Agency Operatins Plan 2015-17 Agency: Nrth Dakta Public Emplyees Retirement System (NDPERS) Line f Business: (ptinal) The Public Emplyees Retirement System is the administratr f several emplyee benefit plans fr state emplyees and emplyees f participating plitical subdivisins. A brief descriptin f each plan fllws: Defined Benefit Pensin Plans: The Public Emplyees Retirement System cvers substantially all emplyees f the State f Nrth Dakta, its agencies, and varius plitical subdivisins. It als cvers Supreme and District Curt Judges, the Natinal Guard Security Officers and Firefighters, and participating Law Enfrcement entities. Defined Cntributin Pensin Plan: The defined cntributin pensin plan is an ptin available t nnclassified state emplyees. Retiree Health Insurance Credit Prgram: This prgram is designed t prvide eligible retirees with a benefit that can be used t ffset the cst f their health insurance premiums during their retirement. Grup Health Insurance Plan: This prgram prvides health insurance cverage t active and retired public emplyees and their families. The plan cvers substantially all emplyees f the State f Nrth Dakta, its agencies, and varius participating plitical subdivisins. Grup Life Insurance Plan: This prgram prvides basic life insurance t active and retired emplyees. Active emplyees have the ptin f purchasing additinal life insurance under the emplyee supplemental, dependent supplemental, and spuse supplemental prvisins f the plan. The plan cvers substantially all emplyees f the State f Nrth Dakta, its agencies, and varius participating plitical subdivisins. Vluntary Insurance Prducts: The agency is authrized t ffer vluntary dental, visin and lng term care insurance. Currently, these plans are ffered t state emplyees. Emplyee Assistance Prgram: This prgram is designed t prvide special assistance in guidance and cunseling and t determine apprpriate diagnsis and/r curse f treatment t state emplyees and their eligible dependents in cases f alchlism, drug abuse and persnal prblems. Deferred Cmpensatin Prgram: This is a vluntary, supplemental retirement plan prvided in accrdance with Sectin 457 f the Internal Revenue Cde. It allws state emplyees, and emplyees f participating plitical subdivisins, t defer and invest incme n a pretax basis t be withdrawn at a later date, usually at retirement. Pretax Benefits Prgram (FlexCmp): This prgram allws eligible state emplyees t elect t reduce their salaries t pay fr qualified insurance premiums, medical expenses and dependent care expenses n a pre-tax basis. Page 1 f 6
Cntact: Name: Rn Gilliam Title: IT Supervisr Phne #: 701-328-3916 Email: rgilliam@nd.gv Technlgy Strategy: Agency Missin Statement: "Design, cmmunicate and efficiently administer a viable emplyee benefits prgram within a framewrk f prudent risk taking, applicable state and federal laws, and prfessinal and ethical standards s as t prvide an emplyee benefit package that is amng the best available frm public and private emplyers in the upper Midwest." The agency emplys the use f technlgy t accmplish this missin thrugh varius channels such as the internet, email, and print media. NDPERS maintains a web site where members and emplyers can receive accurate and timely plan infrmatin. In additin, members can view their accunt balance and annual statements via the PERSLink Member Self Service Prtal. Emplyers access their infrmatin and submit payrll data via the PERSLink Emplyer Self Service Prtal. In late summer f 2012, NDPERS will deply a full service Member Self Service Prtal which will include the ability fr the member t enrll in varius plans and/r update their plan participatin infrmatin. Cmmunicatin t active members and retirees is als accmplished by the publicatin f peridic newsletters. A newsletter with emplyerspecific infrmatin is sent t participating emplyers. NDPERS effrt t keep abreast f technlgy includes the participatin in the State s 4 year cmputer replacement strategy alng with sftware replacement in cmpliance with Enterprise Architecture Standards. In additin, the IT Staff participates n varius Enterprise Architecture teams and attends the IT Crdinatr meetings held by ITD. Page 2 f 6
