As half of Industry Insider — California’s ongoing efforts to teach readers on state companies, their IT plans and initiatives, right here’s the most recent in our periodic collection of interviews with departmental IT leaders.Gregory Pronovost is know-how companies director on the metropolis of Bakersfield, a place he has held for 5 years — and below his management, the entity has grown from a division to a full division. He is a veteran metropolis worker of 25 years, having joined Bakersfield in July 1997 as an accounting clerk. Must just lately, Pronovost was assistant director of info know-how, a publish he held for greater than two years earlier than ascending to director. He additionally spent greater than a decade in community programs roles.Pronovost holds a bachelor’s of science in enterprise administration – administration info programs from California State University, Bakersfield, the place he graduated magna cum laude.Industry Insider — California: As know-how companies director at your group, how do you describe your function; and the way have the function and duties of the director modified lately?Pronovost: I view my function because the chief of the Technology Services Department, offering the imaginative and prescient and path we have to take to achieve success in our endeavors. To the remainder of the group, we’re a consulting companion, collaboratively working towards a standard purpose in assist of every division’s line of enterprise. Over the previous couple of years, I’ve seen collaboration improve. Departments are partnering extra with Technology Services as know-how itself turns into extra ingrained within the day-to-day operations of town. Technology is the catalyst of change, change is fixed; as such, we as a division ought to lead and handle that change.Industry Insider — California: How massive a job do you personally play in writing your group’s strategic plan?Pronovost: Currently, town doesn’t have a strategic plan. We do have targets set forth by our City Council that each one departments use as a information within the implementation of initiatives. In the final couple of years, the senior administration workforce has been working on growing a core set of rules or values in preparation of a bigger complete strategic initiative. As half of the senior administration workforce, I in addition to the opposite members are actively concerned within the improvement of our organizational strategic planning.Industry Insider — California: What massive initiatives or initiatives are developing? What types of RFPs ought to we be anticipating within the subsequent six to 12 months?Pronovost: We have a pair of massive modernization initiatives that shall be coming to fruition inside the yr. The first is a regional public security radio system in partnership with the county of Kern to higher assist our first responders. This new system shall be a state-of-the-art digital trunked radio system with enhanced protection and capabilities. The second is the alternative of our aged enterprise useful resource planning (ERP) system, with a contemporary ERP to higher assist core performance. Moving ahead, we shall be going out to RFP for the ancillary programs in live performance with the yet-to-be-determined ERP, the best-of-breed modules to assist particular traces of enterprise. Additionally, we’re increase our Data Analytics workforce and shall be going out to RFP to discover a good companion to help us with that course of.Industry Insider — California: What time period or phrase do you utilize to confer with what many name “digital transformation”? How far alongside is your group in that course of and the way will you understand when it is completed?Pronovost: I merely confer with digital transformation as modernization, as a result of at its core it’s the altering of processes and workflows to be extra assessable and obtainable in trendy traces of communication which can be used day-after-day. We are increasing our companies from the normal dissemination of info in newspapers, bulletins and web sites to new platforms reminiscent of good units, social media and (synthetic intelligence) AI bots, in addition to transitioning absolutely digitized workflows in order that residents can do enterprise with town 24/7 from the consolation of their front room or anyplace with cell units. This is what our residents anticipate from us as service suppliers. Currently, we’re within the early levels of implementing these modifications and we’re excited to convey them ahead. As far as realizing once we’re completed, as I’ve talked about earlier than, change is fixed, so we are going to by no means be completed.Industry Insider — California: What is your estimated IT finances and what number of staff do you might have? What is the general finances?Pronovost: For the upcoming Fiscal Year 2023, the Technology Services Department is requesting a complete finances of $16.2 million. Our division has a certified praise of 60 (full-time staff) FTEs. The metropolis of Bakersfield’s estimated finances is $852.6 million.Industry Insider — California: How do you like to be contacted by distributors, together with through social media reminiscent of LinkedIn? How may distributors finest educate themselves earlier than assembly with you?Pronovost: My choice is e-mail; that means if the services or products is of curiosity to us, I can then ahead to the workforce that may take a more in-depth look. I’ll admit my LinkedIn recreation is weak. Balancing work and life go away little time to replace social media platforms, though I do admire studying what others have posted. As with any new relationship, the seller ought to get to know us. There is rather a lot of info that may be obtained from our web site in addition to numerous council or committee conferences. During the preliminary meet, discover out what our ache factors are, see the place we would want help, familiarize your self with our procurement course of; being extra versatile with yours might result in a smoother transaction. Also, know that ought to you achieve success in participating us together with your services or products, it isn’t a one-and-done transaction, we’re eager to companion with our resolution suppliers, conserving abreast of enhancements, bug fixes, updates, and addressing our considerations.Industry Insider — California: In your tenure on this place, which venture or achievement are you most proud of?Pronovost: Easily, it needs to be the increase of the division and the enhancements to our employees. Four years in the past, the Technology Services Division, was a conventional IT assist service entity with a certified employees of 37 FTEs. Today, we’re a full division inside the group, with a certified employees of 60 and rising. As half of that development, we structured our technical positions in a means that promotes agility and a number of avenues of job development. Our employees are challenged to decide to continuous course of enchancment and continued training. Most of all, we’re positioning ourselves to companion with our fellow departments on the use of know-how and finest practices to higher implement applications and initiatives that present actual, significant change to our residents.Industry Insider — California: If you possibly can change one factor about IT procurement, what wouldn’t it be?Pronovost: In a phrase, simplify. Being a authorities group, there’s a paperwork to the procurement course of that should be adopted. That course of nearly all the time works in opposition to how know-how and know-how companies are offered in the present day. Each procurement is a little bit bit totally different in how the contract is written. We in Technology Services are working with our Finance and Legal Services departments on what we will do internally to streamline the method. We additionally ask our resolution companions to do the identical, so hopefully it doesn’t find yourself taking months to buy items and companies.Industry Insider — California: What do you learn to remain abreast of developments within the govtech/SLED sector?Pronovost: I subscribe to a quantity of e-mail newsletters and paper publications masking the three ranges of authorities, native, state and federal, with an emphasis in know-how use, reminiscent of Government Technology*, in addition to these put out by our resolution suppliers. Additionally, I see what my fellow public-sector CIOs are doing by our membership with MISAC (Municipal Information Systems Association of California) and ICMA (International City/County Management Association). Finally, my employees and I attend a number of conferences and collaboration alternatives. I’m all the time pleasantly stunned within the distinctive methods present know-how is used to handle new points.Industry Insider — California: What are your hobbies, and what do you get pleasure from studying?Pronovost: I get pleasure from spending time with my household doing escape rooms, fixing ebook/recreation puzzles and watching motion pictures. Not an excessive amount of into studying for pleasure (do rather a lot of studying for work), however do get pleasure from working with my palms, reminiscent of pictures, electronics and taking part in retro arcade video games and digital (video) pinball (the stuff I grew up with within the ’80s).*Government Technology journal is a publication of e.Republic, which additionally produces Industry Insider — California.Editor’s be aware: This interview has been flippantly edited for fashion and brevity.
https://www.techwire.net/news/industry-insider-one-on-one-bakersfield-tech-chief-on-data-analytics-value-of-simplicity
