2011 IRDR Briefing and Q&A

1. 2011 IRDR Briefing and Q&A • Webinar Summary • Monday, November 7, 2011 • 10am – 11am

2. DIR Team The following DIR staff members are online to assist with this briefing.

3. Welcome! • Of the 57 registrations for today: • 63% agencies, 37% universities • 68% worked on IRDR in 2009 • 55% IRMs

4. Agenda • General Information • Q&A • IRDR Content • Q&A • IRDR Data Collection • Q&A

5. General Information • Website • Instructions • Dates • State Strategic Plan • Self-Reporting

6. General Info - Dates • IRM input – October • Instructions release – 10/28 • Collection tool release – 10/31 • Review/reporting period – November • IRDR help desk • Submission deadline – 12/01 • if there is an issue meeting this deadline, please contact DIR • IR-CAP process – Spring 2012

7. General Info – Cont. • State Strategic Plan for IRM • PDF version available now • Full website soon • Self reporting • IRDR data is self-reported by the agency through the agency IRM; this model works very well

8. General Info – Audience Poll #1 • Beyond fulfilling a statutory requirement, does your organization gain any value from the IRDR process?

9. General Info - Questions Q1. Why does DIR not provide a web portal (e.g. database) that accommodates all of the information requested in the various reports? This would allow DIR to populate the reports based on the database. A. DIR is working in this direction, beginning with a recent establishment of a database architecture for managing multi-cycle IRDR data. Our efforts to improve usefulness of the IRDR process include making cross-agency data permanently available to the IRMs. First, we want to dialog with the agencies about how publicly available this information should be.

10. General Info - Questions Q2. Is email the best way to get a question answered? A. Yes. Normally, an email to irdr@dir.texas.gov will get a quick response. You are also welcome to phone your question to Rob Aanstoos at 512-463-7314. Q3. What is the IRDR website address? • A. To reach the IRDR website, click here. The full URL is: http://www2.dir.state.tx.us/management/strategy/Pages/InformationResourcesDeploymentReview(IRDR).aspx

11. General Info - Questions Q4. We have had recent changes in IT Management and would like to know where to obtain previous reports/submissions. A. Please email your request to irdr@dir.texas.gov for previous IRDRs or IR Corrective Action Plans.

12. IRDR Content • What has changed since 2009? • Part 1: Agency Environment • Part 2: Compliance • Part 3: Inventory-Level Information • Annex: Data & Information Management • Question numbering • See Question Mapping spreadsheet on IRDR site • Identifies similar 2009 questions/question numbers • Identifies new questions • Identifies optional questions

13. Content - Part 1 • A few questions preserved from the previous Annex • New questions added • New sections: • 1.02 Technology Policy Management • 1.14 Social Media • 1.15 Alignment with Statewide IT Priorities

14. Content - Part 2 • Mostly unchanged • Previous Accessibility section split into 2 • Answer set modified for EIR items • Previous E-records item split into 6 • Note on existing IR-CAP items

15. Content - Part 3 • Only 2 small content changes • 3.02: Major Databases: 1 question removed (data models, dictionaries, taxonomies) • 3.03: GIS Web Services: 1 question added (contents of service) • Entirely pre-populated

16. Content - Question Numbering • New questions – number shown in bold • Optional questions – first word of question is “optional” • Similar questions – corresponding 2009 number shown in question map • similar questions are pre-populated • some are not marked similar due to change in answer set or temporal nature of the question

17. Content – Audience Poll #2 • How many people in your organization have some involvement in conducting and submitting the IRDR?

18. Content - Questions Q5. A definition for “video exchange service” (referenced in question 1.13.07) is missing from the glossary. A. This error has been corrected on the IRDR website. The definition of video exchange service is: Video Exchange Service. Provides a communications platform allowing organizations to schedule, hold, and playback video conferences over an IP backbone. These calls also include the ability to exchange documents during the call. A key benefit is the ability for end users to schedule and meet (via video) with other compatible users and organizations either intra-agency, inter-agency, or agency to rest of world on an as needed basis without the need to build a dedicated network infrastructure themselves. End user devices range from desktop phones to full dedicated video meeting rooms.

