LouisianaVoice has learned that Louisiana’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) Ed Driesse and three members of his staff have already or are quitting, apparently over ongoing disagreements with Gov. Bobby Jindal’s staff regarding the outsourcing of the State Office of Information Technology (OIT).
Driesse, who makes $167,000 a year, was contacted Tuesday and said his last day will be April 5.
Assistant Director Barbara Oliver and Deputy CIO Randy Walker retired on Jan. 18. The third, Assistant Director Mike Gusky, is also scheduled to leave, Driesse said.
Oliver presently earns $118,000 per year and Gusky’s salary is $117,000, according to State Civil Service records. Walker’s salary was unavailable.
As the state CIO, Driesse heads the Office of Information Technology in the Division of Administration (DOA) within the Office of the Governor.
The CIO is the state’s point person for matters related to IT and IT resources, including setting policies, standards, hardware and software deployment, strategic and tactical planning, acquisition, management, and operations in keeping with industry trends, both private and public. The CIO oversees several IT organizations within the DOA, acting as architect and primary executor of technical and business strategy for IT in Louisiana state government.
Act 772 of 2001set forth several policies of OIT, including:
• The implementation of IT standards for hardware, software and consolidation of services;
• The review and coordination of IT planning, procurement and budgeting;
• The providing of oversight for centralization/consolidation of technology initiatives and the sharing of IT resources;
• Assuring compatibility and connectivity of Louisiana’s information systems;
• The providing of oversight on IT projects and systems for compliance with statewide strategies, goals and standards.
Several additional legislative acts in 2001 provided for:
• The electronic government structure for the executive branch (governor’s office) of state government;
• The duties of the Office of Telecommunications Management (OTM);
• Electronic governmental transactions;
• Electronic transactions by certain state agencies.
Act 409 of 2009 abolished the Office of Electronic Services and transferred its duties to OIT. At the same time, it redefined the duties of the Louisiana Geographic Information Systems Council and the Louisiana Geographic Information Center.
Last February, the Civil Service Commission rejected a plan to terminate 69 IT employees in the Department of Health and Hospitals when DHH attempted to push through a privatization contract with the University of New Orleans (UNO).
Last October, eight months after that initial effort, the Civil Service Commission signed off on a revised proposal that called for revamping DHH IT services.
That plan, which involved no layoffs, called for various IT functions to be spread out among four different entities—DHH, the University of Louisiana Lafayette, UNO and a private vendor, Venyu Solutions. The move was projected to save about $1.12 million from the current $37.8 million expense, the administration said.
Venyu contributed $5,000 to Jindal’s re-election campaign in October of 2011.
In 2012, Louisiana was one of only seven states to receive an A-grade in national rankings on providing online access to government spending data. The state’s score of 92 out of 100 was tied with Massachusetts. Arkansas, by contrast, received a grade of F. The state received a score of only eight out of 100, for third worst in the nation.
The rankings were compiled by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PRIG) Education Fund, a consumer watchdog organization that promotes and evaluates transparency in government spending.
Louisiana’s OIT was also cited as having taken the lead among states in providing detailed performance evaluations of government agencies.
Driesse has 15 years’ experience as a chief information officer in both the public and private sectors, including three Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to his appointment, he served as CIO for DHH and also served as CIO for AECOM Technology Corp., a global design and management services company in Los Angeles, where he managed a budget of more than $50 million and a staff of 260.
He also served as CIO for Foster Wheeler, Ltd., a global engineering and construction company in Clinton, N.J., where he oversaw the global deployment of the JD Edwards integrated applications system.
Driesse also served as Vice President and CIO for Zimmer, Inc., of Warsaw, IN, and for HealthTrust, Inc., of Nashville, TN.
He holds a B.S. in mathematics and a M.S. in computer science, both from the University of Louisiana Lafayette.
There was no word on the planned privatization of OIT.
An email inquiry to the Jindal’s office got no response.
Louisiana Voice 
How do we stop this demagogue??
No mention of Bill Cassidy’s sister-in-law recently being put in charge over there?
I don’t know Messrs. Driesse or Gusky, but I had the pleasure of working with Ms. Oliver and Mr. Walker for several years. The are both highly qualified, capable IT professionals who serve with integrity. They helped me with many important projects with fairness and impartiality. Their losses will not be Louisiana’s gain.
I wonder if Ed is leaving because of the conflict of interest with family members working for the company he gave the failed ERP contract to. I also wonder if the new commish will give her former employer the print manage contract.
