NASPO AND NASCIO Release New Case Study on Cloud Trend for State Governments

In July of last year, the state of California launched a service that marked a dramatic shift in the way that state governments procure and provide cloud services to their consumers. This offering is the subject of a new case study published jointly today by the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) and the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO).

California’s Cloud Infrastructure initiative is an on premise, private cloud service, procured through a competitive solicitation process, hosted by a third party solution partner and managed and housed at OTech (California Department of Technology) data centers. The initiative offers a virtual environment to OTech’s customers and features on-demand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity and measured service. California’s Cloud Infrastructure has received widespread attention in the state community because of its scope, stature, potential value and procurement approach.

Capitals in the Clouds: California’s Cloud Infrastructure Case Study includes information and advice from the trenches from Neeraj Chauhan, California’s Cloud Infrastructure Project Director, OTech, California Department of Technology; Carlos Ramos, Chief Information Officer, State of California; and Jim Butler, Chief Procurement Officer, State of California. It is the first in a series of planned publications to be released by NASPO and NASCIO that will examine information technology procurement projects in states.

“As the leading authorities on state procurement and information technology in state government, our respective associations were able to work together to highlight how different areas of state government can collaborate to respond to emerging trends in infrastructure,” said Krista Ferrell, director of strategic programs at NASPO. “Our aim with this new case study is to provide practical information on successful procurement tactics that can help other state officials who are considering major information technology undertakings.”

“We are delighted to be working with NASPO on this case study series and believe the lessons learned and advice from the trenches will be invaluable to state CIOs as they procure services for their customers,” said Doug Robinson, NASCIO executive director.

The case study can be viewed here.