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Technology Services Board approves workforce identity, data center enterprise standards
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Summary
The Technology Services Board on April 9 approved two enterprise service designation standards: a workforce identity and access standard to centralize employee authentication and a data center standard emphasizing state data center and cloud exception rules. Motions passed by voice vote.
The Technology Services Board voted April 9 to adopt two enterprise service designation standards intended to standardize workforce authentication and clarify data center hosting expectations for state systems.
Rob Allred, the state chief enterprise architect, described the workforce identity and access standard as a consolidation of existing authentication practices into "a single place to authenticate and get permissions across the enterprise so we don't have to log in to everything every time we open a new app," adding the standard will help with consistent offboarding and reduce redundant logins.
The board moved to approve the workforce identity and access enterprise service standard; Cammy moved the motion and a board member seconded. Members voiced "aye" and the motion carried (no opposed recorded in the transcript).
Allred also presented a data center enterprise service standard that emphasizes placing critical servers and workloads in the state data center or appropriately secured cloud locations while allowing "common sense" exceptions where on-site processing is necessary. He said the state maintains a primary facility at 1500 Jefferson and a redundant on-premises Quincy data center and that the standard does not prohibit using third-party cloud providers, though agencies must complete required security design reviews before migrating workloads.
The board voted to approve the data center standard by voice vote; ayes were recorded and no opposition was noted in the meeting record.
Why it matters: centralizing workforce identity can reduce operational overhead, improve security during staff transitions, and create a shared authentication approach for state employees. The data center standard clarifies where critical infrastructure should reside while recognizing operational exceptions for edge devices and certain vendor-hosted SaaS workloads.
The board also approved minutes from its Dec. 11, 2025 and Feb. 12, 2026 meetings by voice vote. The standards will become part of the state's enterprise governance framework and are subject to the existing waiver and exemption processes noted during discussion.
Next steps: staff said they will continue defining procedural details for implementing the standards and will work with agencies on standing exemptions and security review processes.
