Arkansas Forward Savings

As of 10/05/2025 04:31:26 AM     Refresh

Overall Savings $4,966,348.48

2025 Year 3 January 01, 2025 - December 31, 2025 $3,571,339.02 2024 Year 2 January 01, 2024 - December 31, 2024 $1,022,798.76 2023 Year 1 January 01, 2023 - December 31, 2023 $372,210.70

Savings: $114,000.00

 District Operations Savings

ADAM (Active Directory Account Management System) is an in-house custom-written application to provide an all-in-one solution for support tickets, DAI modification requests, Active Directory account management for state applications, and Child Nutrition group management.


ADAM has many benefits over previously purchased applications. Below are a few basic enhancements:

  • ADAM is a direct overlay to Active Directory, eliminating synchronization issues.
    • Previous applications imported and exported data to/from Active Directory, creating many synchronization issues. The data available in ADAM is live data.
  • With ADAM, Active Directory Account Managers can view status of accounts within the application – no need to visit other sites for monitoring.
  • With ADAM, Active Directory Account Managers have the ability to view basic logs pertaining to accounts, such as who deleted and who created accounts along with time stamp.
  • With ADAM, Child Nutrition Group Managers can view all assignments on the same page used for modifications – no need to visit other sites for monitoring.
  • ADAM includes an in-application support ticket system for Active Directory Account Managers.
  • ADAM includes an improved system for making DAI (District Access Information) modification requests.

The total cost savings = 50,000 Users * $0.19 per user * 12 Months = $114,000.00.

Savings: $200,990.00

Application Name App Code Amount
ADE Portal ADE $10,000.00
ADHE Web Portal ADHE $25,000.00
AR Ed Reports AR-ED $10,000.00
Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Web Portal ASBVI $10,000.00
Arkansas School for the Deaf Web Portal ASD $10,000.00
CTE - Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment CLNA $25,000.00
DCTE Web Portal DCTE $10,000.00
DESE Web Portal DESE $10,000.00
DPSAFT Web Portal DPSAFT $10,000.00
Educational Freedom Account System EFAS $36,180.00
ESSER Transparency Dashboard ESSER $5,000.00
Notice of Intent for Home School NOI $1,890.00
SAMS Public Portal SAMS - P $25,000.00
Special Education Monitoring & Management System SMMS $7,920.00
Statewide Community Resources Portal SCR $5,000.00
Total $200,990.00

 Infrastructure and Operations (I & O) | Information System Savings

The Infrastructure and Operations (I&O) Savings in the Transformation era was achieved by building in-house web portals as illustrated below:

  1. ADE Portal
  2. ADHE Web Portal
  3. AR Ed Reports
  4. Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Web Portal
  5. Arkansas School for the Deaf Web Portal
  6. CTE - Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment
  7. DCTE Web Portal
  8. DESE Web Portal
  9. DPSAFT Web Portal
  10. Educational Freedom Account System
  11. ESSER Transparency Dashboard
  12. Notice of Intent for Home School
  13. SAMS Public Portal
  14. Special Education Monitoring & Management System
  15. Statewide Community Resources Portal

Prior to transformation, the ADE and DCTE Web Portal was built and operated by another 3rd. party contractor and these were brought in-house by implementing IT Services shared service model resulting in a direct savings of $200,990.00.

Savings: $3,220.70

Month Category Amount
June Laptop $1,066.69
March Laptop $90.85
March Tablet $50.00
February Laptop $306.69
February Tablet $105.00
January Laptop $568.20
December Tablet $125.00
November Laptop $200.00
August Laptop $255.00
July Desktop $50.61
July Laptop $312.83
July Tablet $89.83
Total $3,220.70

 Computer Purchase Program | Revenue

The Arkansas Department of Education did the pilot run for the Computer Purchase Program with Division of Elementary and Secondary Education stating July 2020 using its Asset Management System. Till date, the department has registered revenue of $3,220.70 for Year 2 of transformation.

The Computer Purchase Program process involves three (3) distinct phases:

  • Phase I: Employee returns current used equipment; IT Services refurbishes the Asset and send back to Original Employee who has 10 days to decide to buy or give a pass.
  • Phase II: Asset lands in the AMS catalog and any employee can buy one first server-first claim basis.
  • Phase III: Employee uploads purchase receipt as receives from Finance and claims the asset/equipment from IT Services.

Note: Only 1 laptop/tablet (I-Pads)/desktop and 2 monitors are allowed for purchase per quarter per employee to maintain an equitable distribution.


Disclaimer: The disbursement of revenues is among the Department; Marketing and Redistribution section of Office of State Procurement; Computer & Electronic Recycling Funds (as established by Act 1410) and DFA-Office of Accounting (for Sales Tax portion).

Savings: $54,000.00

Description Amount
DIS Outlook Mail Box Charges: 750 Mail Boxes - $54,000 $54,000.00
Total $54,000.00

 Microsoft | M365 Migration

The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) along with its all divisions: Higher Education, Career and Technical Education, Arkansas State Library, MLK Jr. Commission, Arkansas School for the Deaf and, Arkansas School for Blind & Visually Impaired migrated from a on-premise Email Exchange hosted at DIS to its own FERPA compliant Educational Tenant Cloud via the M365 solution. The cost savings are identified in two forms:

  1. DIS Outlook Mail Box Charges: 750 Mail Boxes - $54,000

The ADE Office of Information Technology leveraged the current Campus and School Agreement (CASA) that is in-place with the Department of Transformation and Shared Services (TSS), Office of State Procurement (OSP) along with signing an Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES) agreement with Microsoft.

 The Arkansas Department of Education's (ADE) action steps as part of the broader Arkansas Forward initiative include:

  1. IT Consolidation and Modernization:
    • Retire and Consolidate Applications: Identify and phase out non-critical or duplicative IT applications across all departments, leading to significant cost savings and operational efficiencies.
    • Standardize IT Governance: Improve program management practices to enhance efficiency and allocate resources more effectively.
    • Modernize Legacy Systems: Transition outdated applications and infrastructure to modern platforms to reduce maintenance costs and mitigate risks.
    • Cloud Migration: Emphasize migration to cloud-based services for scalable, secure, and efficient IT operations.
  2. Building Capabilities:
    • Cybersecurity: Invest in enterprise-wide cybersecurity protocols and training to align with peer-state spending and enhance data protection.
    • Data Analytics: Develop robust data and analytics capabilities to support informed decision-making and reduce fraud through analytics.
  3. Efficiency and Procurement:
    • Streamline Procurement Processes: Implement standardized and user-friendly procurement tools and systems.
    • Centralize Resources: Establish a shared services model for IT and administrative tasks to minimize redundancies.
  4. Change Management:
    • Training and Reskilling: Provide training opportunities to state employees for handling modernized systems.
    • Collaboration: Encourage cross-departmental working groups to align IT projects with broader strategic objectives.
  5. Governance and Strategic Oversight:
    • Portfolio Approach: Centralize oversight of IT assets and initiatives to optimize resource allocation and minimize duplications.
    • Enhanced Metrics and KPIs: Develop performance measurement tools to evaluate IT projects based on cost savings, efficiency, and user satisfaction.

These steps aim to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve service delivery across the state's IT and operational frameworks

 

The Governor delivered this report to the legislature and the full report can be found here.

 

Governor Sanders’ Press Release can be viewed HERE.