Company: State of Missouri, Jefferson City, MO
Company Division/Group: Information Technology Division
Company Description: The Information Technology Services Division is the agency responsible for providing technology services and solutions to the 60,000 public servants serving the great state of Missouri.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best MIS & IT Executive

Nomination Title: William Bott, Deputy Chief Information Officer

1. Tell the story about what this nominee achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Bill Bott is the innovative force behind a new and radically different
approach to consolidating information technology (IT) organizations. As
Missouri’s Deputy CIO for Operations, Bill’s efforts have revolutionized IT in
Missouri.

As little as five years ago ninety percent of the issues facing IT
organizations were technical in nature. In a recent forum hosted by Harvard
professor, Jerry Mechling, it was noted that the pendulum has swung and
today’s technology advancements have altered the landscape to the extent that
as much as ninety eight percent of the major issues facing IT are managerial
in nature including project management, customer relations, and visionary
leadership.

Governor Matt Blunt and CIO Dan Ross set a goal of consolidating thousands of
IT employees and over two hundred and fifty million dollars into a single
division and hired Bill in late 2005 to architect Missouri’s IT
Consolidation. In the first five months of 2006 he facilitated a planning
session of state leadership to set high level outcomes for the new
organization. 

With nearly every state considering some form of consolidation, the biggest
challenge was finding a model that was producing results. Combining the
efforts of states like Michigan and Texas with those of international
financial institutions and commercial enterprises, Bill developed a unique
structure that would support the identified goals.

With the executive branch departments losing supervisory control of the IT
staff Bill was then challenged with developing a customer relations model that
would smooth the transition and give cabinet members a degree of confidence in
service delivery. The final product is a measurement based Service Level
Agreement. 

With so many varied organizations to support, each SLA had to be developed
from the ground up. During the spring of 2006, Bill worked with business
units to identify their key IT products and services, develop measures for
those, and set performance targets. He now meets quarterly with each cabinet
member to review the metrics.

By June of 2006 the foundation for consolidation had been set. Armed with a
strategic plan, new organizational structure, and the SLA’s, Bill worked with
the CIO to develop project teams based on his nationally recognized process
improvement methodology. Chartered teams were formed in each of the major
strategic planning areas.

The investment of hard work has already paid off. Team improvements have
saved tax payers over six million dollars, consolidation was able to absorb a
five million dollar budget cut without laying off any staff, and service
delivery shows measured improvement in every department.

As the most non-technical person in the organization Bill is one of the most
valued. Respected by his peers and dedicated to the division’s success, he
uses his talents of facilitation, process engineering, and organizational
development to enhance the work of the technical staff.

Missouri now has the leading model of consolidation in the country. Running
at staffing and budget efficiencies half of the Gartner averages for public
and private sectors, both the state and federal government are looking to
repeat what Missouri has accomplished.

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:

An Air Force brat who lived in thirteen states growing up, Bill’s constant
introduction to new environments and new people instilled an invaluable
perspective on relationships and the opportunities that come with change.

Bill attended Slippery Rock University where he graduated from the College of
Business, Information, and Social Sciences. After school he worked for the
Department of Defense developing ways to incorporate Quality Management in
government. 

In 1999 Bill relocated to Missouri to work for the Missouri Results Initiative
as a process improvement specialists tasked with improving state systems and
now serves as the Deputy CIO.