Meeting Minutes, InforME Board Meeting

Thursday, January 24, 2008
1:00 to 3:00 pm
36 Anthony Avenue, Augusta

At 1:030 p.m. the monthly meeting was called to order by Dick ThompsonKathy Record, Acting Chairperson.

Members Present:
	Kathy Record
	Deb Carson
	Anne Schink
	Dean Corner
	Barbara Redmond, on behalf of Matt Dunlap
	Dan Gwadosky
	Chris Pinkham
	Thomas Kittredge
	Richard Trahey
	Herb Thompson
	Marilyn Lutz
	Erin Hutchins
	Dick Thompson
	Jaynie Higgins
	Marilyn Lutz
	Dean Corner
	Chris Pinkham
	Anne Schink
	Kathy Record
	Matt Dunlap
	John Martins
	Herb Thomson
	John Martins
	Erin Hutchins

Others Present:
	Paul Sandlin, OIT
	Lisa Leahy, OIT
	Carrie Gott, NIC
	Phil Boedecker, NIC
	Joel Van Schepen, NIC
	JD Sherry, NIC
	Todd Tolhurst, MIN/InforME
	Kelly Hokkanen, MIN/InforME
	Kimberly Duplisea, MIN/InforME
	Lesley Mosher, MIN/InforME
	

I.	Adoption of November 29, 2007 Meeting Minutes 

Action:  
Motion to approve as presented: Herb Thompson  
Second:  Chris Pinkham
Vote:  unanimousTo approve
II.	Discussion: Location of Maine Information Network (MIN) Data Center

Erin Hutchins, General Manager of InforME, presented an overview of this discussion.  Because of tThe new InforME network manager contract with MIN requires MIN to provide the Maine.gov hosting infrastructure at a facility of the Board’s choosing.  Therefore, this presentation is an education of the offerings of NIC’s Central Data Center, one of the hosting options available to the Board. , InforME needs to address whether it will create a data center in house or utilize the existing centralized data center (CDC) of MIN’s parent company, NIC.  The NIC CDC is a state of the art facility in Washington D.C. with a back-up facility in Allen, TX.  Ms. Hutchins presented Carrie Gott, Regional Manager for the Maine region of NIC, to describe the CDC to the Board.  Ms. Gott explained that the CDC will allow Maine to leverage a centralized hosting facility which will result in Maine being able to receive more services, more machines, secure facilities, etc. for less money than would be the case if Maine created its own data center. 

Seven NIC Business units (i.e. seven portal states) are currently hosted at the NIC CDC; three more units will be hosted at the facility within the next year.  All seven units currently utilizing NIC’s CDC are realizing a cost savings for their hosting needs; for example, one portal has estimated a savings of $300,000.  Since Maine.gov is a mature portal, the cost savings would be realized over time.  

Ms. Gott presented JD Sherry, Vice-President of Technology for NIC to provide additional details about the CDC.

Mr. Sherry explained that NIC and AT&T work together to host and maintain the data center.  The facilities in Washington D.C. and Allen, TX, offer redundant power grids and redundant connectivity to ensure that the data centers are constantly functioning.  The technical operations of the two facilities offer 24/7 support which promotes the stable delivery of eGovernment solutions.  

NIC utilizes AT&T hosting and data center services because AT&T offers reliability, scalability, security and skill for mission-critical services.  AT&T Global Networks provides data centers with proactive monitoring and management services, server, facility and NOC security, and flexible connectivity options. 

Discussion:

Connecting to the Maine.gov site concerned some members of the Board.  One member questioned the difference in connecting times with all servers being in Maine versus being in Washington D.C.  Mr. Sherry showed some statistics illustrating that the portal being hosted elsewhere would not hinder connectivity for uses.  Other portals are seeing connection times of around .6 seconds compared to the current Maine.gov connection time of 1.14 seconds.  

Members expressed that there is some concern about control and support.  Ms. Hutchins explained that MIN/InforME staff would still be able to administer the actual services and software functions of Maine.gov remotely; if a server had to be manually restarted someone from AT&T will actually go over to the machine and restart it.

Adjournment to Executive Session:  At 1:47, Kathy Record requested that the meeting be closed for Executive Session so that the Board could deliberate the hosting options.  

Dean Corner, Chair of the Technical Subcommittee presented the Board with information related to the NIC CDC presentation given to the technical subcommittee on January 23.  Dean shared that the subcommittee had a couple of significant concerns, including the issue of bandwidth availability and flow of Internet traffic outside of the state of Maine and the load that this transition might place on the OIT Network staff and bandwidth. 

Dean relayed that the Technical subcommittee did not feel they could make a recommendation related to the data center selection at this time.

One BoardDick Trahey member questioned the cost-perspective of the data center.  Ms. Hutchins explained that the first year, using the NIC data center versus creating a data center in house is budget neutral for InforME; however, thinking beyond budgetary constraints, it may be beneficial to utilize NIC’s data center as it will assist in promoting the goal of providing a constant reliable network, while benefiting from the economies of scale offered by NIC.  In short, .  MIN could not, in the long run providecould not provide all of the benefits and services that the NIC CDC data center willcan at an affordable rate. be able to provide.

Another BoardAnne Schink member questionedasked if this type of service is available through another, local vendor.  While there may be other data center vendors available, none are comparable to what the NIC CDC has to offer.   Erin indicated that OIT is in the process of procuring a new data center that MIN could use.  However, Erin has heard feedback from some agencies that they would prefer that MIN not be housed with state equipment.  Additionally, the entire procurement process for the state is likelywould to take about 3 – 5, which is beyond the timeline needed for the portal.
 years from start to the completion and migration.     

