NJ to consolidate IT infrastructure

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed an executive order that will consolidate much of the state’s IT management under CTO David Weinstein, who was appointed by the governor in June 2016.

The order aims to “set in motion a course of action that will deliver more secure, efficient and reliable IT services,” Christie said in the announcement.

The governor wants to be able to align the state’s IT infrastructure footprint through server virtualization and data center consolidation and put the responsibility for IT management and operations almost exclusively in the Office of Information Technology.

"I am tired of having each department have their own IT stuff," Christie said in the press conference. We have an Office of Information Technology. They should manage this. They should run it.”

Over the next seven months, Christie said, the state will begin the conversion to a centralized IT function, pulling IT operations out of the individual departments. That allows the agencies to focus on their main missions, he said.

The executive order charges the CTO to review the state’s IT hardware infrastructure to identify common functions and operations that could be centralized. Agency heads will be asked to submit an inventory of IT infrastructure and a roster of associated IT staff. Legacy tech is also under review, with departments charged with compiling a list of applications in need of modernization along with proposals for upgrading or decommissioning those systems.

OIT will manage software functions and applications used across the state, but those used by only one state agency -- including functions, staff and associated assets will be moved from OIT to the agency.

The executive order gives the CTO the authority to transfer the ownership and management of any IT assets to OIT and enter into service-level agreements to achieve the consolidation.

Weinstein has 180 days to submit an infrastructure consolidation plan to the governor.