State of Oklahoma Partners with IBM to Cut Costs, Improve Quality of Service to Citizens

ARMONK, N.Y., April 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today that it is helping  the state of Oklahoma save $15 million over the next five years and ultimately improve services to state residents. 

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As governments institute structural changes in the way agencies measure performance and deliver services, data analytics and new delivery models can help lead the way for transformations that realize a measurable return on investment and improved quality of life.  By analyzing business processes and consolidating IT projects, IBM will help the state gain significant savings in software licensing and technology maintenance costs— resulting in an expected IT budget recovery of 30 percent.

"At a time when we all have to learn to do more with less money, IBM has been instrumental in identifying and prioritizing IT consolidation projects for the state of Oklahoma, at the same time allowing us to invest in new services for our residents," said Alex Pettit, chief information officer, state of Oklahoma. "IBM brought not only its extensive public sector services experience to help create the initial business case for this project, but also worked with  participating agencies to verify that the new technology environment would improve mainframe service and reduce costs."

IBM helped the state to understand the challenges of providing IT services to various agencies with diverse requirements for data management and federal reporting.  The new IT infrastructure established a model for IT compliance with federal guidelines on program data and processes, using an IBM System z mainframe. IBM also helped the state meet project funding requirements—bridging the financial gap between the initiation of the project and the cost savings.

The agreement helps ensure that the delivery of technology services is more effective and more consistent. In addition, the new infrastructure gives each agency more control over the quality, performance, and support of their technology environment. Ultimately, the consolidation of five mainframe platforms also yielded significant savings in costs and lower lease costs. The recommended options projected an 18 - 30 month payback period that would save 25 – 30 percent of the state's combined annual IT budget. 

"Successful governments are finding ways to reorient their structures, information technology and policies to address the needs of their citizens and businesses," said Bruce Ross, general manager, IBM Global Technology Services, North America. "IBM can tap into proven strategies for successful public governance,  including insightful leadership and effective use of technology as well as our offerings around analytics, shared services and collaboration.  This enables real transformation that benefits the public and government alike."

IBM worked with the state on a detailed analysis of the IT infrastructure and opportunities to consolidate computing capacity, storage, network, backup and disaster recovery capabilities. The plan included development of a target architecture, establishment of a high-level roadmap, and development of a services delivery schedule between the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), responsible for operating the consolidated environments, and each state agency.

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SOURCE IBM