Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Technology Services (DTS) is to be responsive, collaborative, and innovative in providing technology solutions and services to facilitate the delivery of a wide range of services in all branches of government. The department strives to provide its solutions and consultative services in a cost-effective, timely, and high-quality fashion to reduce service times, avoid inflated costs, reduce information security risk, and improve the quality of County services through automation-assisted process improvement. The department facilitates business and reengineering processes to improve legacy workflow and streamline services to our customers.

- DTS is responsive by providing measurable solutions and services to internal and external partners, customers, and constituents, when and where they are needed; securely enabling County employees to provide quality services and information to internal entities, residents, and businesses; and enhancing project management to improve contract management and overall performance.

- DTS is collaborative as it provides expert consultative service to partners including internal customers, external agencies, and the public and private sectors to increase the productivity of County government, businesses, and residents; and to assist with technology-enabled economic, workforce development, and community digital equity initiatives.

- DTS is innovative as it identifies and implements technology solutions to address business needs that enhance value and enable continuous measurable improvement.

Budget Overview

The total recommended FY22 Operating Budget for the Department of Technology Services is $44,642,174, an increase of $1,313,396 or 3.03 percent from the FY21 Approved Budget of $43,328,778. Personnel Costs comprise 52.06 percent of the budget for 168 full-time position(s) and two part-time position(s), and a total of 166.25 FTEs. Total FTEs may include seasonal or temporary positions and may also reflect workforce charged to or from other departments or funds. Operating Expenses account for the remaining 47.94 percent of the FY22 budget.

Additional support for DTS programs are provided and detailed in the Cable Television Communications Fund.

In addition, this department's Capital Improvements Program (CIP) requires Current Revenue funding.

County Priority Outcomes

While this program area supports all eight of the County Result Areas, the following are emphasized:

• Thriving Youth and Families
• An Affordable, Welcoming County for a Lifetime
• Effective, Sustainable Government

Program Performance Measures

Performance measures for this department are included below (where applicable), with multi-program measures displayed at the front of this section and program-specific measures shown with the relevant program. The FY21 estimates reflect funding based on the FY21 approved budget. The FY22 and FY23 figures are performance targets based on the FY22 recommended budget and funding for comparable service levels in FY23.

Initiatives

• The Device Client Management (DCM) program intends to complete the replacement of up to 3,000 devices, primarily laptops, for eligible employees. Increase funding to allow the County to establish a 5-year PC replacement policy in contrast to the current 6.5-year policy.

• Create a DTS training strategic plan and associated role-based learning paths, create training content, adopt vendor-based content, and manage the registration process to increase skills, knowledge, and adoption towards strategic priorities departmentally and organizationally. The plan encompasses Microsoft, Oracle, DTS Internal and other IT training portfolios, including training required during IT projects or implementations.
• Implement FiberNet3, a third-generation network design which impacts the speed in which digital information travels. FiberNet3 builds on the long-term success of County-owned fiber optic communications infrastructure to provide critical infrastructure for next generation communications and access to cloud services. Planned upgrades address emerging and long-term needs including: essential equipment and technology refreshes, an increased capacity to support growing bandwidth demands, and design enhancements to expand the breadth of service offerings. FiberNet3 upgrade objectives include: increased capacity access; flexible transport services over Montgomery County Public Libraries and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDN) technology; Tier IV data center connection; more resilient internet services; direct connections to cloud-based service; enhanced quality of service for critical unified communications (VOIP, Video); support for new customer technologies and emergency demand; and growth opportunities for the County.

• Provide Change Management support on enterprise IT projects or implementations that are new or currently in progress.

• Lead business process re-engineering efforts in departmental and enterprise-wide projects and initiatives to increase efficiencies and better support our residents.

• Develop internal training to prevent data leakage, or the transmission of private or sensitive data with unauthorized parties. This training will prepare users to utilize controls and permissions in the MCG data sharing platforms (OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams) to specify user access and prevent unauthorized data access.

Innovations and Productivity Improvements

• Developed several constituent-facing web applications aimed at providing resources to residents and small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Established a strategy to keep the network up during high volume response by applicants.

  
  

• Established the necessary infrastructure and support to swiftly migrate the organization to a telework environment in support of business continuity during the COVID-19 emergency efforts. Established necessary security and 24/7 help desk support during the critical transition with little to no interruptions in revenue collection or business operations.

