In states such as Michigan and Kentucky, CIOs are dealing with an endless sea of legacy systems. They need more effective tools to bring those machines up to 21st-century standards--or they need to rip them out and replace them.
Iowa is looking to bring broadband to its citizens, no matter how far-flung they are. And in Delaware, the top decision-maker for IT purchases wants to make government disappear. That is, he wants government structure to be invisible to customers. But he needs better tech tools from VARs to do it.
In their quest to make IT work better for employees and citizens alike, state CIOs are opening their purse strings wider. State and local governments are spending $44.24 billion on IT goods and services. At a growth rate of 7.5 percent, state and local IT spending will rise to $54.96 billion by 2008, according to Gartner.
Most CIOs aren't seeking to reinvent the wheel. They just want to roll the wheel forward.
