March 28, 2011

Senator Mike Parry, Chair

State Government Innovation & Veterans Committee
75 Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. Blvd.
Capitol Building, Room 309
St. Paul, MN 55155

Dear Senator Parry,

I am writing to express my concerns over some of the proposals found in the Senate State
Government Omnibus Finance Bill. I want to share with you some of the implications this
budget proposal will have on the Office of Enterprise Technology. Due to previous cuts to the
agency’s budget, doing more with less has become the norm in OET. The agency is already
very lean; further reductions will affect our core mission to provide direction for the state’s IT
and keep the state’s data and infrastructure safe from harm.

The Office of the CIO is statutorily obligated to ensure the delivery of efficient and effective
technology that protects state investment and enables reform. We do this through the setting
of standards and oversight of state IT investments and projects. Cutting the Office of the CIO
will hinder OET’s ability to perform these high priority functions. This impacts not only the
agency, but the approximately $361 million all agencies spend on technology. It will increase
state-wide risks, result in higher costs and lost opportunities for savings, and eliminate
enterprise planning and investment management. The agency has a proven record of reform.
However, the cuts proposed would hinder our ability to engineer reform and:
Reduce the ability for enterprise IT process improvements and efficiencies
Significantly jeopardize the state-wide planning and strategic direction (Enterprise
Architecture) program
Reduce OET’s ability to provide oversight of state investments

The majority of OET’s general funding goes to the Enterprise Information Security Office, a
statutorily mandated program that protects state IT systems against increasingly sophisticated
and dangerous threats by setting policies, monitoring systems, conducting forensic
investigations, and sharing security tools. These threats, from both domestic and international
attackers, continue to pose a significant risk to the state’s data and infrastructure. Cuts to the
program will impede the office’s efforts to provide centralized security services to state
agencies and other government entities, increasing risk of security incidents that may impact
the integrity, confidentiality and availability of state services.
The Office of Enterprise Technology 2

03/28/11

The cuts proposed would eliminate 23 percent of the state’s IT security staff. This will:
Hinder security baselines and compliance that is statutorily mandated
Eliminate assistance to agencies for business continuity, disaster recovery assistance,
operations, planning, and tracking
Eliminate the ability of OET to provide leadership on training to improve the
competency of security professionals across state government

During economic downturns, citizens’ need for government services is increased and the
State looks to “back office” reform initiatives to increase efficiencies. This places a higher
dependence on technology and makes OET’s services in the areas of planning, oversight,
security and IT services all the more critical. Fewer technology services and less strategic
planning means fewer reforms, resulting in fewer efficiencies and less ability for the state as a
whole to serve customer (citizens). Further, as the state moves to more streamlined and online
data as a form of efficiency, IT security becomes increasingly crucial. Decreasing security
while increasing the state’s dependence on technology is a risky business decision.

We look forward to continuing to work with you throughout the remainder of session. Please
contact me if I can provide any information or be of any assistance to you.

Sincerely,

Commissioner Carolyn Parnell

State Chief Information Officer

cc: Gov. Mark Dayton, State of Minnesota

Senator Amy Koch, Senate Majority Leader
Senator Tom Bakk, Senate Minority Leader
Senator Charles Wiger, Minority Lead, Senate State Government Innovation Committee
Senator Claire Robling, Chair, Senate Finance Committee
Senator Richard Cohen, Minority Lead, Senate Finance Committee