Texas IT staff evaluating applications that need updating

The old saying goes that “everything’s bigger in Texas,” and that seems to hold true for the state’s IT systems. Texas has the fourth highest IT budget in the country, spending more than $2 billion a year, according to Deltek’s “GovWin” database.

But according to John Hoffman, chief technology officer for the state’s Department of Information Resources, Texas’ sprawling systems contain applications that are growing increasingly outdated. In response, Hoffman and his staff are now trying to sort through the clutter and establish a responsible order for updating the state’s IT infrastructure.

“Several years ago, we went through and through legislation, they allowed us to take a look behind the scenes at the different federated agencies, and we realized we’ve got thousands upon thousands of different applications out there,” Hoffman told StateScoop in August at the National Association of State Technology Directors’ annual conference. “Many of them are in a legacy status, so now we’re taking a next step with all of those in a legacy status, how do we prioritize those?”

Hoffman noted that finding a way to do that prioritization requires the state striking a delicate balance.

“How do we solve those problems in a smart way that makes sense minimizing the cost, obviously, while providing the best productivity we can?” Hoffman said.