State of Minnesota

Synopsis

The State of Minnesota is comprised of 19 groups that manage 35 agencies with a single centralized
agency that provides a common network and baseline security. The agencies deliver services and
infrastructure to the state (e.g., unemployment insurance, road construction, sewer maintenance, etc.).
Enquizit  work o migrate these agencies to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, optimize
practices, build a center of excellence, and deliver technical as well as management training.

Initial State

The central agency provides some services as standard and is able to accommodate some of the requests it receives from sub agencies. A disparity of services and lack of standard practices across agencies arises due to the variance of agency size and level of autonomy. Some agencies have a five- person IT staff and others have over 700. Smaller agencies tend to hand-off responsibilities to the central agencies and request managed services while larger agencies develop their own services and have far more control over their practices and systems.
Prior to Enquizit’s arrival, over-provisioning was common, there was a lack of transparency, understanding, and standardization of practices. The customer was also not fully aware of the benefits and flexibility attained from using the AWS Cloud, nor how to maximize those benefits through process improvement and configuration.

Enquizit’s Solution

Enquizit performed assessments, migration, and training. We analyzed the situation of each agency and worked first with early adopters inclined to transition to the AWS cloud. We evaluated their applications and data stores to determine what ought to be replicated, modernized, or removed. We moved what was needed to the AWS cloud and developed responsibility models that are appropriate and congenial to each agency, as some preferred a shared responsibility model and others preferred to have services and provisioning managed completely by the Minnesota IT (MNIT) Services. Enquizit also developed a center of excellence to not only standardize practices, but also provide the training needed to influence the culture and accommodate technical modifications. We have developed an onboarding guide and process to assist with the technical implementation of the network and to establish security. We evaluated budgets and met our customer’s needs while providing cost savings. Using the information we garnered from our total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis, we successfully obtained stakeholder buy-in at the executive level.

Challenges

There was a lack of transparency in procedures and an understanding of how backend infrastructure operates. The needs of agencies, and
their ability to achieve technology driven goals varied widely. This led to divergent approaches to technical delivery, and inefficiency was common. Enquizit needed to first demonstrate substantive benefits to achieve customer buy-in and acceptance of new approaches and practices.

Benefits

There was a lack of transparency in procedures and an understanding of how backend infrastructure operates. The needs of agencies, and
their ability to achieve technology driven goals varied widely. This led to divergent approaches to technical delivery, and inefficiency was common. Enquizit needed to first demonstrate substantive benefits to achieve customer buy-in and acceptance of new approaches and practices.

Tools and Technologies

Customer:

State of Minnesota

Industry:

Government, Public Sector

Project Title:

MN Mass Migration

Project Duration:

September 2017–December 2017

Prime and Partners:

Prime: InfoReliance

Subcontractor: Enquizit