Data Center Services Overview
The Texas Data Center Services program (DCS) allows state and local governmental entities (customers) to outsource management of technology infrastructure services. Customers receive the benefit of aggregated volume discounts by sharing technology services, while in turn receiving the “best in breed” technology services from competitively procured industry leading vendors. DCS provides secure connectivity to select public and private clouds designed around government security and disaster recovery requirements, and flexible service tiers to meet differing needs and budgets. Joining the program allows customers to delegate infrastructure management while increasing focus on delivering direct, mission-related value to their business users and clients.
Leveraging DCS services provides customers the peace of mind that their technology is being managed to the highest level of security standards and industry best practices. The DCS program offers unique value with “fit for purpose” solutions that leverage the benefits of customers sharing services:
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Independent security oversight and rigorous controls
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Best practice design architectures
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Secure public to private cloud network connectivity
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Economies of scale that benefit all agencies technologically as well as financially
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Best of the Industry standard service delivery models
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Managed services performed consistently across all environments.
See more about DCS offerings on the Shared Technology Services Portal
Data Center Services include:
The Need
Government entities face the same technology challenges as their private-sector counterparts: rising customer expectations, increasingly sophisticated security threats, and competition for skilled IT resources. In addition, government must also be open, transparent, and auditable.
Compliance can be costly and directing resources toward these vital tasks can draw attention away from developing creative business solutions that build additional value for state citizens.
Shared Services with Shared Governance
Using an owner-operator governance model, customers retain control of strategic program direction while the service providers handle daily operations.
The Solution
DCS was designed from the ground up with government security, budgetary and regulatory requirements in mind. The program offers outsourced management of complete end-to-end Information Technologies.
DIR also provides contract management and oversight functions for DCS contracts, including:
- Serving as a liaison and escalation point between customer agencies and the service providers
- Interpreting the contracts on behalf of the state
- Processing invoices and payments
DIR charges a fee of 2.95% of the customer’s monthly invoice (service provider charges) to recover costs associated with managing the program.
Learn more about the exemption process for DCS.
More Information for Data Center Services
Tere Shade
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