States struggling to manage their large technology projects often face similar issues in assessing the risk, optimal contract length or quality assurance of potential new services. A handbook released this week by 18F, a civic innovation office within the General Services Administration, is dedicated to helping state budget and technology officials realize they’re not alone — and explain the best practices for overseeing state technology projects.
The 40-page handbook, titled “De-risking custom technology projects,” is a guide for the non-technical decision-makers in state government that often oversee technology procurement, like agency executives, budget specialists and lawmakers. The purpose is to increase the success rate of large government IT projects, which sits at just 13 percent, according to the IT research firm Standish Group.
