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Information Technology Strategic Plan 2020-2025

Contents

DSB’s Agency Mission, Vision and Values

Our Vision and Values

DSB’s Agency Strategic Plan

DSB’s IT Strategic Plan Alignment with Agency Strategic Plan

DSB IT Strategic Goals

DSB IT Staff

DSB IT Service Catalog and Staff Allocation

Planned IT Projects State Fiscal Year 2021 through State Fiscal Year 2025

 

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DSB’s Agency Mission, Vision and Values

Washington State Department of Services for the Blind (DSB) provides training, counseling, and support to help Washington residents of all ages, who are blind or visually impaired, pursue employment, education, and independent living. Our goal is “Inclusion, Independence, and Economic Vitality for People with Visual Disabilities.”

Our Vision and Values

Powerful Partnerships

Our partners view us as a premiere resource and a national leader in promoting the skills and abilities of people who are blind or have low vision. We team with customers, employers, our communities, and fellow staff to achieve the highest level of customer service.

Dynamic Agency Culture

Our culture embraces and rewards creativity, risk taking, and leadership from everyone. We seek opportunities to educate and be educated. We honor and celebrate our differences while providing safe yet dynamic environments.

Effective Business Processes

Our services rely on best practices, continuous improvement, and reinvention. Our physical spaces and our service delivery model accessibility. We capture all the resources necessary to accomplish our mission.

Outstanding Outcomes

We create outstanding outcomes for our customers by meeting the full-range of their needs with the highest level of customer service. People who are blind and have low vision go to work in careers of their choice. Customers exit with the skills needed to manage their lives, pursue or excel in their careers, and participate in their communities.

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DSB’s Agency Strategic Plan

The DSB strategic plan prioritized three Strategic Initiatives. The first two cross-over all agency programs, while the third is focused more specifically on vocational rehabilitation and employment outcomes.

Strategic Initiative 1: Enhance Communications to Reach More Customers and to Serve Customers Better

Project Area Objectives Success Criteria
1.1 
Gathering
the DSB story
  • Develop shared understanding of all DSB programs among agency staff
  • Develop systems for documenting and cataloguing agency participant success stories & feedback,  and the agency impact on customer
  • Develop systems to ensure multi-directional communication within agency
  • Staff can note differences and similarities among programs within the agency
  • Effective systems for tracking and retrieval of DSB stories are in place
1.2
Targeting the
DSB message
  • Develop DSB messages/talking points
    • How we are unique
    • How we add value
  • Develop criteria for prioritizing strategic partnerships
  • Target DSB messages to specific audiences
    • Identify key cultural motivators for target groups
    • Develop comprehensive approach to serving Transition age youth
  • Develop multiple platforms and formats for conveying message
  • Staff can convey DSB story targeted to specific audiences
  • Staff have developed a prioritization mechanism for local outreach activity
  • DSB message can be sent out across multiple media platforms
1.3
Telling the story for highest impact
  • Develop strategic outreach activity plan,  statewide and locally
    • Develop effective relationships through targeted outreach and broad-based media activity
    • Leverage funding and resources through partnering
  • Develop systems for feedback loop to assess outreach successes
  • Increased number referrals
  • Employer engagement measures - businesses with repeat hires of DSB participants
  • Partnerships in place to meet full circle of DSB participant needs
  • Agency has data to demonstrate which efforts are effective

Strategic Initiative 2: Enhance and Maintain DSB Capacity & Expertise in Serving Blind Washington Residents 

Project Area Objectives Success Criteria
2.1
Enhance agency
core competencies
  • On-going blindness awareness and experience for all DSB staff and service providers
  • Promote accessibility
    • Ensure internal accessibility and usability of agency systems and communications
    • Act as resource for external community partners in ensuring electronic and other accessibility of external systems
  • Promote teaming within and among programs
  • Community and agency participant feedback
  • Structured development plans are in place for key positions
  • Blind staff productivity is not impeded by internal systems or accessibility obstacles
  • DSB participants get hired at businesses who have made accessibility changes due to DSB consultation
2.2
Enhance recruitment, retention, and succession
  • Target recruitment of qualified blind staff to increase representation across all levels of the agency 
  • Develop systems for knowledge transfer among all job classifications
  • Explore opportunities for compensation increases for targeted hard-to-fill job classes
  • Leadership development 
  • Target and promote interest in training for agency participants to fill critical resource needs for vocational rehabilitation and agency
  • Blind representation will exist at all levels and areas of agency
  • Increased numbers of DSB participants hired into VR-related positions 
  • New staff receive knowledge transfer to maintain program stability

