PROJECT DELEGATION CRITERIA - 4819.37-SEP-2018

(Revised: 09/2018)

Pursuant to Government Code Section 11545(a), authority for the approval of Information Technology (IT) Projects resides with the California Department of Technology (CDT), but it is the intention of the State’s Chief Information Officer to delegate approval authority to Agencies/state entities to the maximum extent practicable. IT Projects must be approved or delegated before an Agency/state entity can encumber or expend funds on, or dedicate staff resources to, the IT Project. The following categories identify the criteria for project delegation:

1. Delegated IT Projects: Pursuant to Government Code Section 11546(b), the CDT will delegate approval authority for IT Projects to Agencies/state entities based on an assessment of the Agency/entity’s project management, project oversight, and project performance. If an Agency/state entity is assessed to be capable in those respects and the IT project does not meet one or more of the criteria identified in paragraph (B), the IT project will be delegated to the Agency/state entity and the Agency/state entity will have approval authority pursuant to SAM Section 4819.34. Those projects are referred to as “Delegated IT Projects.”

    

2. Non-Delegated IT Projects: Notwithstanding paragraph (A), IT Projects are considered Non-Delegated if one or more of the following criteria applies:
   1. Initiation of the IT Project depends upon decisions to be made during the development or enactment of the Governor's Budget, such as approval of a Budget Change Proposal or Budget Revision to increase the Agency/state entity’s existing IT activities related to the IT Project;
   2. The IT Project involves a new system development or acquisition that is specifically required by legislative mandate or is subject to special legislative review, as specified in budget control language or other legislation;
   3. The IT Project has an anticipated cost that exceeds the Agency/state entity’s delegated cost threshold assigned by the CDT and does not meet the criteria of a desktop and mobile computing commodity expenditure (see SAM Section 4989 – 4989.3);
   4. CDT and/or the Agency/state entity’s Agency Information Officer (AIO) has determined that the IT project has criticality/risk factors that warrant continued approval and oversight authority by CDT.

IT Projects that meet one or more of these criteria are referred to as “Non-Delegated IT Projects”. However, at any time throughout the Project Approval Lifecycle (PAL), CDT may further delegate “Non-Delegated IT Projects” back to an Agency/state entity based on the risk assessment and evaluation of PAL.

Non-Delegated IT Projects may be delegated back to an Agency/state entity upon the approval of a Project Approval Lifecycle - Project Delegation Request (PAL-PDR) (see SAM Section 4819.38), with the subsequent approval of PAL Stage/Gate deliverables by the Agency/state entity Director. An Agency/state entity must have a Technology Recovery Plan and an Agency Information Management Strategy that has been approved by the Department of Technology in order to submit a PAL-PDR.