The power of information technology unification
OKLAHOMA CITY — Strong storms toppled trees and knocked out power at the
Capitol this weekend but didn’t shut down the security of and access to
important data housed with the Office of Management and Enterprise Services at
its Information Services Data Center.
Thanks to a plan that includes using up to four
1,450-horsepower generators cranking out 1,000 kilowatts of power, the power
remained on at the Data Center and the data flowing through servers connected
with more than 100 state agencies remained safe and accessible.
“This weekend’s storms demonstrated another success of IT
consolidation, keeping the state online during a power outage,” said Secretary
of Finance, Administration and Information Technology Preston L. Doerflinger,
who serves as director of OMES.
“While storm damage is never a good thing, it did show that
the emergency systems we’ve put in place worked to secure and keep the state’s
data online during an outage,” he said. “If agencies haven’t unified their IT
with OMES yet, this just shows one more advantage of doing so.”
When the power went out around the Capitol over the weekend,
it was hardly noticeable at the OMES Information Services Data Center, where
generators kicked into gear and kept the state online.
“There was enough fuel on hand to keep the power on for up
to eight days,” said Oklahoma Chief Information Officer Bo Reese. “This is an
important aspect of IT unification. This building and our backup systems allow
another layer of protection during an emergency situation.”
The generators can fire and produce maximum power in seconds
if there is an electrical issue. Servers at the Information Services Data
Center are housed in a secure environment, data is backed up off site in a
secure location, and the critical functions of the building are built to
withstand winds of up to 200 mph.
“Having these types of protections and redundancies in place
is an important part of IT unification,” Reese said. “The storm over the
weekend proved a successful test of our systems.”
Unification, legislatively mandated by HB 1304 in 2011,
partners agencies with OMES to streamline and consolidate IT efforts. By the
end of fiscal year 2017, 78 mandated agencies, and more than 30 voluntary
(nonappropriated) state agencies, will have been brought under one IT umbrella
at an estimated reduced spending and projected savings of about $130 million.
Other successes of unification include an increased ability
to protect the state’s unified networks and systems as a whole against
cyberattacks; increased purchasing power that saved the state about $46 million
in FY 16; and quicker response times and less system downtime with 24/7
monitoring that can spot problems in their infancy, sometimes before an agency
even knows they have a problem.
More information on the generators can be found
at https://www.ok.gov/cio/documents/PowerUp.pdf.
More information on unification can be found in the OMES Information Services
Quarterly Reports at https://www.ok.gov/cio/Policy_and_Standards/Progress_on_Consolidation_Reports.html.
Media Contact
MICHAEL BAKER Director of Public Affairs (405) 522-4265 | michael.baker@omes.ok.gov
About the Office of Management and Enterprise Services
The Office of Management and Enterprise Services
provides financial, property, purchasing, human resources and
information technology services to all state agencies, and assists the
Governor’s Office on budgetary policy matters. Our mission: Supporting our partners through unified business services. For more information, visit OMES.OK.gov.
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