4900.2 BASIC POLICIES
(Revised 12/04)
Each state agency must establish an ongoing strategic planning process for information technology and submit its strategic plan to Finance for approval. The strategic planning process established by an agency should be consistent with its needs, resources, uses of information technology, and management style. However, the strategic planning process should:
- Be consistent with the current statewide strategic direction for information technology, with relevant statewide policies contained in the State Administrative Manual and current management memos, and with agency policies for the management of information and information technology;
- Include active participation of agency executive and program management;
- Align agency strategies for information technology with agency business strategies;
- Identify emerging threats and opportunities in the agency's environment that have a potential impact on the agency's information management and its use of information technology;
- Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the agency in terms of its information technology infrastructure and information management capabilities;
- Assess the potential of new information technologies to enable new business strategies and further the accomplishment of established strategies;
- Provide for the creation and maintenance of an agency information technology infrastructure that will support agency information requirements and business strategies; and
- Establish goals and priorities for the acquisition of new information management capabilities.
Each agency may determine the format and content of the documentation of its strategic plan for information technology. The documentation must satisfy agency management requirements and be sufficiently detailed to provide Finance with a clear understanding of the agency's information management strategy. Agency Information Management Strategy (AIMS) documentation guidelines can be found in SIMM Section 110.
It is the responsibility of the agency to ensure that the information available to Finance represents its current strategy. Finance will base its decisions regarding the approval of an agency's information technology activities and support for its budget augmentations in part upon its understanding of the Agency's Information Management Strategy (AIMS) and the relationship between the AIMS and the agency's overall business strategy. In general, activities and proposals that are not supported by an AIMS that meets the basic requirements of this section or that are inconsistent with an agency's established strategy will not be approved or supported by Finance. Any agency that does not have an approved AIMS will have all information technology project delegation rescinded, including delegation for expenditures under the Desktop and Mobile Computing Policy (SAM Section 4989.)
The agency must submit documentation of its information management strategy to Finance at the time it completes its initial strategic planning effort and, thereafter, whenever there is a significant change in strategy. SAM Section 4900.3 provides guidelines for the AIMS documentation that must be submitted to Finance. Additionally, the agency must annually certify that the AIMS approved by Finance represents its current strategy. See SAM Section 4900.5 and SIMM Section 60.
Note that approval of an agency's AIMS does not imply approval of specific projects, nor does it guarantee funding for the plan or specific projects an agency may initiate under the plan. Project funding must be addressed through the budget process, where final determination will be based on statewide as well as agency priorities.
