INTEROFFICE MEMO FORMAT

							                       COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO
                   DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL SYSTEMS

                              Interoffice Memorandum

                                               For the Agenda of: December 7, 2000


Date:        October 25, 2000

To:          Information Technology Policy Board Members

From:        Ray Reis, Chair
             Technology Review Group

Subject:     Technology Standards for Office Automation and E-Government
             Applications

Recommendations:

1. Approve retirement of the following policies:

   "Personal Computer Standards"

   “Guidelines Used When Determining When to Replace and/or Upgrade a Personal
      Computer.”

2. Approve the Technology Standards for Office Automation and E-Government
   Applications contained in this policy recommendation.

Background:

On April 14, 1998, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved the policies
and procedures adopted by the ITPB through March 1998. Two of the approved
policies addressed PC hardware, software, server, and network connectivity standards
and guidelines. The present recommendation consolidates, updates, and replaces
these policies.
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Discussion:

Hardware Standards:

When IT Procurement was decentralized in October 1997, the TRG was asked to
provide guidelines by recommending standard PC hardware configurations. Such
detailed configurations become rapidly out of date and require frequent policy changes
to keep them current. Departments now have several years of IT procurement
experience and multiple sources of advice and guidance within the County.
Consequently, the TRG recommends replacing specific PC hardware configurations
standards with the following guidelines.

1. Computer hardware must be compatible with the standard operating system
   software (see table). Compatibility can be verified by searching the Microsoft
   Hardware Compatibility List: http://www.microsoft.com/hcl.

2. Computers should be configured with no less than the resources recommended by
   the operating system developer, e.g., memory and processor speed.

Hardware Upgrade and Replacement Guidelines:

When County-standard operating system and office automation software are upgraded,
some older computers will not have the capacity to run the new software versions with
acceptable performance. If a computer configuration falls below the minimum
resources recommended by the software developer for the current standard operating
system and business software, it should be upgraded (increase memory, disk storage,
etc.) or replaced.

As a “rule of thumb”, if upgrading a personal computer costs more than 60 percent of
the price of a replacement PC, replace the PC.

Departments may also consider a three-year replacement schedule for all personal
computers.

Software and Network Connectivity Standards:

The recommended software and network connectivity standards for office automation
and e-government applications are presented in the table below.
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                   Area                                      Standard
Operating Systems (PC and server)             Microsoft Windows 2000 platform
System Management Software                    Microsoft System Management Server
Messaging and Collaboration Server
Software                                      Microsoft Exchange Server
Office Automation Suite:                      Microsoft Office
       Calendaring/e-mail                     MS Outlook
       Word Processor                         MS Word
       Spreadsheet                            MS Excel
       Database                               MS Access
       Presentation Graphics                  MS PowerPoint
Document Imaging/Management Software          FileNet
Database Server Software                      Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle
E-Government Application Development          Microsoft .Net Enterprise Servers,
and Support Software                          BackOffice,Visual Studio, FrontPage, and
                                              Internet Explorer Browser products, Oracle
                                              Internet Developer Suite
AntiVirus Suites                              Network Associates and Trend Micro
Network Protocol                              TCP/IP
Network Topology                              Switched Ethernet


Compliance with Software and Network Connectivity Standards:

Countywide standards help us manage the cost of owning and maintaining information
technology, and facilitate communication and collaboration throughout the enterprise.
Keeping our standards current protects our investment in technology and human
resources. The efficient use of human resources, both technical and nontechnical,
remains a driving force behind standardization.

Nonstandard software and network connectivity that is not mandated by State or
Federal authorities will be phased out within two years upon approval of this policy.
Extension of the two-year phase out period can be evaluated by the ITPB on a case-by-
case basis. These standards will be reviewed annually and updated as necessary to
ensure that they are consistent with advances in technology.

Impact of Implementing Recommendations:

Once fully implemented, the standards recommended in this policy will:

    • reduce the total cost of ownership of County computer systems on a per unit
      basis
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    • provide an environment which will enable the County to implement new systems
      with a minimum of upgrades and additions
    • provide an infrastructure which allows all County employees to communicate via
      electronic mail and schedule meetings via a shared calendaring system.
    • provide an infrastructure which allows the County to build and deliver web-based
      e-government applications to our internal and external customers.

Achieving these standards will involve changes to both computer technology and
people. Departments will need to be aware of the cultural change that implementation
of these standards may bring to their organizations and plan ways to help with the
adjustment (i.e., training, user manuals, conversion of existing systems, support needs,
etc.).