BASIC POLICIES - 4900.2

Each Agency/state entity must establish an ongoing strategic planning process for IT and submit its strategic plan to the California Department of Technology for approval. The strategic planning process established by an Agency/state entity should be consistent with its needs, resources, uses of IT, and management style. However, the strategic planning process should:

1. Be consistent with the current statewide strategic direction for IT, with relevant statewide policies contained in the State Administrative Manual, Statewide Information Management Manual and current management memos, and with Agency/state entity policies for the management of information and IT;
2. Include active participation of Agency/state entity executive and program management;
3. Align Agency/state entity strategies for IT with Agency/state entity business strategies;
4. Identify emerging threats and opportunities in the Agency/state entity’s environment that have a potential impact on the Agency/state entity’s information management and its use of IT;
5. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Agency/state entity in terms of its IT infrastructure and information management capabilities;
6. Assess the potential of new information technologies to enable new business strategies and further the accomplishment of established strategies;
7. Provide for the creation and maintenance of an Agency/state entity IT infrastructure that will support Agency/state entity information requirements and business strategies; and
8. Establish goals and priorities for the acquisition of new information management capabilities.

Each Agency/state entity may determine the format and content of the documentation of its strategic plan for IT. The documentation must satisfy Agency/state entity management requirements and be sufficiently detailed to provide the Department of Technology with a clear understanding of the Agency/state entity’s information management strategy.  Agency Information Management Strategy (AIMS) documentation guidelines can be found in SIMM Section 110.

It is the responsibility of the Agency/state entity to ensure that the information available to the Department of Technology represents its current strategy. The Department of Technology will base its decisions regarding the approval of an Agency/state entity’s IT activities and support for its budget augmentations in part upon its understanding of the Agency's Information Management Strategy (AIMS) and the relationship between the AIMS and the Agency/state entity’s overall business strategy. In general, activities and proposals that are not supported by an AIMS that meets the basic requirements of this section or that are inconsistent with an Agency/state entity’s established strategy will not be approved or supported by the Department of Technology. Any Agency/state entity that does not have an approved AIMS will have all IT project delegation rescinded, including delegation for expenditures under the Desktop and Mobile Computing Policy (SAM Section 4989.)

The Agency/state entity must submit documentation of its information management strategy to the Department of Technology at the time it completes its initial strategic planning effort and, thereafter, whenever there is a significant change in strategy. SAM Section 4900.3 provides guidelines for the AIMS documentation that must be submitted to the Department of Technology. Additionally, the Agency/state entity must annually certify that the AIMS approved by the Department of Technology represent its current strategy. See SAM Section 4900.5 and SIMM Section 60.

Note that approval of an Agency/state entity’s AIMS does not imply approval of specific projects, nor does it guarantee funding for the plan or specific projects an Agency/state entity may initiate under the plan. Project funding must be addressed through the budget process, where final determination will be based on statewide as well as Agency/state entity priorities.