Strategic Initiative 3: Integrate employment into a unified customer experience at all phases of the vocational rehabilitation process

Project Area Objectives Success Criteria
3.1
Integrate employment
and real-world work experience throughout
all phases of VR process and training    
  • Integrate employment from intake process through training to program exit 
  • Build in work experience and employment-related activity at all levels of VR process 
  • Relate all assessment and training to an employment context
  • Integrate real time market labor data and sector strategies in vocational planning
  • Address with participants impact and accommodation needs of secondary disabilities 
  • Define stages of job-readiness and related employment activities
  • Build employer-desired core soft skills (critical thinking, decision making, etc.) throughout skill development process
  • Develop system for peer mentorship
  • Increased number of employment outcomes
  • Federal agency & contractors
  • State agency employment
  • Documentation and curricula for assessment and training materials relate to vocational goals
  • Common understanding and approach to stages of job readiness
  • Increased quality (wage/benefit/diversity) of employment outcomes
  • Employer engagement measures
  • Maintained stability of employment outcome (2nd and 4th quarter)
3.2
Build regional business expertise
  • Build capacity for agency regional business representation to facilitate outcomes among DSB, workforce partners and business community
  • Build systems to meet the needs of businesses with mandates to increase hire of individuals with a disability 
  • Develop systems to identify and target businesses that have variety of job classes, maintain an accessible environment, focus on diversity as a value and have past history of hiring individuals with a disability
  • Increased number of employment outcomes
  • Federal agency & contractors
  • State agency employment
  • Documentation and curricula for assessment and training materials relate to vocational goals
  • Common understanding and approach to stages of job readiness
  • Increased quality (wage/benefit/diversity) of employment outcomes
  • Employer engagement measures
  • Maintained stability of employment outcome (2nd and 4th quarter)

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DSB's IT Strategic Plan Alignment with Agency Strategic Plan

The DSB IT department supports the agency strategic objectives in the following ways:

Strategic Initiative 1: Enhance Communications to Reach More Customers and to Serve Customers Better

Our goal is to maintain a highly mobile workforce so that our staff have the tools and flexibility to serve our clients while maintaining a secure infrastructure.  This is accomplished in a variety of ways, including:

  • The DSB IT staff will routinely review new communication technologies to ensure that we have the most robust, affordable solutions available to reach our customers.
  • The DSB IT staff will encourage end users to take training and will provide one-on-one training assistance as needed to ensure staff can efficiently utilize the technology tools available.
  • The DSB IT staff will periodically review our security infrastructure to ensure we’re providing the most secure communication methods possible.
  • The DSB IT staff will discuss opportunities and challenges with end users to ensure our technical approaches are meeting their needs and ensuring efficiency when working with customers.

Strategic Initiative 2: Enhance and Maintain DSB Capacity & Expertise in Serving Blind Washington Residents 

Our goal is to assist by providing adequate bandwidth and technology tools to help improve our end users ability to quickly and efficiently provide services to Washington State blind residents.  We accomplish this by:

  • The DSB IT staff will routinely assess new technologies to determine if they can improve staff effectiveness.
  • The DSB IT staff will follow accessibility standards and will share knowledge with end users to help ensure our services are accessible to the wide range of customers we serve.
  • The DSB IT staff will provide technology and support for the agency Orientation and Training Center located in Seattle.
  • The DSB IT staff will continue to provide support for our highly mobile workforce so they can accomplish their work goals in the most effective manner possible while ensuring the security of participant data.
  • The DSB IT staff gather feedback from agency staff to help guide our decisions and support levels.


