Multiple Agencies
A Review of General Automation Controls at Selected State Agencies and Universities
July 1998
Report Number 98-050
Overall Conclusion
State agency and university management should review and improve the guidelines for their automation functions. This will better ensure that desired operations and outcomes will occur. This was the conclusion from our recent work at one state agency and two universities. The purpose of this work was to make sure that automated information systems are working as intended.
There has been vast growth in the information technology industry. For fiscal year 1998, Texas state agencies and universities plan to spend more than $1 billion on operations in this area.
This growth has brought a greater turnover of information technology personnel in the State. Texas has averaged a 20 percent turnover rate for this type of personnel in the last three fiscal years. In contrast, the turnover rate for all state employees has averaged 15 percent. Thus, state entities should make sure that they have sound guidelines for their automation processes.
Guidelines that are well defined serve two purposes. They provide consistent direction to staff and record what the entity has been doing. New information technology staff can use these guidelines to gain a quicker grasp of their job duties.
Key Facts and Findings
In this project, we looked at the key processes for computer operations. These processes include keeping the computers and data safe. We also reviewed the processes that prevent loss of data and develop data systems.
We performed work at the following three entities:
- Texas A&M University System General and Administrative Offices
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
- Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
These entities plan to spend a total of almost $44 million on their automation functions in 1998. Attached are the detailed review results with responses. We will perform future phases of this work at other entities that have a high impact to the State.
We developed a self-assessment tool to help with this kind of review. Managers at all state entities can use this tool to quickly point out the strengths and weaknesses of their computer operations. Managers can then decide where to focus their efforts. We plan to have this tool on the Internet by the end of the fiscal year and will notify state entities at that time.
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