GTA Update - Sep-Oct 2022

Update newsletter

Sep-Oct 2022 | Vol. 14, Issue 5

State CIO's column

Georgia Digital Summit follows a time-tested recipe

The Georgia Digital Government Summit serves up a generous dose of discussion of the latest technology trends and topics. That comes with a side of inspiration, a slice of therapy for frazzled IT professionals, and a scoop of recognition for achievement. The whole buffet is packaged in a single-day event, and it’s coming up Monday, September 12, at Atlanta’s Marriott Marquis.

Featured speakers will include a former Navy commander, now leadership coach, who will illustrate how we can master our world, even in these extraordinary times. A former Disney World EVP will describe how Disney builds the enviable customer loyalty they enjoy. There’s a lesson in it for us in government, and it runs much deeper than costumed characters and discounted park passes.

Twice during the day, concurrent sessions will allow you to pick subjects of interest. Flavors range from rethinking the workforce, to cloud computing possibilities, digital accessibility, and the cyberthreat landscape. Networking time is sprinkled throughout, and toward the end of the day, we’ll recognize the projects and people behind our 2022 Technology Innovation Showcase honorees.

The 2022 summit is once again geared toward state and local government IT staff and business leaders, with emphasis on harnessing technology’s potential to meet ever-changing business needs. Registration is $25 for Georgia’s public sector staff, and lunch is provided.

I hope to see many of you in person at the event Monday. The program starts at 9 a.m., with check-in and refreshments in the hour leading up to that. The summit is a chance for all of us in Georgia government to trade notes on shared IT challenges, learn from expert speakers and from each other’s experience, and maybe borrow an idea or two from someone else’s cookbook. No shame in that.

One further note – we’ll carry on this year without guiding input from one of the summit’s perennial cooks and contributors. Steve Nichols, who for the last 20 years has served as Georgia’s Chief Technology Officer, wrapped up his state government service at the end of August. Many of you are acquainted with Steve from that long tenure, and many more of you have felt the benefits of his capable leadership, directly and indirectly. He has been invaluable to me even in my relatively short time so far at GTA. We will miss his good counsel, and we wish him well in his new work with Gartner Consulting.

Shawnzia Thomas

State Chief Information Officer

GTA Executive Director

After 20 years, state CTO hangs up his whiteboard

If you wanted to talk technology, longtime Georgia Chief Technology Officer Steve Nichols could give you a workout. Over his 20-year tenure, the air in his GTA office sparked and crackled with references to the latest and greatest IT innovations. Steve could slather on the technical trimmings, if that suited his audience. And he could just as readily translate it all into layperson’s terms, so the technical became tangible.

Right up to his departure from state government at the end of August, Steve was known for scratching out diagrams on whiteboards in his office. There, he turned the complex into the comprehensible. With a couple of good dry-erase markers, he could map out everything from ga.gov domain assignment rules to string theory (a residue of his Ph.D. in physics).

That combination of technical command and translation for the real world powered his effectiveness. For two decades, he advised GTA leaders and state agencies on critical IT issues. He served on national boards that developed and recommended technology policies and practices. He emerged as a highly respected voice on government technology matters, not just in Georgia, but nationally.

He received the prestigious State Technology Innovator Award for 2017 from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. He earned a StateScoop State Leadership award in 2015, and Government Technology named him one of the nation's Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers in 2012 for his contributions to advancing government IT.

At GTA, he provided executive leadership for Georgia's official state website (georgia.gov), the webMethods Enterprise Service Bus, and Georgia's GovHub web publishing platform, which supports 85+ state agency websites. He also actively supported the state’s GETS IT shared services program and its modernizing of the state’s IT infrastructure.

Steve has accepted a position at Gartner Consulting where he’ll continue his focus on state and local government. And quite likely, his affinity for whiteboards.

State CIO and GTA Executive Director Shawnzia Thomas announced this month that Dmitry Kagansky will now serve as Chief Technology Officer, while also retaining his previous duties at GTA. Dmitry came to GTA in fall 2021 from Amazon Web Services and directs the ongoing GTA-led cloud computing transformation. Through that key initiative, state agencies are shifting state applications into modern, reliable and flexible cloud environments.

There when you need it --

the GETS password reset tool

When you’re facing the unexpected, you want steadfast friends who won’t run at the hint of trouble. The GETS self-service password reset tool can be just that kind of friend. And beginning this month, if you have a GETS userID, you should cement that friendship like never before.

Enhanced security measures require that, starting September 14, the GETS self-service password reset tool is used as the exclusive way to reset forgotten GETS passwords* and unlock accounts instead of calling the GETS Service Desk.