Another BoardHerb Thompson member questioned the migration time frames.  MIN would require the migration be complete by May/June 2008.  Because of this aggressive timeline, NIC would prioritize the migration accordingly to complete it as quickly as possible.  

At this point, NIC staff, except Erin Hutchins, general manager for InforME and Kimberly Duplisea, project manager for InforME left so the Board could discuss the data center privately.  

Connecting to the Maine.gov site concerned some members of the Board.  One member questioned the difference in connecting times with all servers being in Maine versus being in Washington D.C.  Ms. Hutchins showed some statistics that connectivity would not be hindered by having servers in another state.  Other portals are seeing connection times of around .6 seconds compared to the current Maine.gov connection time of 1.14 seconds.  

The overall, long-term cost-savings were brought up again.  The financial details will need to be addressed at a later date in greater detail. The Board would like to talk with an NIC portal state similar to Maine that is currently at the NIC CDC to get their perspective.  

Control was also brought up by the Board.  Ms. Hutchins explained that MIN/InforME staff will still be able to administer the actual services and software functions of Maine.gov remotely; if a server had to be manually restarted someone from AT&T will actually go over to the machine and restart it.

The Board has requested more information about the NIC CDC.  Following the analysis of this information, the Board will make its decision.Dan Gwadosky asked for references from other NIC states in the NIC CDC and those that have undergone similar transitions to the one proposed.  

Action:
Chris Pinkham motioned that the vote on the data center be held over to another special meeting.  
Barbie Redmond seconded the motion.
Vote: Unanimous

Reconvene of General Session:  At 2:35 Kathy Record asked to reconvene the general session.  Public attendees were welcomed back to the meeting.
III.	General Manager’s Report

Erin Hutchins presented kKey points in this quarterfor the January 2008’s general manager’s report, which  include the launch of the lobbyist registration application.  There has been very positive reception for the service from both the Ethics Commission and the lobbying community.

Another notable launch is the redesign of the Attorney General’s website.  The “What’s New” tool was an invaluable resource for this website.

Marketing strategies to increase the online usage of the MOSES user interface have been discussed with the Department of Inland Fisheries &Wildlife’s new I&E Deborah Turcotte.  The MOSES application has a good adoption rate at the present time, but there is much room for growth.  The new marketing strategies help to better involve IF&W.

Financial Highlights are included in this quarter’s report.  
IV.	Service Prioritizations

Baxter State Park Authority Campsite Availability
Kimberly Duplisea, project manager for InforME, presented the project.  InforME would work with the Baxter State Park Authority to create an online campsite availability search application.  The application has been proposed as a free service based on the existing relationship with the Park Authority and the fact that the resources required to complete the project are minimal.  The service will benefit both the Authority and the nearly 20,000 campers that stay at the park each year.  The campers will be able to view a campsite’s availability information online so they can be better prepared when they call to make their reservation; the Authority will benefit by seeing a time-savings as they will field fewer calls requesting campsite information and the calls they do take will be handled more efficiently.

Currently, all reservations must be processed by calling the Park Authority.  The campsite availability project is the first step in offering an online campsite reservation service.

The deadline for the service is January 2009; however, the Authority is hoping that the project can be completed by May 2008.  

Action:
Motion to approve as presented: Chris Pinkham 
Second:  Richard Trahey
Vote:  To approve
  
Secretary of State’s Eighth Grade Citizenship Award
Lesley McCaw, project manager for InforME, presented this project.  InforME would work with the Secretary of State’s office to make the Eighth Grade Citizenship Award nomination process electronic.

Currently, applications are processed manually.  School officials nominate eighth graders by filling out a paper application; this application is then mailed to the SOS where the data is manually entered into the SOS’ database.  

Both the SOS and the school officials will see benefits from this service.  The SOS’ office receives approximately 180 applications each year which require hundreds of hours of manually data entry.  The electronic service will eliminate the need of entering all data.  The benefit to the user is that they will receive a quicker turn around for their award nomination.  

The deadline for the completion of this project is March 15.  

Kathy expressed concern about the timeline of this project and its impact on other projects—would it be pushing other projects back?  Erin explained that the resource demand is so low that Dan Andrews, the developer should be able to complete the development within a couple of days.  As it happens, Dan has a small window in his queue do to a project delay on the third Ethics application.  Dan Gwadosky also mentioned that he PR generated by this service within the legislative community is a significant benefit and worth a quick turn-around.

One BoardDeb Carson member questionedasked about the requirements the current requirements a service must meet in order to qualify as a free service.  Erin explained that free services are determined in a number of ways, benefit to greater public, benefit to the agency, and benefit to the portal.  Agencies that contribute to the portal are in some ways more likely to free services above those offered to all agencies (like support, hosting, etc.).  Erin recommended developing a grading system that would make this process more transparent.  The MIN staff will add this topic as a discussion item at a later meetingThe requirements will be discussed at a later meeting.  

This particular project is qualifying as a free service because of the time-savings it creates for the Maine SOS.  Additionally, Maine Legislators are involved in this Award process so the electronic service will benefit them as well.  

Action:
Motion to approve as presented:  Richard Trahey
Second:  Herb Thompson
Vote:  To approve

V.	Discussion: Maine.gov Privacy Policy

Due to time constraints, this topic will be discussed at a later Board Meeting.
VI.	InforME/MIN Contract Status

Paul Sandlin explained that the contact negotiations have been extended to March 14.  Portal software licensing and Rider C, termination clause, are being discussed in greater detail.  The contract will be presented to the Board for a vote at the February 28 Board Meeting.  
VII.	Next Meeting Dates
	February 28, 2008
	March 27, 2008

AdjournmentAction:
Motion to adjourn: Chris Pinkham
Seconded: Richard Trahey
Vote: To adjourn

The meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m.