[NCASG] Cloud Technology Impacts on the IT Workforce

Tue Jan 5 14:06:58 MST 2021

Hi Terri,

See below for the response from Louisiana. Please note that answers to the following questions pertain to our consolidated IT agency, the Office of Technology Services. Tai Istre of OTS was very helpful in providing the information to me. She advised that should you need further information, you may contact Mr. Derek Williams at Derek.Williams at la.gov<mailto:Derek.Williams at la.gov> or 225-342-0808. He serves as the Director of OTS Data Center Operations.

1.   Is management of your IT workforce centralized or decentralized?

In 2015 a large proportion of the IT workforce in the State of Louisiana was consolidated and centralized into the Louisiana Office of Technology Services. The scope of the IT consolidation included agencies under the Governor; agencies under other statewide elected officials and higher educational institutions were excluded (see R.S. 39:15.3<https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=95983> for details).

2.   Is your IT workforce represented (unionized), non-represented (non-unionized) or both?

Non-represented.

3.   Is your IT workforce classified, at-will or both?

At the Office of Technology Services, the majority (91%) of our IT workforce is classified, with 9% unclassified. We also rely on contracted IT support.

4.   Has your state begun moving to the cloud? If so, approximately how far along are you? 100%, 50%, etc.

Yes, we utilize a hybrid cloud environment with approximately 10% of our servers and storage residing in a public cloud.

5.   What job classification changes have been made because of movement to the cloud? For example, revised, established or abolished IT job classes?

We have not made any job classification changes due to the movement to the cloud.

6.   Have you made compensation changes for the IT workforce because of movement to the cloud? For example, new salary schedules, additional compensation for higher-level duties, recruitment and or recruitment incentives, other premium pays, other?

We have not made compensation changes due to movement to the cloud.

7.   Were there changes in the number of IT workers needed because of movement to the cloud?

a.   Increases - If you hired more IT staff, what IT skill sets did you need to recruit for to fill positions?

Yes, we required a few additional IT positions since the on-premises support needs did not change. Broad skill sets were required with knowledge of network, security, server administration, storage, backup, directory services, IAM, and various cloud specific technologies.

b.   Decreases - If you needed less IT staff, was this achieved through attrition, layoffs, reduction in force, other?

8.   Did you identify skills or knowledge gaps in the existing IT workforce because of movement to the cloud? If so, what were the gaps?

Yes, many cloud pipelines are specific to the provider platform, and utilizing those platforms requires someone familiar with a given provider. Additionally, a broad infrastructure and platform knowledge is needed to make pipeline components work together as expected.

9.   Did your state need to initiate new training programs to upscale the skill sets of the IT workforce because of movement to the cloud?  If so, what trainings were provided?

Yes, we leaned on the cloud providers to provide training for their specific services and products.

10.   Do you have lessons learned from your state's move to the cloud?

a.   What worked well? Speed to market is very good, but more importantly for us was the ability to allow third parties to utilize standard cloud platforms and provision their own environments under a State account. When a contract expires or if something happens to the third party, it prevents any issues with the State being able to take control of applications / data, which was previously problematic for hosted solutions.

b.   What didn't work? While many companies tout the ability to migrate workload "seamlessly" to public cloud offerings and back, this has not been the realization. Ensuring DNS, security controls, etc follow workloads and are applied correctly has been problematic to automate. This ability would be very beneficial for Louisiana due to increased likelihood of severe weather events. Even in a hybrid environment, on prem vs public cloud are two very different environments and must be treated as such.

 11.   Do you have any guidance or other documents related to this topic that you would be willing to share?

Continued advancements with some of the virtualization technologies and software defined routing and firewalling have pushed toward making true seamless migration a possibility. SD-WAN technologies are going a long way toward pushing this need even further, as now there is no need to backhaul to POPs for secure cloud connectivity. Overall it seems like an inevitability, but it is still fairly bleeding edge for environments with more advanced feature sets or security requirements.

Janelle Haynsworth, CCP
Compensation Program Manager
Louisiana State Civil Service
225.342.8266
janelle.haynsworth at la.gov<mailto:janelle.haynsworth at la.gov>

[cid:image001.png at 01D3C5B9.95C56680]<http://www.civilservice.louisiana.gov/>  [cid:image002.png at 01D3C5B9.95C56680] <https://www.facebook.com/LAStateCivilService>   [cid:image003.png at 01D3C5B9.95C56680] <https://twitter.com/LA_SCS>   [cid:image004.png at 01D3C5B9.95C56680] <https://www.linkedin.com/company/27236696/>   [cid:image005.png at 01D3C5B9.95C56680] <https://www.youtube.com/user/LAStateCivilService>   [cid:image006.png at 01D3C5B9.95C56680] <https://www.instagram.com/lastatecivilservice/>

From: Parker, Terri (OFM) <terri.parker at ofm.wa.gov<mailto:terri.parker at ofm.wa.gov>>
Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2020 7:11 PM
To: NCASG (dhr_ncasg_survey_list at admws.idaho.gov<mailto:dhr_ncasg_survey_list at admws.idaho.gov>) <dhr_ncasg_survey_list at admws.idaho.gov<mailto:dhr_ncasg_survey_list at admws.idaho.gov>>
Cc: Hogenson, Angie (OFM) <Angie.Hogenson at OFM.WA.GOV<mailto:Angie.Hogenson at OFM.WA.GOV>>
Subject: [NCASG] Cloud Technology Impacts on the IT Workforce

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Hi all, this request is sent on behalf of Washington's HR Analytics and Initiatives Manager, Angie Hogenson. Let us know if you have questions. Thanks in advance for your time and assistance! We would appreciate your response by January 11, 2021.

Like other states, Washington has begun to move systems/applications to the cloud. We would like to know what other states have experienced as we try to gauge how movement to the new technology will impact the existing IT workforce. Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability-any information you can provide will be helpful.

1.       Is management of your IT workforce centralized or decentralized?

2.       Is your IT workforce represented (unionized), non-represented (non-unionized) or both?

3.       Is your IT workforce classified, at-will or both?

4.       Has your state begun moving to the cloud? If so, approximately how far along are you? 100%, 50%, etc.

5.       What job classification changes have been made because of movement to the cloud? For example, revised, established or abolished IT job classes?

6.       Have you made compensation changes for the IT workforce because of movement to the cloud? For example, new salary schedules, additional compensation for higher-level duties, recruitment and or recruitment incentives, other premium pays, other?

7.       Were there changes in the number of IT workers needed because of movement to the cloud?

a.       Increases - If you hired more IT staff, what IT skill sets did you need to recruit for to fill positions?

b.       Decreases - If you needed less IT staff, was this achieved through attrition, layoffs, reduction in force, other?

8.       Did you identify skills or knowledge gaps in the existing IT workforce because of movement to the cloud? If so, what were the gaps?

9.       Did your state need to initiate new training programs to upscale the skill sets of the IT workforce because of movement to the cloud?  If so, what trainings were provided?

10.   Do you have lessons learned from your state's move to the cloud?

a.       What worked well?

b.       What didn't work?

11.   Do you have any guidance or other documents related to this topic that you would be willing to share?

Angie Hogenson (she/her/hers)
HR Analytics & Initiatives Manager

Terri Parker (she/her/hers)
Compensation Policy & Planning Analyst
OFM/ State Human Resources
Cell 360-515-6299
terri.parker at ofm.wa.gov<mailto:terri.parker at ofm.wa.gov> | labor.relations at ofm.wa.gov<mailto:labor.relations at ofm.wa.gov>

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