Strategic Initiative 3: Integrate employment into a unified customer experience at all phases of the vocational rehabilitation process

DSB IT staff strive to provide the best technical solutions to ensure that DSB staff have the tools and support they need to assist our customers effectively through the entire vocational rehabilitation process.  

DSB IT staff standardize the technical tools used by each department within the agency whenever possible to ensure as much consistency as possible between programs.

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DSB’s IT Strategic Goals

  • Provide high quality and timely Information Technology customer support to DSB staff, contractors and partners.
  • Ensure the security of the DSB and State Government Network by regularly providing training and guidance to DSB staff.
  • Routinely review new technologies for solutions that may benefit DSB staff and clients.
  • Work with WaTech leadership and staff to ensure a cohesive plan for technology services. 
  • Reduce infrastructure support requirements to allow IT staff more time to support end users.

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DSB IT Staff

The DSB IT staff include:

  • Chief Information Officer located in Lacey.
  • Network and Telecom Journey located in Seattle.
  • System Admin Journey located in Lacey.
  • System Admin Entry located in Lacey.
  • IT Customer Support Entry located in Seattle (shared position with Assistive Technology Department.)

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DSB IT Service Catalog and Staff Allocation

IT Management Functions

  • IT Policy & Planning
    • Responsibility: Chief Information Officer
  • IT Standards Development
    • Responsibility: Chief Information Officer
  • IT Annual Technology Plans
    • Responsibility: Chief Information Officer
    • Responsibility: DSB Agency Leadership
  • IT Annual Technology Budget Management
    • Responsibility: Chief Information Officer
    • Responsibility: DSB Agency Leadership
  • IT Project Management
    • Primary Responsibility: Chief Information Officer
  • IT Annual State Reporting
    • Primary Responsibility: Chief Information Officer
  • IT Resource Allocation
    • Primary Responsibility: Chief Information Officer
    • Secondary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey

IT Connectivity Functions

  • Network routing and switching
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
  • Secure Connectivity to Network Resources
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
  • Agency Internal Wireless Network Connectivity
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey

Identity and Resource Access Management

  • Active Directory Management
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
  • Print Queue Management
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
  • File Share Management
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
  • Email Account Management
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
  • Amazon Cloud and Cloudberry Service Management
    • Primary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey

Cloud Service Management

  • WaTech Private Cloud Virtual Server Management
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
  • Microsoft Azure Cloud Services Management
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey

Server Monitoring and Disaster Recovery

  • Server and Application Monitoring
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin - Entry
  • File Restore and Disaster Recovery
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey

Data Transport Services

  • Secure File Transfer Services (SFTP)
    • Primary Responsibility:  System Admin – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Entry 

Certificate Management Services

  • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
  • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey

Telecommunications Support

  • VOIP/Desktop Phone Services
    • Primary Responsibility: System Admin – Entry
    • Secondary Responsibility (Seattle) : Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility (outside Seattle): System Admin – Journey
  • Mobile Device Management
    • Primary Responsibility: System Admin – Entry
    • Secondary Responsibility (Seattle) : Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility (outside Seattle): System Admin – Journey

Computer Management

  • Computer Configuration Management
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility : System Admin – Journey
  • Computer Patch Management
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility : System Admin – Journey
  • Computer Hardware Asset Management
    • Primary Responsibility: System Admin – Entry
    • Secondary Responsibility (Seattle) : Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility (outside Seattle): System Admin – Journey
  • Computer Software Asset Management
    • Primary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility : Network and Telecom – Journey
  • Computer Security Management
    • Primary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Entry
  • Conference Room Equipment Management
    • Primary Responsibility (Seattle) : Network and Telecom – Journey
    • Primary Responsibility (outside Seattle): System Admin – Journey

