Utah Receives “A” Grade in Digital States Survey
The Center for Digital Government announced the state of Utah again topped the Digital States Survey. Conducted every two years, the survey evaluates states’ use of technology to improve service delivery, increase capacity, streamline operations and reach policy goals, and assigns each state a grade based on quantifiable results.
This year, Utah exited the state’s main data center. Utah decommissioned, shifted to the cloud or physically moved more than 2,000 servers and more than 3,300 pieces of equipment. It also modernized, upgrading 10GB Internet to 100GBs and re-platforming systems. Transitioning more services to the cloud has also improved performance and positioned the state to use new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence. An emphasis has also been placed on data privacy, with the hiring of a new Data Privacy Officer and additional training and considerations around protecting data privacy for the citizens of Utah.
Utah is one of six states that achieved an “A” grade. The grade of “A” reflects a state whose
technology leaders are using very strong innovation, high performing solutions, and have applied excellent practices in all aspects of operations, governance and administration.
In addition, Utah received first place for your exemplary work in Continuous Innovation which recognizes that the state has provided exploration, testing and appropriate application of emerging technologies to improve government services.
See the full report here: https://www.govtech.com/cdg/digital-states/digital-states-survey-2022-results-announced
Utah Ranks Among Top States in Delivering Digital Government Services
The state of Utah has been a leader in delivering online government services and information for many years. That position was reinforced by the most recent rankings for state digital government services.
The Center for Digital Government ranked Utah second overall in the 2022 State Government Experience Awards. The Awards recognize progress and innovation in the delivery of online services in government at the state and local level. Utah has finished in the top three of the Center’s rankings every year the state has been eligible since 2006, and even claimed the top ranking in 2007, 2009, 2017, and 2018.
“Utahns have come to expect excellence from Utah.gov and the state’s online services,” said Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox. “We are pleased to be recognized for these efforts and we will continue to improve the way we use technology to make it easier to interact with state government.”
More than 1,500 online services are available to Utahns through Utah.gov, the state’s official website. These services make interacting with state agencies and completing business with the government simpler, thus saving time, money, and other resources. For example, in 2021, more than two million trips to the DMV were avoided through the online vehicle renewal services Renewal Express and On the Spot.
“We appreciate this recognition by the Center for Digital Government,” said Alan Fuller, Utah Chief Information Officer. “We know that successful digital services are essential to delivering on the Governor’s vision for One Utah and we are committed to improving and expanding services for citizens and businesses in the state.”
The Government Experience Awards recognize the achievements and best practices of states, cities, and counties that excel at creating useful online government services and applications. The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and sets the standard for measuring best practices in state and local government. Additional information can be found at https://www.govtech.com/cdg/government-experience/government-experience-awards-2022-winners-announced.
FY23 DTS Rate Updates
Last year, the Rate Committee, Governor’s Office, and the Legislature approved some changes to the FY2023 DTS Rates. Agencies will see these changes starting with the July and August bill, which will be issued in September. Below is more information on the rate changes in FY2023.
New Rates:
- Cloud Infrastructure: Included in the amount of each Application Developer tier rate is a $1.00/hour Cloud Infrastructure rate. This rate is to help pay for DTS support of the cloud environment. This is a replacement of the cost + 25% percentage increase on the cloud bill. The $1.00/hour charge is a simplification of the DTS rate structure and was well-supported by customers. You will see this charge when you view the details of your Application Developer charges.
Notable Rate Increases/Decreases:
- Cloud Hosting and Storage Services: In FY2021 and FY2022 the Division of Technology Services (DTS) charged a public cloud rate of cost + 25%. The additional 25% was for support and other charges related to administering the cloud. Starting in FY2023, DTS will be billing customers of public cloud at actual cost (which includes the shared portion of vendor support costs). This will simplify billing for agencies and clarify costs for public cloud. Agencies will see this change on the August 2022 bill.
- You can see more details here.
- Long Distance: Prior to FY2023 DTS billed a separate charge of $0.0602 per minute for Long Distance usage. Starting in FY2023, Long Distance services are now included in the Business Phone Line VoIP monthly charge and you will no longer see a separate charge for Long Distance. This aligns to industry standards and simplifies the bill.
- Data Center Rack Space (Non-Executive Branch Agencies Only): Charges for Data Center rack space has increased due to the following:
|
Rack Type |
FY2022 |
FY2023 |
Unit |
|
Full Rack |
$500.00 |
$936.85 |
Rack/Month |
|
Rack U |
$16.67 |
$31.23 |
Rack U/Month |
The DTS Rack and Rack U rates are affected by several factors. Two of the key drivers of the change in this rate are the migration to the cloud by many of our customers and the move to the Taylorsville State Office Building Data Center. DTS has a number of fixed costs associated with running and maintaining a data center, and while DTS has seen a reduction in its on-prem customer base, those fixed costs remain. This requires a rate increase for the remaining customers.
- Database Core Model: Charges for SQL and Oracle database core models have increased to the following:
|
Database |
FY2022 |
FY2023 |
Unit |
|
Oracle |
$787.57 |
$961.38 |
Core/Month |
|
SQL |
$546.43 |
$906.08 |
Core/Month |
DTS has been charging less than cost for both of these rates to bring Retained Earnings in line with Federal guidelines. We incrementally reduced these rates and are incrementally increasing them. The rates for FY23 are still under cost, but DTS is under recovering by less than the previous year.
- Web Application Hosting: FY2022 Shared Application Hosting on Prem rate has been renamed to Web Application Hosting and increased from $59.10 to $109.81 per instance for FY2023.
Usage for Web App Hosting on-prem (on physical DTS servers) has seen a reduction in customer base as other technologies have been adopted. DTS has a number of fixed costs associated with maintaining the Web App Hosting Environment, and while DTS has seen a reduction in its on-prem customer base, those fixed costs remain. This requires a rate increase for the few remaining customers.
- Enterprise Software (Adobe, Microsoft, etc.): The Cost Plus rate for Enterprise Software has changed to up to cost + 10%. This allows DTS to be more nimble and flexible to charge software based on proportional effort.
Other Rate Changes:
- Application Developer Rate: The hourly billing for DTS application developers has changed slightly. In FY2022, the Application Developer rate was based on 1A/1B – 4A/4B Tiers. Instead of A and Bs, DTS is moving to Tiers 1-8. This move from Tiers and Sub-Tiers to straightforward numbered Tiers should make the bill less confusing for our customers.
- Other Technical Services: DTS has combined all the Cost + 10% rates into one rate listed on the published rate sheet under the Miscellaneous Services section. Customers will still be able to search under, for instance, Communication Services and see the Miscellaneous charges which fall under this category.
Further information:
You can view all changes to the DTS Rates by going to https://dts.utah.gov/dts-rates.
If you have questions about any of the other rate changes, please contact the DTS FPNA team by emailing dtsfpna@utah.gov.
For billing questions or concerns, please contact the DTS Billing team by emailing dtsbilling@utah.gov.
The following were shared during the FY2023 Rate Presentation:
