WSDOT IT Planning Concepts

PLANNING FRAMEWORK:

Business Drivers:
Current and projected business, government and transportation industry drivers, trends, issues and directions. Defined by agency, as part of the Washington Transportation Plan.

Technology Trends:
Current and projected technology industry trends, issues and directions. Defined by IT (MIS and others) with input from business units.

WSDOT Information Technology Principles:
Basic technology beliefs, values and assumptions that provide a framework for technology decisions. Proposed by IT, negotiated with business units.

DIS IT Portfolio:
High level summary of WSDOT IT plans, in standard state-wide format specified by DIS. Generated from results of detailed internal WSDOT IT planning processes described herein.

PLANNING:

WSDOT Strategic Plans:
All WSDOT strategic planning documents, such as the Washington Transportation Plan, and the WSDOT Strategic Plan. It also includes the business plans and other planning documents used by the various WSDOT organizations to guide their implementation of the WTP and Strategic Plans.

WSDOT Information Technology Plan:
Overarching mission, goals and measures for IT, as directed by the WSDOT Strategic Plan. Guides development of all business unit IT plans, technology supplier IT plans and IT service architectures.

Business Unit IT Plans:
Technology needs specific to program delivery for a given organization’s business action plan. May discuss multiple strategic technologies, and refer to related sections of those plans. Aligns with the WSDOT IT Plan, and considers all related business drivers and technology trends. Defined within the overall guidelines of the WSDOT IT principles.

Technology Supplier IT Plans:
Technology needs specific to a given technology supplier (e.g. GIS, CAE, ITS, MIS). Covers all agency business unit needs for that technology, and all related services (e.g. applications, data, infrastructure). May refer to related sections of IT architectures. Aligns with the WSDOT IT Plan, and considers all related business drivers and technology trends, within the guidelines of the IT principles.

ARCHITECTURES:

IT Service Architectures:
Technical solutions required to support business unit IT plans and technology supplier plans, within the overarching WSDOT IT Plan. Includes architectures for business/IT alignment, desktop, information, applications, data, and infrastructure. Each architecture includes “As-Is” and “Should-Be” models defining what, how, who, where, when and why that service is delivered and “Gap Analyses”

“As-Is” Architecture:
The current hardware, software, tools and relationships in use at WSDOT for a particular technology service such as information or applications.

“Should-Be” Architecture:
The desired future hardware, software, tools and relationships WSDOT needs for a particular technology service to satisfy the various levels of IT plans.

“Gap Analysis” - Architecture Transition Plan:
The funding, resources, projects and schedules for migration from the “As-Is” architecture to the “Should-Be” architecture for a particular technology service such as information or applications.