I recently had the chance to speak with PK Agarwal, CTO of
California. In this role PK manages the
State of California Consolidated Data Center
used by various California governmental departments. California has two large
general purpose data centers and many large departments have their own
dedicated data centers. The State of California has 130
operating departments, boards, and commissions.
In a typical month, there are six million unique visitors to
California state government websites. Due to the recession,
the demand for state services has skyrocketed and more and more people are
looking for employment related services and other forms of social and financial
assistance.
California is going through a consolidation of IT and over time we will see a lot fewer networks and data centers. When you remember that California has about 37 million people, and
a GDP equal to the 8th largest country in the world, then you understand
the magnitude of the information to be processed.
DG: I really enjoyed
the talk you gave about multi-generational work forces (earlier this year at
the Teladata conference in Santa Clara),
and their various approaches to IT and social networking tools at work. Could you summarize your thoughts about the
younger generations (under 40) for the readers of this blog?
PK: The younger generation, historically
sheltered by a strong economy, is now probably feeling some pain due to the US unemployment situation. This may result in a new
appreciation and greater receptivity to older workers’ advice based on years of
experience. Here is a critical issue worth
considering. Currently, 75% of California State employee managers are baby
boomers, between the ages of 50 – 65. California’s
managers in this age group are predicted to drop to 50% in 2014, leaving the
baby boomer’s culture as the dominant management style.
However, in 2014, the dominant
demographic group of rank and file workers will be Generation Y. There is
the likelihood of a culture clash between the managers being dominantly baby
boomers and workers dominantly generation Y.
We have to be sensitive to these
culture differences. You can make young
people work but you can’t force satisfaction and contentment on them. One big cultural issue is that these young
kids want to communicate frequently and want continuous feedback as a part of their
work environment. This does not make
them less productive or less security conscious. It is just a different way of
communicating. So, we need to adapt to
their needs. Tools change, habits change,
culture changes, that’s life. For
example, Gov Schwarzenegger now has a Facebook profile, and a Twitter account. Both of these actions send a message: social networks have a legitimate and recognizable
value. Also, President Obama’s staff has
recently negotiated terms with four social networking sites so that there is
clarity regarding the ownership of data on social networking sites.
DG: Forgive me for being blunt,
but when I go to this website, http://www.cio.ca.gov/
it still looks like a traditional website for traditional people. How can this be attractive to the under 40s we
are trying to engage in state government?
PK: The primary customers for our CIO website are
state staff and the IT vendor community. Both of these groups are dominantly baby
boomers and have some very specific data and information needs. Accordingly this website is designed with
that need and demographic in mind. On
the other hand, if you look at www.ca.gov, it has a very different look and
feel. We recognize that California’s
increasingly younger and diverse population wants a certain ‘website feel’. We are
also working on a version of www.ca.gov that
is intended for our youths and has been designed by local high school students.
DG: When do you think that the California website www.ca.gov above will include facebook, twitter,
2nd Life or other kinds of new media as part of the content? (for employees and
state residents)
PK: We are already using many of
the tools you mentioned. Many of departments
are incorporating web 2.0 tools as a part of their communication and service
delivery strategy. However it is
important to note that
government websites cater to a very wide array of demographics. Accordingly our websites are designed with an
understanding that we will be serving power users as well as digitally
challenged. It is somewhat easier for a
company such as Amazon because they can choose a single channel to serve their
customers. With a government entity, we
have to be multi-channel because one size will not fit for all for our
constituents. We will continue to have
walk-in, mail, telephone, FAX, and Internet as the service options. www.ca.gov
is the entry point into the State system but you can go directly to a department
as well. How do we get you from www.ca.gov to
where you want to be? We try to get you
there in the fewest number of clicks.
Plus, we have seasonal variation in our web strategy. During March and April (when it is the tax season),
a lot of people want to deal with tax issues.
Another popular service all year round is that of automobile
registration. Lately we have been seeing
a lot of activity around employment, social services, or programs for
refinancing, etc. California's first lady, Maria Shriver, also
sponsored a website called www.weconnect.net and that is also getting a lot of
traction with people in need.
DG: Budget constraints aside, how do you
translate your knowledge into a better place to work and a better site to
resource?
PK: We continue to use technology to better serve
Californians. Come back around mid-June
and look at www.ca.gov. You will see our new website design intended
to improve the user experience. We have
been thrifty and careful, but really focusing on the usability and the customer
experience. By contrast, our 2006 design
would look primitive.
Also, we want to ensure that transactions
are processed on our websites efficiency and quickly. Unlike a commercial website stickiness is not
as critical to us. Often people want to
conduct their transaction such as registering their car quickly and that is all
they care about on that particular day.
So we try to find a balance between “bells and whistles” and functionality.
DG: Last question, PK: I am sure that all the readers of this blog
care a lot about your operations focus: on
how you perceive Green IT and sustainable computing to be a significant part of
your agenda. Are you going to recommend
a 30% reduction in energy use throughout State data centers as the federal government has done?
PK: Yes we are very “green” conscious in our
computing practices. As you know our
governor is recognized globally as a pioneer in setting the agenda for climate
change and energy issues. For instance we
reduced the utilization of natural gas in one of our data centers by 90% and
electricity usage by 9%. We are looking
at consolidating many of our data centers which should give us a lot to brag
about in the area of energy efficiency.
Server consolidation and virtualization is among our key strategies for
energy conservation.
DG: Thanks so very much PK. Have a GREEN Day!
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