DIVISION OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The Division of Information Systems (DIS) plans, develops, manages and operates the information technology (IT) resources for the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) and Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) known collectively as the “Enterprise”.    

The Enterprise relies heavily on information and IT resources for the efficient and effective management of its operations. Many of the Enterprise IT resources are essential to its mission and functions, and their loss would have an unacceptable impact. These IT resources are defined by policy to be “information processing hardware/software, communication resources, strategic applications, personnel, contracts with outside information technology consultants, facility resources, information technology maintenance, information technology training and other related resources.”

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR, DIS

The Division of Information Systems Office of the Director enables the management and administration of the Enterprise IT program.  The program responsibilities for the Office of the Director, DIS, include:

• Establish DIS mission and goals
• Establish strategic plans, short-term and long-range initiatives
• Establish and direct implementation of Enterprise IT resource policy
• Manage and administer
  • IT resource budget and cost accounting functions
  • IT project planning and management
  • IT procurement and contract management
• Overall coordination of Enterprise IT activities

BUREAU OF PROGRAMMING DESIGN

The Bureau of Programming Design is comprised of computer programmers and analysts whose sole responsibility is the development and maintenance of the FLAIR accounting system.  This Bureau is responsible for the technical design, programming and implementation of system modifications and development.

 The program responsibilities for the Bureau of Programming Design include: 

• Central Accounting Section:  maintains the Central Accounting Component of FLAIR.  The primary user of the Central Accounting component is the Division of Accounting & Auditing who use the system to audit vouchers, generate and reconcile warrants and electronic funds transfer (EFT) transmissions, account for state funds, track contract payments, produce annual reports, and monitor vendor payments.
• Payroll Section:  maintains State Payroll component including W4 information, payroll calculation, employee record keeping, and federal and state reporting.  The payroll system produces normal biweekly, monthly, and supplemental payments made to employees, payments for Awards, Criminal Justice Incentive Payrolls, State Active Duty Payrolls, and Court-Ordered Support Payments and On-Demand.
• Departmental Accounting Section:  maintains the Departmental Accounting component of FLAIR, as well as providing agency users with programming assistance to facilitate their utilization of the system.  The primary functionality of the system is to provide the state agencies with a general ledger accounting systems.
• Information Warehouse Section:  maintains the FLAIR Information Warehouse.  This subsystem contains detail operational data from the Central Accounting, Departmental Accounting and Payroll Component, as well as external systems such as the State Treasurer’s Office and the Executive Office of the Governor to assist agencies in reporting needs.  This section provides the primary support for the FLAIR web site.

BUREAU OF ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS DESIGN

The Bureau of Accounting Systems Design is comprised of accountants who are responsible for analysis, functional design, implementation, and training of the component divisions that comprise FLAIR.  The Bureau works with end-users at the State Agencies and the Division of Accounting and Auditing to interpret requirements for functional system modification requests.  The program responsibilities of the Bureau of Accounting Systems Design include: 

• Departmental Accounting Section:  analyzes and reviews modifications and determines functional requirements of the Departmental Accounting component of FLAIR, writes functional specifications and performs quality assurance testing of all system modifications, ensures financial integrity, and works with the application programmers to implement these changes.  Departmental FLAIR provides the state agencies with a general ledger accounting system.
• Central Accounting Section:  analyzes and reviews modifications and determines functional requirements of the Central Accounting component of FLAIR, writes functional specifications and performs quality assurance testing of all system modifications, works with the application programmers to implement requested changes.  This is the portion of FLAIR that houses the Chief Financial Officer’s records.  The main user of the Central Accounting component is the Division of Accounting and Auditing who uses the system to audit vouchers, generate and reconcile warrants and electronic funds transfer (EFT) transmissions, account for state funds, track contract payments, produce annual reports, and monitor vendor payments.
• Payroll Section: analyzes and reviews modifications and determines functional requirements of the State Payroll component, writes functional specifications and performs quality assurance testing of all system modifications, works with the application programmers to implement requested changes.  The Payroll Section is responsible for W4 information, payroll calculation, federal and state reporting.  The payroll cycles include: biweekly, monthly, supplemental payments to employees, payments for awards, Criminal Justice Incentive Payrolls, State Active Duty Payrolls, Court-Ordered Support Payments, and On-Demand payments.
• Information Warehouse Section: analyzes and reviews modifications and determines functional requirements of the FLAIR Information Warehouse, writes functional specifications, performs quality assurance testing of all system modifications, works with the application programmers to implement requested changes, and supports the maintenance of the FLAIR web site.  The Warehouse contains detail operational data from Departmental Accounting, Central Accounting, Payroll, State Treasurer’s Office and Executive Office of the Governor.  The Warehouse is used to assist agencies with their reporting needs.
• FLAIR Education Section:  provides training to all state agencies on the best practices for use of the system, creates and maintains all of the end-user manuals and training materials, and consults with agencies that have special needs or questions about the system.

