Failure of the State

ComputerWorld reports that Louis Gutierrez, CIO for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, has submitted his resignation. From the magazine:

In a letter yesterday to his staff, Gutierrez said that when he joined the state’s Information Technology Division (ITD) he looked forward to many challenges. But one thing he said he never anticipated was the Massachusetts legislature’s decision not to fund most of the state’s IT projects.

David Berlind points out similarities between this situation and that of Peter Quinn, the previous Massachusetts CIO:

Last December, Peter Quinn stepped down from the job saying “It is readily apparent that I have become a lightning rod with regard to any IT initiative. Even the smallest initiatives are being mitigated or stopped by some of the most unlikely and often uninformed parties.”

Mitigated? Stopped? Halted? Same language. Different guy. That’s all. If the Commonwealth of Massachusetts really wanted these initiatives to succeed, none of this would be happening.

These two embattled CIOs obviously believe that Massachusetts does not properly support the state’s strategic IT initiatives. Whether in government or in the private sector, top-down support is necessary if IT projects are to succeed. Looks like IT in the state of Massachusetts is on a collision course for failure.