That’s worth repeating. The password reset tool becomes the standard way to reset* or unlock. If you call the Service Desk for a reset or unlock, agents will point you to the reset tool, explaining how to register for and use it. Save yourself that awkward getting-to-know-each-other phase under pressure, and get acquainted with the reset tool now, before you need it.

On and after the 14th, if you’re unsuccessful using the reset tool to reset a forgotten GETS password or unlock your account, an agency-approved exception request will need to be secured. That approved exception will authorize the Service Desk to get involved.

This applies to everybody with a GETS userID, whether you’re a state employee, a contractor or a non-state employee. Agencies across the GETS community are communicating with their staff about the password reset tool, explaining necessary preparations and how to use it. Agency IT leads can provide information, as can the GETS Service Desk (877-GTA-3233).

*For routine GETS password changes (e.g., when your password is about to expire), continue to use established self-service password reset methods, not the reset tool.

Plentiful training options for cloud-bound agencies

You don't just hop in the captain's chair of a ship on the launchpad without training. Same can be said of shifting to cloud computing services. IT teams, and business leaders to some degree, have to prep and gear up. GTA is helping state agencies secure that preparation, providing access to varied training options for cloud transformation.

GTA worked with cloud providers Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft to create a focused library of cloud training pathways. These are keyed toward agency roles ranging from IT staff (architects, system administrators, developers and others) to business leads. The library is called the Cloud Campus learning center.

Cloud Campus features free, self-paced virtual training and classes for AWS and Microsoft Azure cloud services. It runs the gamut from overview to just as in-depth as you care to go. There are also instructor-led, virtual sessions focused on foundational information for operating in the cloud. Just like the self-study options, there's no charge to agencies for the live sessions.

AWS Immersion Days complement the self-study and instructor-led training. These are half-day and whole-day, live sessions led by an AWS technical expert. They’re hands-on workshops that can provide a general overview of AWS environments and services, or a deeper dive into topics like networking, databases, and more.

Another learning opportunity newly introduced and described on Cloud Campus is the Technically Speaking lunch ‘n’ learn series. These are informal discussions with one of GTA’s resident cloud experts, and like the name suggests, they can get plenty technical. It’s mostly IT folks around this virtual lunch table.

Taken all together, it’s a rich collection of training options for agencies participating in the GTA-led cloud transformation. Completing needed training requires a time commitment reflective of the wholesale change cloud computing brings. But the rewards of cloud lie on the other side. Check the Cloud Campus site for training details.

Briefly ...

This month, GTA’s Office of Information Security will continue its annual hands-on cybersecurity training exercise, Cyber Dawg. Put on in partnership with the Georgia Cyber Center and the Georgia National Guard, the event brings together state agency security professionals to hone their skills in a “live fire” exercise. Using a military-styled training strategy, Cyber Dawg pits teams of agency cyber defenders against a threat actor in a mock cyber attack. It’s staged in a controlled environment using the Cyber Center’s Cyber Range, but the attack pressures and defense tools and tactics are all very real. Members of the U.S. Air Force 305th Cyber Operations Squadron will wage the “attack.” This fourth annual Cyber Dawg is scheduled for September 19-23 at the Cyber Center in Augusta. Agency participants gain insights they can take back to their organizations to strengthen cyber defenses.

A Georgia government project has earned inclusion among finalists for the 2022 NASCIO State IT Recognition Awards. The Georgia Department of Revenue's tax system cloud migration will be recognized at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers’ annual conference in October. DOR's ambitious project involved migrating its mission-critical Integrated Tax System (ITS) from on-premise server services to the Amazon Web Services commercial cloud. The tax system now operates in a modern, reliable and flexible cloud environment, and DOR has achieved a 40 percent savings in maintenance costs. (ITS is used to process tax returns and taxes, as well as enforcing tax regulations, for the state of Georgia.)

The GETS Service Desk Virtual Assistant (called Chat with IT) is now accessible from Microsoft Teams for agencies receiving Office 365 service through GETS. In Teams, you can find Chat with IT by clicking the “Apps” icon. It also continues to be accessible via the GETS Portal. Using either path, click on the Chat with IT icon to initiate a chat session with the GETS Virtual Assistant for answers to many common IT questions. It provides another path to IT support for the GETS community, including checking status of previously opened tickets and getting guidance on the self-service GETS password reset tool.

The tenth annual GTA Charity Golf Tournament is set for Monday, October 10 (Columbus Day holiday) at Stone Mountain Park. GTA is pleased to announce this chance for state agency staff to join with GETS service provider staff on the golf course, raising funds for the State Charitable Contributions Program (SCCP). You can register a team, or sign up individually and be teamed with some new golfing partners. Proceeds will benefit the SCCP, which supports hundreds of charitable organizations providing services across Georgia.