BUREAU OF MAINFRAME INFRASTRUCTURE

The Bureau of Mainframe Infrastructure provides, supports, and manages the mainframe services for the Enterprise which includes operations, systems programming, and production input/output for batch processes in both the mainframe and client-server environments.  The program responsibilities for the Bureau of Mainframe Infrastructure Support include:

• Provide the resources needed to support the Enterprise mainframe applications and the Executive Office of the Governor’s Legislative Appropriation System/Planning and Budgeting System
• Allow for the sharing of application systems, data and other information technology resources across the State
• Provide mainframe-printing services
• Provide mainframe systems programming support
   

BUREAU OF DISTRIBUTED INFRASTRUCTURE

The Bureau of Distributed Infrastructure provides, administers and supports data communications and telecommunications over local and wide-area networks, Enterprise systems consisting of messaging, active directory, Citrix, storage area networks, backup processes, virus protection, and server hardware support, Enterprise web application systems and servers, all aspects of Web systems (intranet, internet, and extranet) including design, release, and maintenance, Enterprise imaging and electronic document management systems, and planning, installation, control, and maintenance of all Enterprise personal computers.  The program responsibilities for the Bureau of Distributed Infrastructure Support include:

• Maintain the local and wide area networks

• Maintain the network hardware, software, network applications, and network print services
• Provide file/print, document imaging/archival, database, web access, remote access, and LAN/WAN management services
• Administer the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telecommunications

• Plan, design, sustain, and performance-tune storage area network environments across the organization

• Coordinate the planning, maintenance, and accessibility of Enterprise owned and generated content and content-related services

• Construct and implement the technical design for the Enterprise’s presence on the Internet

• Supervise and maintain the installation, configuration, and support of the Enterprise applications

• Administer the Enterprise’s electronic document management systems (EDMS)

• Provide a single point of contact for end-users to receive support and maintenance within the Enterprise’s desktop computing environment

• Manage the installation, diagnosis, repair, maintenance, and upgrade of all PC hardware equipment and software to ensure optimal workstation performance

BUREAU OF FINANCIAL APPLICATIONS

The Bureau of Financial Applications is responsible for the development, maintenance, and support of applications and systems used for Treasury, Financial Regulation, Accounting and Auditing, Front Office, Funeral and Cemetery, Risk Management, Insurance Fraud, and Administrative functions of the Enterprise.  The Bureau provides leadership and guidance through the Enterprise Architecture group for .NET and is responsible for support of the .NET Enterprise Framework.  The program responsibilities of the Bureau of Financial Applications include:

• New system/application Development

• Maintenance and support of existing systems/applications

• Guidance and support of Business Area IT contracts

• Enterprise Architecture group

• Maintain/Enhance .Net Enterprise Framework

• .Net Standards and Guidelines

• .Net quick starts and sample code

BUREAU OF INSURANCE APPLICATIONS

The Bureau of Insurance Applications is responsible for the design, development, enhancement, maintenance and support of applications and systems used for regulatory, legal, risk management and administrative functions of the Enterprise.  The program responsibilities of the Bureau of Insurance Applications include:

• Support information technology systems associated with the following business functions: insurance company regulation, regulation of insurance agents and agencies, agent and agency investigations, insurance consumer services, insurance fraud, legal services, administration, front office, workers compensation, risk management and fire marshal.  The work done in this Bureau may involve software that is purchased or developed in-house; development, implementation and installation of mainframe, client/server and web-based systems; and purchase and management of consulting services for systems development or maintenance. 
• Document and analyze business requirements; develop technical systems specifications for new systems and modifications/enhancements to existing systems; construct, enhance and maintain systems and manage system development projects which involve contractor’s employees.