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Frequently Asked Questions - D I S
Question: How is D I S Funded? (top)
Answer: DIS is a cost recovery agency. User-charging promotes an equitable approach to financing the Department of Information Systems by fairly charging agencies who receive services or are the focus of these services.
DIS funding is comprised of several components...Enterprising Services, Hosting Services, Network Services, Professional Services and Voice Services. Each of these primary services involve multiple levels of service that provide quality products to cities, counties, municipalities, and other state agencies.
Question: Who does D I S serve? (top)
Answer: The D I S customer base is divided into six major areas:
Administration
Education
Environmental
Health and Human Services
Justice and Law
Cities and Counties
Existing customers may contact their Customer Account Representative here.
Question: How do I know if my organization qualifies for D I S services? (top)
Answer: D I S provides information technology services to state agencies, boards, commissions, state elected constitutional officers and their staffs, the Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the General Assembly or its committees or staffs, the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the federal government, cities, counties, municipalities, public school districts, and institutions of higher education.
To find out if your organization is eligible to use D I S services refer to Arkansas Code 25-4-105 on the Arkansas General Assembly web site (http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/). Select the "Research Resources" link, and then select Arkansas Code. In the search field, enter "General Powers and Duties". From the results, select "25-4-105. Department of Information Systems - General powers and duties".
Question: Does D I S hire International employees and contract employees? (top)
Answer: D I S does hire international employees and contract workers. Using internet recruitment sites, D I S has attracted and hired applicants from Canada, Germany and India.
Due to a highly competitive I T labor market and customer demands for services, D I S does supplement I T staff with contractors through a competitive procurement process.
Question: Who are D I S vendors? (top)
Answer: D I S vendors are from a wide range of business applications in the private sector. The most common vendors are I T-oriented and provide desktop computers, workstations, laptops, handheld P D As, network servers, spare parts, and training. Additionally, D I S vendors specialize in the following areas:
- Peripherals such as printers and storage devices.
- Printing services for large scale publishing needs.
- Telecommunications support of wide area network (WAN) building to building wireless, hubs, routers, switches, and telephony equipment, as well as comparable equipment for local area networks (LAN).
- Video conference networking
- Security applications in data and physical security realms.
- Software and software tools for application and database development and maintenance.
- Change control and configuration management
- Data warehousing
- Desktop software tools for everyday office functions.
Question: How long has D I S been in existence? (top)
Answer: Over 30 years ago D I S began as the Administrative Services Division (A S D) of the Department of Finance Administration. However, in 1977 Act 884 created the Department of Computer Services (D C S) from the old A S D organization. In 1979, Act 914 reorganized D C S into the Department of Information Systems (D I S). For a more detailed look at the origins of
D I S, refer to the D I S History page.
Question: How many employees does D I S have? (top)
Answer: D I S has approximately 220 employees.
Question: What is the average tenure of D I S employees? (top)
Answer: The average employee tenure is between 5 and 10 years service with the agency. However, there are employees with over 30 years' service and several with slightly less tenure.
Question: Where is D I S located? (top)
Answer: D I S offices are in the Multi Agency Complex (MAC) on the Capitol Mall.
Question: How are D I S rates calculated and do they change? (top)
Answer: D I S rates are calculated using a Rate Methodology (see Rate Model) that allows D I S to recover the costs of providing services to our customers. As demand for services and costs change, the rates are reviewed and adjustments made to ensure their accuracy. Specific questions about rates should be directed to your Customer Account Representative.
Question: What legislative committees are involved with D I S? (top)
Answer: As an agency of the State of Arkansas' Executive Branch, the Department of Information Systems interacts with various legislative groups. These include the Joint Committee on Advanced Communications and Information Technology and the Joint Performance Review AASIS Subcommittee. An index of legislative committees may be reviewed at www.arkleg.state.ar.us
Question: How does D I S participate in the community? (top)
Answer: D I S is involved in a variety of community relations activities. DIS serves as facilitator for the New Horizons Scholarship Program that provides funds for EAST Lab students to pursue an information technology degree at an Arkansas university. DIS employees also participate through an informal speakers' bureau. To schedule a speaker, contact the Communications Department.
Question: Does D I S offer consulting services? (top)
Answer: Absolutely! Our consulting services fall into the following areas:
- S A P - consultation, initiation, configuration, and support.
- Data Warehousing - consultation, initiation, configuration, and support.
- Quality Engineering - independent quality reviews of project execution with emphasis on before, during and after project or program implementation.
- Project Management - mentoring, planning and services.
- Program Management - interactive video, imaging, e-rate, etc.
- Software Solutions - architecture, requirements gathering and documentation, modeling, implementation, testing, database support/analysis, and maintenance on existing systems.
- Business process modeling and evaluation.
For more information, refer to the Professional Services group of our Products and Services Catalog, or contact our Customer Account Representatives.
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