19. Content - Questions Q6. In question 1.07.01i1, please define a basic wireless phone (e.g. cell phone, etc). A. In this question we are asking for approximate numbers of client devices in a number of categories. Beginning this year we have split wireless communication devices into “basic wireless phones” and “smartphones”. Feature sets overlap between different models, and there is no established industry definition to distinguish these two categories. Perhaps the best distinction is this: If the device supports productive, two-way email communications, it can be considered a smartphone.

20. Content - Questions Q7. In 1.01.16 re Senate Bill 701, what is a “high-value data set”?. A. The IRDR glossary includes a definition of high-value data set which was taken directly from Senate Bill 701. This is a new requirement for agencies and DIR recognizes the difficulty some agencies are facing in meeting the requirement. The purpose of this IRDR question (and the follow-up question about any factors that are hindering implementation of the requirement to post high-value data sets online) is to gage where the agencies are on this requirement and to determine if some enterprise level action (e.g. interagency dialogue or a shared service) would be helpful.

21. IRDR Data Collection • Parts 1 and 2 – Online collection tool • Part 3 – Spreadsheet

22. Collection – Parts 1 and 2 • Inquisite/Allegiance • Access tool via unique url • Navigating pages • Question types • Question branching

23. Collection – Part 3 • MS Excel spreadsheet • Excel 2003 format • No macros or protected cells • In 3.01, each database should have at least one “application type”

24. Collection – Audience Poll #3 • Which of the following approaches best describes how your organization conducts Parts 1 and 2?

25. Collection - Questions Q8. It appears that once activated, radio buttons can only be de-activated by selecting a different choice. This makes it hard to note which questions one might wish to “re-visit” later prior to final submission. Have you given any thought to allowing de-activation and then just checking at the point of final submission to be sure all “required” questions are answered? A. Along with the drop menu, the radio button list is a standard device in survey applications for “choose one item” questions. In both cases, selection of one item automatically de-selects any other item that was already selected. To leave multiple items selected would render the question a “choose all that apply” type. Probably the best way for the questioner to build potential responses, including multiple candidates for a “choose one” question, would be to develop responses initially using an off-line template. This can be done using either the collection tool’s “review” report or the IRDR Instructions document, which is in MS Word format.

26. Collection - Questions Q9. 1.14.01 appears to be intended as a “choose all that apply” question, but it is presented in the tool as a “choose one” (radio button) question. Is this an error? A. This is clearly an error that made it through our testing; thanks to the questioner for pointing it out. As a workaround, if the response is a single item, simply click that item; if the agency uses more than one social media site, please select “Other” and list the sites in the provided text box. We apologize for this inconvenience.

27. Collection - Questions Q10. How much of a push is the state making towards social media implementation? A. Social Media is a top strategic priority for the state. Each agency should evaluate the business value of this communications channel in its organization to determine whether it should establish a social media presence. As mentioned in the 2012-2015 State Strategic Plan, agencies need to carefully consider several factors such as agency strategy, internal resources, governance, stakeholders, etc. before deciding how they want to implement social media.

28. Collection - Questions Q11. In 1.07.01, if we did not get our normal funding for equipment refreshes in the recent session, do we show our current or normal refresh cycles? A. When there is no clear “correct” answer, it is up to the IRM to choose the most appropriate answer. In the questioner’s case, one approach may be to bump the nominal refresh interval to the next longer time. If desired, the optional comment question (1.07.16) can be used to elaborate on the situation.

29. Wrap-up • Summary of today’s session • DIR will seek additional input post-IRDR • Contact us: irdr@dir.texas.gov • or call Rob Aanstoos at 512.463.7314 • Thanks for participating today!