“Ed” did not “give” a failed contract to anyone. You should check your facts before making such an accusation. If you did, you’d find it was awarded by the CIO who served prior to Mr. Driesse. These attacks on his character, or attempts to insinuate he showed favoritism or lack of integrity, are highly disappointing. Ed Driesse and Randy Walker are two of the most honorable men you could meet. People can comment and speculate all they want, but anyone who worked for/with these individuals knows the truth of the matter. They are and forever will be some of the greatest (and last remaining) “stand up guys” Louisiana will know. Now, and as things unfold, their departure will be mourned by many. Try to discredit these men in whatever way you want, but it’s only grasping at straws to deflect the truth. These are honest, honorable men who served our state well. God bless them for fighting the good fight – right up until the end. Wish we had more like them.
Ed Driesse, Randy Walker and Mike Gusky are honorable men, worthy of respect and appreciation for their conscientious service. Their leaving is more our loss than their loss.
May God have mercy on this state for shunting aside good people to advance the nakedly political ambitions of a few.
Randy Walker was Deputy CIO which is still displayed on the OIT website at: http://doa.louisiana.gov/oit/cio.htm
Not anymore.
On the state emblem, the mother Pelican feeds its young from its breast; now the state pelican just eats its young.
Meet the team of Venyu:
http://venyu.com/meet-team
Barbara Oliver and Randy Walker retired on January 18th. I have had dealings with both of these individuals over the decades and found both of these individuals to be above reproach; it is a grave injustice if either of them did not leave of their own accord. With this announcement that apparently two other high-level state IT employees, Mr. Driesse and Mr. Gusky, have announced their retirements within the same office, one must fear for the future of the Office of Information Technology and all functions in it’s purview.
Tom, you have been nominated:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/02/04/iso-the-best-state-based-political-blogs/
The exodus continues.
And Jindal cares not a whit!
You are absolutely correct TheDeepThinker!!
In the DHH fiasco they like to say no layoffs but the truth is the majority had already got other jobs.
I seconded your nomination, good luck and thanks for keeping us informed!
Feel free to also nominate this blog. I think the more nominations a blog gets (hopefully) means Cillizza will really check it out.
So did I. It’s easy. Go here (link from Fredster above) and do it:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/02/04/iso-the-best-state-based-political-blogs/
They are looking for good sites that focus on state politics.
I have experience repairing the damage done by outsourced “experts,” so I can foresee the wasted money, effort and time that lies ahead.
I used to be naive, thinking that people like Jindal were conned by slick salesmen but not anymore. Jindal is no fool. He knows these people cannot deliver what they promise. It doesn’t matter. It’s not about conservative principles. It’s not about economics. It’s not about whatever Jindal says it’s about.
There are fortunes to be made dismantling Louisiana state government, but the people who built it and maintain it must first be swept out of the way to make room for the carpetbaggers.
This story is total B.S. —all have been planning to retire.
You may want to be sure about what you are saying. It may appear people are “planning” to retire but they are really “pushed” to retire. I was one of those so I know!
The handwriting is clearly on the wall…the Jindal administration has decided to outsource all of state government IT. They simply haven’t figured out how to farm it all out to one or two preferred providers, nor how to avoid retaining any central control functions.
False economics and downsizing state government will be used to justify the outsourcing. Anyone offering a different opinion or simply attempting to debate the pros/cons will be fired or pushed to the sidelines. This is probably the real reason the four executives mentioned in the article decided to depart. Why get caught in the middle of the train wreck that is coming when you will be held accountable/responsible, even though all your decision making authority has been taken away and controlled by the “yes” teams currently running the DOA and 4th floor of the Capitol?
Don’t be surprised if you start hearing about the benefits of the global economy and offshoring some IT functions as well. It is all going to be about huge international corporations and profits. Guess who will be left with the tab!
I am waiting for Piyush to sell the State of Louisiana for pennies on the dollar; I don’t think that Texas wants it and I would hate to be part of Arkansas; I am hoping that Mississippi buys it. The first Louisiana purchase was $15 mil, well we can get about $15 thousand this time. And have the entire gulf coast covered with casinos and all Interstates completed and paved to perfection. We could save tons of money because then we wouldn’t have a governor or legislatures since we will be owned, like property, by Mississippi. Hmm, I wonder how we can get the sale of the State on the ballot box???
I’ve worked in Louisiana state government for decades. Randy and Barbara were honorable employees, and overdue for retirement. But the CIOs came, and went. And OIT … Not sure of its effectiveness, or its value. But then I don’t trust the governor’s intentions. Good luck, Louisiana!
Did you know Driesse’s nephew gets paid by IBM specifically to get contracts with the state of Louisiana?
interesting, no?