Service Desk Support Services

  • Management of Service Desk Infrastructure
    • Primary Responsibility:  System Admin – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Entry
  • Management of Service Desk Administration/Configuration
    • Primary Responsibility:  System Admin – Entry
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
  • Service Desk Triage and Routing
    • Primary Responsibility:  System Admin – Entry
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: IT Customer Service - Entry
    • Secondary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey
  • Service Desk Knowledgebase Updating and Review
    • Primary Responsibility:  System Admin – Entry
    • Secondary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: IT Customer Service - Entry
    • Secondary Responsibility: Network and Telecom – Journey

IT Accessibility Support Services

  • DSB IT Accessibility Policies and Procedures
    • Primary Responsibility:  Chief Information Officer/DSB Agency Leadership 
  • Support for Accessible Hardware and Software
    • Primary Responsibility:  Network and Telecom - Journey
    • Primary Responsibility: System Admin – Journey
    • Primary Responsibility: System Admin - Entry
    • Primary Responsibility: IT Customer Service – Entry
  • Support for Seattle Orientation and Training Center Accessible Hardware and Software
    • Primary Responsibility:  Network and Telecom - Journey
    • Secondary Responsibility: IT Customer Service – Entry

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Planned IT Projects:  State Fiscal Year 2021 through State Fiscal Year 2025

Planning Assumptions 

In planning through to the year 2025, we have to make a number of assumptions about the environment of Washington State government.  State government will continue to operate under financial constraints, challenging the state to develop innovative approaches to fund technology. In addition, the agency needs may change and/or technology capabilities may advance.  We will monitor the environment for changes and modify these assumptions accordingly.

Fiscal Year 2021 Projects

  • Implement ITIL Framework for Service Desk 
  • Implement Service Level Agreement for DSB IT Services
  • Pilot Microsoft Teams to Improve Internal Collaboration 
  • Pilot Zoom Video Conferencing to facilitate external client collaboration
  • Pilot to Exchange Online email via WaTech
  • Pilot Microsoft Office 365 via WaTech
  • Implement Microsoft Teams to Improve Internal Collaboration 
  • Implement Zoom Video Conferencing to facilitate external client collaboration
  • Implement to Exchange Online email via WaTech
  • Implement to Microsoft Office 365 via WaTech
  • Migration from Symantec Vault to Microsoft Archive
  • Prepare IT plan for return to offices from COVID
  • DSB Security Plan Review - Audit Preparation
  • One Washington integration with AWARE
  • Enhanced Interface between AWARE and AFRS
  • Prepare for Internet Protocol v6
  • Research capabilities of Microsoft SharePoint for potential implementation
  • Research capabilities of DocuSign/AwareSign for potential implementation
  • Migration to new mobile device management solution (WaTech driven)

Fiscal Year 2022 Projects

  • Ensure continued alignment with WaTech roadmap
  • Migration from Sophos AV to Microsoft Endpoint Manager
  • Review data connectivity options
  • DSB IT Security Audit
  • Move servers from WaTech Private Cloud to Microsoft Government Azure Cloud
  • Decommission Skype for Business (Per WaTech Roadmap)
  • Telephony/Cloud PBX/M365
  • Implement Internet Protocol v6

Fiscal Year 2023 Projects

  • Ensure continued alignment with WaTech roadmap
  • Network Modernization – Equipment Upgrades
  • Review and Update IT Continuity of Operations Plan
  • Orientation and Training Center Hardware/Software Refresh
  • Document Management Systems Research for Potential implementation
  • Decision Package for potential future implementation of Records Management/Document Management Solution 
  • Review Data Inventory and Standards
  • Establish Enterprise Framework for Data Management

Fiscal Year 2024 Projects

  • Ensure Continued Alignment with WaTech roadmap
  • Assess IT Environment for Potential Advancements
  • DSB IT Security Plan Review - Audit Preparation
  • DSB IT Privacy Policy Review
  • DSB IT Policy Refresh
  • Planning for potential Records/Document Management Solution

Fiscal Year 2025 Projects

  • Ensure Continued Alignment with WaTech roadmap
  • Assess IT Environment for Potential Advancements
  • Implementation of a Records/Document Management Solution
  • DSB IT Security Audit

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