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May 2026
It is hard to believe summer is around the corner. 2026 has been a busy one at ITS. So many projects are underway and many more are on the horizon. Also, in just few days, DHW employees will be joining us as part of the final phase of IT Modernization. This is huge milestone for everyone at this agency. Thank you for your support. I look forward to building on our momentum.
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DHW Joining ITS
In just a couple weeks, DHW will be joining ITS as part of Phase 6 Modernization. This marks a huge milestone as the final phase of IT consolidation is complete.
A series of detailed Gov Delivery email communications have already gone out to DHW employees and contractors with important information including training sessions, video links, and other resources. These communications will continue through the first day of consolidation on June 7th.
I want to welcome DHW employees to our team. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your manager. I look forward to meeting each of you very soon.
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Idaho Transforming Government 2026
I recently participated in a moderated panel discussion alongside the President of College of Eastern Idaho Lori Barber and Boise State University’s Athletic Director Jeremiah Dickey, that focused on change and transformation in state government.
Specifically, my conversation was on AI-driven public service efficiency. It was hosted by our partners at Deloitte. The event highlighted how budget uncertainty and increasing demands on Idaho state government have created opportunity for change and innovation, something we have experienced first-hand at ITS.
Deloitte produced a nice video for the event incorporating some of our own ITS materials. You can find it here: https://youtu.be/tNhEg6xMjrA
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ADA Digital Compliance Deadline Extended
The Department of Justice extended the federal deadline for states to meet compliance for accessible website and mobile digital content by one year to April 26, 2027.
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Customer Service is a Culture
As Idaho continues modernizing and consolidating technology services across state government, one theme has become increasingly clear: strong customer service is essential to making statewide IT work.
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ITS Website Redesign
A redesign of the ITS website (its.idaho.gov) is underway. The effort will include refreshing and updating content and making it more user-friendly for our customers requesting service and information.
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Comms at DHR Summit
On Apr. 9th, Kristin Bartz presented at the statewide DHR Summit on building better HR workspaces with SharePoint. The well-attended session was highly engaging and generated strong interest from attendees, with many questions and discussion around the HR site template developed by ITS.
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ITS Delivers Field Ready Reliability
The 43rd Annual Idaho State Forestry Contest took place May 14th at Farragut State Park, bringing together more than 225 students between 5th and 12th grades, and nearly 150 volunteers for the yearly competition.
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DHR AI 101 Session
On April 9th, the Division of Human Resources hosted an AI 101 session at the DHR Summit, providing a practical, hands-on introduction to artificial intelligence in state government.
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Third Party Cyber Attacks
“What do I do now?”
Many people are asking themselves this question because they’ve opened their favorite news sites, or received emails, just to find that the companies that they use for personal and/or work-related services have been the victim of cyberattacks.
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 Thank you all for your dedication to our mission. We want to take a moment to recognize some team members who really went above and beyond this month. Please join us in thanking them for their hard work!
Kudos from State Public Defender's Office
A special thank you to Ehrin Affolter and apprentices Cam Reid and Bailey Fadden (Solution Vetting), Chris Carlisle (EA), Michael Holt and Kyle Gabin (Deployment/UEM), and Mark French and Tim Gates (SDMs). Their combined teamwork has made a meaningful and positive impact for the State Public Defender’s Office.
SPD handles a large volume of video evidence that must be reviewed. By enabling video players to be installed through selfservice, our teams delivered a major efficiency improvement. EA and Security made sure the solution remained fully compatible with State standards and compliant with required policies, strengthening both reliability and security.
Each group contributed in a meaningful way:
SDMs advocated strongly for their agency customers, ensuring SPD’s needs were clearly represented and prioritized. UEM/Deployment continued to improve the end user experience, making the installation process seamless and enabling selfservice to reduce friction and wait time.
This is a powerful example of what we achieve when our teams collaborate with shared purpose, clear communication, and a commitment to delivering high quality service to our customers.
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Office of the Idaho State Public Defender
More Kudos
Communications Team
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you and your team for stepping in and sending this out. It wasn’t how we had originally planned the communication, but I really appreciate your willingness to help and jump in when it was needed.
Thank you again, I truly appreciate the partnership.
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Michelle Hermann, Bureau Chief Division of Human Resources
Michelle Cobler
Infrastructure Engineer III
I truly needed guidance to understand what we could do, what options were available, and what would truly work best for our organization. Michelle was so patient with me and took the time to walk me through each approach, answer questions thoughtfully to make sure I understood, which allowed me to align on our best possible solution. Her professionalism, patience, and collaborative spirit that she demonstrates, reflects a strong commitment to her craft.
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Ruth Munoz, Business Operations Manager ITD
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Chris Davis
Infrastructure Engineer III
I wanted to take a moment to recognize Chris for the outstanding work he did in building the live feed page for our team. From start to finish, he demonstrated professionalism, dedication, and a strong commitment to delivering a high-quality result.
Chris was a pleasure to work with—responsive, proactive, and efficient. Every concern or request I brought up was addressed promptly and thoroughly, and he consistently went above and beyond without hesitation. I realize I asked quite a bit of him during this project, yet he embraced every challenge and delivered excellent results on time.
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Brady Withers, Program Support Juvenile Corrections
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Alex Gittings
IT Analyst III
I wanted to express my appreciation for the outstanding work Alex Gittings has done in helping us identify solutions to improve printing speed in our stores. He went well above and beyond in researching options and working toward a practical solution that will make a real difference for our retail operations. Alex was gracious enough to take every bit of feedback, study the comparisons we shared, and never once discounted a complaint or gripe. He always responded with, let me see what else we can do.
What stood out most was Alex’s dedication and professionalism throughout the process. He approached the challenge with a true problem-solving mindset and demonstrated the kind of commitment to service that reflects the best of public service.
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Sally Ray Jones, Deputy Director Idaho State Liquor Division
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Kyle Brewer
IT Operations & Support Analyst I
I’d like to send a kudos to Kyle Brewer. This morning I was working on some software updates with our money counter system. Kyle was very quick, very professional and very helpful in getting it accomplished in a very quick fashion.
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Detective Beau Godfrey, Idaho State Police
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Tina Fuller
Business Analyst — Project Team
I wanted to recognize Tina’s work on the Mecalux PC replacement effort for Liquor.
This has been a challenging effort with a lot of coordination required across teams and with a vendor in Spain. Despite the language and time zone differences, along with pressure to close things out early, Tina has handled it extremely well and stayed focused on getting it done the right way.
She has worked closely with my team throughout, stayed organized, kept communication clear, and made sure we did not move forward until we were confident in the outcome.
I appreciate the way she has approached this. She is operating at an exemplary level, and I wanted to make sure that was visible.
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Kayne Tisdale, ITS Service Desk Manager
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Benjamin Buttars
IT Operations & Support Analyst I
I recently had a ticket that involved uninstalling and reinstalling some software on each of our front evidence counter computers. Ben was very accommodating throughout the whole process and was very quick and efficient while working on the computers. He was able to answer questions and help troubleshoot all our issues. I really appreciated his flexibility and positive attitude through completion of this ticket.
Thank you!
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Rylene Nowlin, ISP Forensic Laboratory Manager
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Joshua Harlow
Business Analyst — Project Team
The ITS Project team, specifically Joshua Harlow, was very helpful with setting the project up for success. He provided a clear scope of work and a knowledgeable recommendation for using Tyler Tech for this project.
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Makena Herb, ITS Digital Program Specialist
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