of Agriculture. "The old DIR was there to provide stan- dards and guidance, but not really to get "?J '~l. into the business of IT for each agency," Gonzalez explained. "This D I R- is like a more centralized IT department that actU- ally runs everybody else, which isn't neces- sarily a bad thing. It's just very different from what used to occur. Now, with HB 1516 passing, the DIR has the authority to do a lot of the things it had been wanting to do - which is save the state money by consolidating IT." A piece of legislation like HB 1516, which clearly defines the D1R's sphere of influence, gives the department the nec- essary firepower to make things happen. The bill establishes a D1R different than its predecessor, while sending a message to other agencies that the Legislature is se- rious about IT consolidation, and is quite willing to give the DIR a big stick. That means a lot in Texas, observers say, because the Legislature wields substantial power. The governor's office is fairly weak in that no cabinet of department heads re- ports to the govern.or - because there is no cabinet - and governing boards over- see state agencies, giving them a large de- gree of independence. Still, Isett said the bill wouldn't have passed the Legislature if members weren't confident in Olson and the DIR, and ex- tremely frustrated with state agencies. "Everyone of these agencies, regardless of size, was running their own show," Is- ett said. "The question had to be asked: Do they have the resources internally to make good business decisions?" At first, Isett said, the Legislature had serious questions about the soundness of agencies' business cases for IT initiatives and purchases; the level of thought behind those initiatives; the degree of interaction, interoperability and compatibility between agencies' IT systems; and whether agencies could share databases or software services. "None of those questions were being asked on any IT purchases," he said. "We simply didn't have good control. and we didn't enter into good contracts. We're trusting D1R with a great responsibility, and historically, they haven't always dem- onstrated that that trust is well founded. But I think that under the current manage- ment, DIR has really shown it is ready to handle this kind ofresponsibility."