Jail Management System - Maricopa County

Issue 5 IT Strategic Planning and Project
Management
Summary
MCSO does not have a formal IT strategic plan or project management process that effectively
aligns IT resource spending with MCSO’s core mission. A strategic plan helps ensure that
critical IT projects are completed efficiently and economically. MCSO should consider
developing an IT strategic plan and project management framework.
Criteria
COBIT recommends establishing an IT strategic plan, an IT steering committee, and a program
and project management framework for IT projects.
Condition
IT Strategic Planning
MCSO does not have a formalized IT strategic plan. Instead, MCSO IT relies on a Systems
Aging Report to classify applications by their estimated useful life and to prioritize future IT
needs. MCSO IT prepares this report bi-annually and reviews it with other MCSO bureaus for
reasonableness. Recently, MCSO issued a Request for Proposal to upgrade integrated Computer
Aided Dispatch, Records Management, Civil Process, and Mobile Systems resulting, in part from
its review of the Systems Aging Report.
IT Project Management
MCSO IT does not use a formalized project management process to oversee large or critical
systems and does not use a steering committee to oversee key project decisions. Instead,
developmental projects are tracked in a spreadsheet and managed informally. The MCSO IT
Deputy Director receives weekly project status reports from various MCSO bureaus and uses this
information to update other MCSO management team members on a monthly basis. A formal
project management methodology could enhance future JMS upgrades.
Effect
MCSO may not be effectively investing financial resources in IT and may be investing in
unsuitable or underperforming IT systems. Also, MCSO IT projects may not: 1) meet desired
functionality requirements, 2) meet completion deadlines, 3) meet established budgets, and 4)
align with MCSO’s strategic direction.
Cause
MCSO does not have a formalized IT governance process that includes the implementation of an
IT strategic plan and project management methodology. MCSO IT’s resource allocation has
been devoted to operating activities (technical, financial, and scheduling).
Maricopa County Internal Audit 13 Jail Management System–May 2012