Military Families
Arkansas Forward Savings
As of 01/01/2026 06:15:59 AM Refresh
Overall Savings $6,496,375.80
2026 Year 4 January 01, 2026 - December 31, 2026 $1,134,702.32 2025 Year 3 January 01, 2025 - December 31, 2025 $3,966,664.02 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: $151,400.00
| Application Name | App Code | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| ADE Digital Locker | ADE-DL | $3,600.00 |
| ADE Portal | ADE | $10,000.00 |
| ADHE Web Portal | ADHE | $10,000.00 |
| 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 | $20,880.00 |
| ESSER Transparency Dashboard | ESSER | $5,000.00 |
| Notice of Intent for Home School | NOI | $7,200.00 |
| Special Education Monitoring & Management | SMMS | $9,720.00 |
| Total | $151,400.00 | |
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:
- ADE Digital Locker
- ADE Portal
- ADHE Web Portal
- AR Ed Reports
- Arkansas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Web Portal
- Arkansas School for the Deaf Web Portal
- CTE - Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment
- DCTE Web Portal
- DESE Web Portal
- DPSAFT Web Portal
- Educational Freedom Account System
- ESSER Transparency Dashboard
- Notice of Intent for Home School
- Special Education Monitoring & Management
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 $151,400.00.
Savings: $1,462.76
| Month | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| September | Laptop | $90.85 |
| August | Laptop | $1,077.91 |
| July | Laptop | $199.00 |
| July | Tablet | $95.00 |
| Total | $1,462.76 | |
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 $1,462.76 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: $61,600.00
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| Savings of $44 on each ADE user account by establishing a direct ADE MSFT Tenant for 1400 accounts - $61,600 | $61,600.00 |
| Total | $61,600.00 |
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:
- Savings of $44 on each ADE user account by establishing a direct ADE MSFT Tenant for 1400 accounts - $61,600
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.
Savings: $600,000.00
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| Web application hosting 12 month period - January 2024 - December 2024 | $600,000.00 |
| Total | $600,000.00 |
L.E.A.R.N.S.| ACT 237 of 2023
The L.E.A.R.N.S. Act of 2023 led to the establishment of Unified Early Childhood Care and Education System. On the IT data center: hosting side, full ownership of the entire Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (DCCECE) application and systems was brought under the purview of Division of Elementary and Secondary Education in the form of “Office of Early Childhood”. The entire portfolio of OEC Apps is now hosted under ADE Data Center which falls under Arkansas Department of Education: Office of Information Technology.
The saving is estimated to be $50,000 each month for a period of 12 months: January 2024 to December 2024, for the current fiscal year. Amounting to a total of $600,000.
ADE Office of Early Childhood | OEC Apps Portal: https://apps-oec.ade.arkansas.gov/
ADE Hosted (Managed) Services | VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)
The Arkansas Department for Education(ADE) in partnership with Department of Transformation and Shared Services (TSS) - Division of Information Systems leveraged the State (DIS) Master Outline Agreement to renew its hosted (managed) services licenses for VMware Cloud Foundation from Broadcom.
- ADE - OIT Direct Quote received from vendor: $165,424.00
- Updated quote from TSS – DIS via the same vendor using the Master OA: ($143,472.00)
This yielded a savings of $21,952.00 annually in 2024.
Savings: $21,952.00
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| ADE - OIT Direct Quote received from vendor | $165,424.00 |
| Updated quote from TSS – DIS via the same vendor using the Master OA | ($143,472.00) |
| Total | $21,952.00 |
Transformation: Shared Services Savings
The ADE Office of IT (ADE) under the Office of Secretary Shared Services implemented a considerable savings by using Hybrid (Remote) work culture. This was achieved by pivoting to hybrid work for 2 days per week for IT Tier -1 staff and 1 day for IT Tier 2 and IT Tier -3 (incl. Managers) respectively. The pilot program was run for 100 days and seeing its success and potential savings involved in the form of rent savings and office space consolidation (building space), it was extended on a full-scale basis, year-around starting January 2024.
The potential savings has been estimated around $72,000 plus annually.
- IT Office Space (Sq. Ft.) = 10,786 | 7 Suites at Main Street Mall
- IT Office Space (Sq. Ft.) = 5,218 | 4 Suites at Main Street Mall
- #Savings – 5,568 Sq. Ft * $ 13 = $72,384.00
Savings: $72,384.00
The Arkansas Department of Education's (ADE) action steps as part of the broader Arkansas Forward initiative include:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