Technlgy Infrastructure: Servers NDPERS hsts tw file & print servers. Bth are physical machines running Windws Server. The agency als utilizes 8 virtual servers hsted by ITD fr the line f business system. ITD hsts and additinal 3 virtual servers in the Mandan Data Center that are replicated fr use in ur disaster recvery plan. All f the virtual servers are running Windws Server perating system. File and print servers are n the 4 year replacement cycle. Desktps Operating systems 34 desktp cmputers running Windws 8 Laptps Management tls/techniques Windws Server Management Tls Replacement schedules 4 years Operating systems 4 Laptps running Windws 8 Management tls/techniques Manual management Replacement schedules 4 years Security and Encryptin tls/strategies (if applicable) Currently n encryptin is used n the laptps. User-id and passwrd are required. Mbile Devices (tablets, smartphnes, etc.) Describe yur mbile device strategy The agency supplies a tablet cmputer (ipad) which is being used by the Executive Directr. The Directr supplies his persnal iphne and utilizes the State f ND s data plan. Operating systems ipad Apple OSX; iphne, ios7 Management tls/techniques AppleCare fr the ipd Replacement schedules as needed Security and Encryptin tls/strategies (if applicable) User-id and passwrd required Client Applicatins (desktp, laptp, mbile devices) Name and/r type f applicatin Desktp Timesheet applicatin develped in Micrsft Excel/VBA Deferred Cmp Xmits applicatin fr transmitting deferred cmp cntributin files t varius vendrs; develped in Micrsft Access/VBA Desktp - HIPAA File Transmissin & TIAA/CREF File Transmissin these applicatins check files created by PERSLink that are intended fr grup insurance carriers and the current deferred cmpensatin Cmpanin Plan prvider t determine if there are recrds with missing data. The applicatin has been develped in Visual Basic. Page 3 f 6
Web Client - PERSLink this applicatin is the agency s line f business system. Amng its many attributes, PERSLink prvides a system fr NDPERS staff t perfrm enrllment functins; update plan status/membership status; cllect and accunt fr retirement cntributins, insurance premiums and deferred cmpensatin cntributins; and prvides the mechanism fr delivering superir custmer service t the NDPERS membership. The applicatin has been develped in Micrsft Visual C# n the.net platfrm. Maintenance is currently being perfrmed by Sagitec Slutins, LLC. N applicatins have been develped specifically fr the laptp r mbile device platfrms. Data Backup tls/strategies Internal Data (spreadsheets, dcuments, etc) NDPERS utilizes the IBM Tivli Strage Manager client applicatin t facilitate nightly backup f data stred n the agency s tw file/print servers. PERSLink Data - is stred n ITD s SQL Server 2008 cluster. Backup is currently n ITD s backup schedule. NDPERS has established an ffsite data and applicatin repsitry at ITD s Mandan Data Center fr use in the event f a disaster. Data is replicated t the ffsite lcatin every 15 minutes during business hurs and hurly after business hurs. Security and Encryptin tls/strategies (if applicable) Active Directry user-id and passwrd are required in rder fr internal users t access the data. External users (emplyers & members) are required t have a ND Lgin ID and passwrd in rder t access PERSLink data. External users are required t furnish additinal emplyer-specific r member specific data as part f their initial lgin authenticatin. Originatin r surce f the data the PERSLink data riginated frm legacy data cnverted frm the mainframe database. Current data is a cmbinatin f the cnverted data and any new data gathered thrugh PERSLink. Netwrk data riginates as dcuments, spreadsheets, publicatins, etc. created by NDPERS staff. Other agencies r entities that cnsume the data and hw it is shared emplyer agencies are able t access their agency-specific data via the PERSLink Emplyer Self Service Prtal. The data is used by these agencies t reprt payrll-related infrmatin t NDPERS. Members have the ability t enrll in varius plans ffered by NDPERS as well as update and view their persnal and plan infrmatin via the PERSLink Member Self Service Prtal. Page 4 f 6
Reprting tls, nline publicatin, and hardcpy publicatin NDPERS uses the Micrsft Office suite f tls and Adbe Acrbat Prfessinal fr creating nline and hard cpy publicatins; many f which are available n the agency s web site. Planned Activities: Equipment Replacement - the agency plans t replace the file & print servers, a printer and several lder mdel prjectrs. NDPERS Website Redesign Funding is being requested as an ptinal package in the 2015-17 biennium budget request t redesign the NDPERS website. The agency wuld like t mdernize and enhance the site s lk, feel and rganizatin t ensure that ur stakehlders find the infrmatin they seek and can easily cnduct business with NDPERS. In additin, the redesign wuld prvide an pprtunity t build the site fr easy access regardless f the user s device f chice (cmputer, tablet, mbile phne) and perating system. PERSLink Refinements Funding is being requested as an ptinal package in the 2015-17 biennium budget request t cntinue t retain additinal develpers t cmplete wrk n a backlg f system refinements. This activity is scheduled t begin in the Fall f 2014. Purchase Tablet cmputers fr NDPERS Bard f Trustees The IT Staff is cntinuing t train fr taking ver sme f the PERSLink supprt respnsibilities. In June f each year we will cnduct a disaster recvery exercise. Page 5 f 6
Technlgies being cnsidered r investigated: Virtualizatin f desktp cmputers Micrsft ffice 365 Page 6 f 6