• Partnered with the Department of Permitting (DPS) to begin a business re-engineering strategy to upgrade their permitting system to include a cloud-based solution with enhanced functionality for permit processing and customer service.

• Renegotiated and consolidated the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA). The Microsoft EA provides a comprehensive agreement combining software and services to support Montgomery County's Telework strategic initiatives including improved security, licensing, and required infrastructure for recovery efforts.

  
  

• To answer the technology needs of the County vaccine distribution program, DTS delivered a pre-registration system to allow County residents and workers to input critical information to determine their tier for vaccination. The system provided a virtual phone agent to automatically address inquiries in both English and Spanish, resolving approximately sixty percent of incoming calls before reaching a human; email and text notifications to keep pre-registrants informed of their vaccination status; and a user-friendly solution to allow public health resources to efficiently manage the large amount of data to process vaccinations.

  
  

• Managed the development and implementation of web-based, mobile-friendly, COVID-19 testing, and notification solution, which provides an end-to-end service allowing a County resident, worker or employee to register, test and be notified of test results within a 24-48 hour window. Over 10,000 tests have been conducted via this Microsoft solution.

Program Descriptions

  OBP ultraMontgomery

The DTS Office of Broadband Programs' ultraMontgomery program is a broadband economic development program designed to support cost-effective, competitive access to robust, reliable, and secure broadband services, and ultra-highspeed networks for businesses throughout Montgomery County. ultraMontgomery leverages business engagement and infrastructure partnerships to expand access to competitive broadband services in...

  OBP Infrastructure Modernization

Infrastructure Modernization: The Enterprise Systems and Operations Division (ESOD) designs, implements, and maintains a secure and reliable data center, server and cloud infrastructures for over 600 County business systems and approximately 12,000 County users including ongoing patching and remediation of the servers to maintain and improve functionality and security. ESOD...

  OBP Fibernet (GF)

FiberNet is the County's critical infrastructure communications network that enables all email, video, Internet access, and Cloud services, and supports County voice telephony, access to County business systems, County e-payments and forms, transport of public safety communications, and broadband and networking for MCPS, Montgomery College, Housing Opportunities Commission, M-NCPPC, and...

  Office of the Chief Information Officer

The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) prioritizes the enterprise agenda for technology strategy. The OCIO focuses on strategic business outcomes which include alignment with the business goals of the organization, IT Strategy and Planning, the IT project portfolio IT Project Management Office (PMO), IT performance measurement, IT organizational...

  Office of Strategy and Planning

The Office of the Chief Operating Officer (COO) provides operational leadership and strategies for the development and delivery of County government's technology solutions planning through the Project Management Office (PMO). The COO oversees the day-to-day operations of the Department's operating divisions in support of all enterprise and departmental systems and...

  Enterprise Systems and Operations

The Enterprise Systems and Operations Division (ESOD) designs, implements, and maintains a secure and reliable data center and server and cloud infrastructures for County business systems, County staff, contractors, suppliers, and volunteers. The Division manages infrastructure for enterprise-wide business systems including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), MC311, and MCTime. ESOD operates...

  OBP Telecommunications Solutions

The Office of Broadband Programs (OBP) is responsible for Countywide broadband governance, planning, implementation, and operations; encouraging broadband related economic development; and enabling digital equity initiatives. This Office leads the County Executive's ultraMontgomery initiative; manages the County's cable television and telecommunications franchise agreements and the Cable Revenue Fund; ensures that...

  Digital Transformation

The Office of Digital Transformation provides a strategic digital vision for the County to meet the its priority objectives, enhance the value of services provided to stakeholders, and lower the overall cost of service delivery. The Office of Digital Transformation is responsible for ensuring that the enterprise's business strategy is...

  Strategic Partnerships

The Office of Strategic Partnerships supports innovation by bridging the gap between County departmental business partners and technology solution providers to accomplish quick and agile solutions that address longstanding technological or work processes facing departments. The Chief Technology Officer oversees this office and manages business process reengineering and maintains a...

  Project Management

  OBP FiberNet

The DTS Office of Broadband Programs (OBP) is responsible for countywide broadband governance, planning, and execution, and management of the Cable Television Communications Plan (a special revenue fund). OBP operates four programs: ultraMontgomery, FiberNet, Community Technology, Community Engagement. The FiberNet is funded by both DTS and the Cable Television Communications...