CIO: Carolyn Purcell (8 years on the job)

Budget Deficit: $9.9 billion shortfall.

What That Means for IT Budget: 7 percent cut for 2003; projected 12.5 percent cut for 2004. The state spends $2 billion total on IT. The Department of Information Resources has an $80 million budget.

Priorities: Texas Online portal (www. texasonline.com), cooperative contracts program, project management office, security, architecture and telecommunications.

Cuts: Administrative expenses such as travel and vacant positions.

Methodology: Managing her project portfolio according to the value each project provides to the state.

The Problem: In his state of the state address last January, Texas Gov. Rick Perry unveiled a spending plan that starts at zero dollars for every agency. "In tough budgetary times, every dollar spent by government must be scrutinized to determine whether it justifies consideration as a priority. We must reject the notion that government must continue to do things just because that’s the way we have always done it," Perry said.

The Process: Even though her budget did not go to zero, Purcell, executive director of Texas’s Department of Information Resources, still faces substantial reductions. She says deciding what to cut is a matter of zeroing in on the services that her department provides that make "the biggest contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of state government." Key to her department’s mission: providing the state’s telecom infrastructure; running the state portal, Texas Online; setting IT standards; and negotiating contracts with vendors.

Improving contract administration is one of Purcell’s top priorities. Her department is also concentrating on negotiating contracts to reduce IT costs, and Purcell says, "Sometimes, we just don’t do a good job of writing and administering contracts." Likewise, her project management office will continue to receive support because its function is to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget.

While she doesn’t expect the state to make any new investments in IT, initiatives that offer an immediate payback or that can be done at no cost to the budget may move forward. Texas Online is one such example; it pays for itself through the revenue from convenience fees charged to citizens who use it to renew their car registrations or hunting and fishing licenses.

Once Purcell has identified the initiatives that offer the state the most value, she then cuts items and projects that don’t contribute as much. For instance, she’s cut travel because there just isn’t money in the budget for conferences, training sessions or meetings with vendors. In addition, she has cut vacant positions and is considering layoffs.