Office of the Ohio Attorney General

Initial Job Objective:  Executive leadership for the Ohio Attorney General’s IT section.

Challenge:  Despite pockets of technical expertise within the IT section, leadership historically contracted-out projects to outside software development vendors rather than invest internally.  Meanwhile, lacking training and tools, the IT section was hamstrung in providing service excellence.  Legal staff demands for eDiscovery and litigation support were urgent, growing, and unaddressed.

How I met the challenge:  Within the first year, fifteen highly experienced technology professionals with advanced degrees and management skills were recruited from the private sector.  With the swift infusion of talent and increased training for the existing staff, knowledge sharing permeated the organization and it became more self-reliant.  This enabled us perform software development responsibilities otherwise delegated to higher cost vendors which saved over $2 million annually in software development and maintenance costs.

Meanwhile, with investment directed inwardly, customer service expanded, service quality increased, collections of funds owed the state rose to historic highs, and the AG’s technology infrastructure became more robust and secure.  We established a state of the art contact center serving all constituents.  Lower costs and higher revenue enabled us to establish a modern contact center for the agency and an electronic discovery and litigation support practice within the section.  Survey results indicated that customers were impressed with the improvements.

 

Having been with the AG’s Office for over 12 years, I can say with complete confidence the service provided by the current IT staff is superior to the services of the IT staff of prior administrations.  IT Service quality survey, Office of the Ohio Attorney General

Responsiveness and attitude have improved dramatically over the last year or so.IT Service quality survey, Office of the Ohio Attorney General.

The best IT department I’ve seen in my various jobs in the public and private sectors.IT Service quality survey, Office of the Ohio Attorney General.

 

Why I Left:  My term in office ended when the Attorney General’s term in office ended early and unexpectedly.