Virginia Information Technologies Agency
Encyclopedia
The Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) is an executive department which provides computer services to other Virginia departments and agencies. It is headed by Virginia's Chief Information Officer (CIO).
VITA is the designated provider of information technology (IT) services for government agencies and public bodies including local government entities and higher education.
VITA provides computing and telecommunication services, which it groups as ‘custom infrastructure services’ and ‘bundled infrastructure services’. The ‘custom’ services are inclusive of the individual computing services required to process customer applications. The ‘bundled’ services are inclusive of hardware, software, maintenance and support. The rates that VITA charges to its clients are posted on its website and are approved by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. In most cases, VITA charges the same rate to executive branch agencies and to other government entities.
VITA's Enterprise Applications Division oversees efforts to modernize the planning, development, implementation, improvement and retirement of Commonwealth applications, including the coordination and development of enterprise-wide or multi-agency applications. The division exists under Enterprise Solutions and Governance Directorate.
In the 2010 session of the General Assembly, Governor Bob McDonnell
proposed legislation (SB 236), which was enacted on March 11, 2010, to have the Virginia Information Technologies Agency report to the Executive Branch instead of an independent board. The law abolished the Information Technology Investment Board (ITIB) and replaced it with a new Information Technology Advisory Council (ITAC), which is composed of 10 agency representatives from each Cabinet Secretary, the Secretary of Technology, the CIO, and no more than two citizens, all to be appointed by the Governor. The Secretary of Technology serves as chair and the CIO as vice chair. Under the new arrangement, the Governor appoints the CIO, who reports to the Virginia Secretary of Technology.
.VITA extended the contract by three years and VITA's payments were increased by 12 million dollars annually, bringing its yearly fee to 242 million dollars. Subsequently, McDonnell was criticized when the Northrop computer systems experienced a week-long computer outage from August 25 through September 2, 2010. As a result, as many as 45,000 citizens could not renew their drivers licenses prior to their expiration. Computer systems for 26 of the state's 89 agencies were affected. An estimated 4,240 driver's license and ID card applicants have been asked to return to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get their photos taken again after an Aug. 25 computer outage left their original photos unrecoverable. The system also experienced an unrelated outage on August 9. Subsequently, Northrop Grumman agreed to pay $250,000 to fund a state investigation of the computer outage.
At a September 20, 2010 hearing before the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, CIO Nixon stated that Northrop Grumman retained an expert consultant in an effort to restore a much larger pool of corrupted DMV photos taken during the four days leading up to the outage. He said that he is "cautiously optimistic" that customers who visited the DMV during Aug. 21-24 ultimately will not need to have their pictures retaken.
Agilysys, Inc. was selected to conduct the audit on October 22, 2010. On February 15, 2011, the Governor's Office released the audit report. Agilysys concluded the cause of the outage to be the failure of a key data storage system (EMC DMX-3) owned and operated by Northrop Grumman and subsequent human error during its repair. On May 19, 2011, the Governor's Office announced Northrop Grumman would provide $4.748 million in financial compensation and operational improvements for losses from the computer outage as well as implement a corrective action plan that addresses the findings and recommendations in the Agilysys audit report.
VITA is the designated provider of information technology (IT) services for government agencies and public bodies including local government entities and higher education.
VITA provides computing and telecommunication services, which it groups as ‘custom infrastructure services’ and ‘bundled infrastructure services’. The ‘custom’ services are inclusive of the individual computing services required to process customer applications. The ‘bundled’ services are inclusive of hardware, software, maintenance and support. The rates that VITA charges to its clients are posted on its website and are approved by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. In most cases, VITA charges the same rate to executive branch agencies and to other government entities.
VITA's Enterprise Applications Division oversees efforts to modernize the planning, development, implementation, improvement and retirement of Commonwealth applications, including the coordination and development of enterprise-wide or multi-agency applications. The division exists under Enterprise Solutions and Governance Directorate.
In the 2010 session of the General Assembly, Governor Bob McDonnell
Bob McDonnell
Robert Francis "Bob" McDonnell is an American politician who has been the 71st Governor of Virginia since January 2010. A former lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, McDonnell served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1993 to 2006 and served as Attorney General of Virginia from 2006...
proposed legislation (SB 236), which was enacted on March 11, 2010, to have the Virginia Information Technologies Agency report to the Executive Branch instead of an independent board. The law abolished the Information Technology Investment Board (ITIB) and replaced it with a new Information Technology Advisory Council (ITAC), which is composed of 10 agency representatives from each Cabinet Secretary, the Secretary of Technology, the CIO, and no more than two citizens, all to be appointed by the Governor. The Secretary of Technology serves as chair and the CIO as vice chair. Under the new arrangement, the Governor appoints the CIO, who reports to the Virginia Secretary of Technology.
2010 computer outage
In April 2010, McDonnell renegotiated and extended a contract for outsourcing the state's computer operations to Northrop GrummanNorthrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
.VITA extended the contract by three years and VITA's payments were increased by 12 million dollars annually, bringing its yearly fee to 242 million dollars. Subsequently, McDonnell was criticized when the Northrop computer systems experienced a week-long computer outage from August 25 through September 2, 2010. As a result, as many as 45,000 citizens could not renew their drivers licenses prior to their expiration. Computer systems for 26 of the state's 89 agencies were affected. An estimated 4,240 driver's license and ID card applicants have been asked to return to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get their photos taken again after an Aug. 25 computer outage left their original photos unrecoverable. The system also experienced an unrelated outage on August 9. Subsequently, Northrop Grumman agreed to pay $250,000 to fund a state investigation of the computer outage.
At a September 20, 2010 hearing before the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, CIO Nixon stated that Northrop Grumman retained an expert consultant in an effort to restore a much larger pool of corrupted DMV photos taken during the four days leading up to the outage. He said that he is "cautiously optimistic" that customers who visited the DMV during Aug. 21-24 ultimately will not need to have their pictures retaken.
Agilysys, Inc. was selected to conduct the audit on October 22, 2010. On February 15, 2011, the Governor's Office released the audit report. Agilysys concluded the cause of the outage to be the failure of a key data storage system (EMC DMX-3) owned and operated by Northrop Grumman and subsequent human error during its repair. On May 19, 2011, the Governor's Office announced Northrop Grumman would provide $4.748 million in financial compensation and operational improvements for losses from the computer outage as well as implement a corrective action plan that addresses the findings and recommendations in the Agilysys audit report.