Case Study: State of Washington achieves smarter, transparent IT budgeting and prioritized funding with Decision Lens

Smarter IT budgeting decisions in Washington State

Washington State’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) was tasked with prioritizing more than $900M in annual IT spending across roughly 100 agencies, but inconsistent agency criteria, complex projects, and a last-minute, Excel‑based prioritization left legislators without a clear, defensible way to compare proposals. The OCIO needed a transparent, repeatable process that translated diverse technical projects into simple, policy‑aligned recommendations lawmakers could trust.

The OCIO adopted the Decision Lens web‑based prioritization platform, worked with the Office of Financial Management and the Technology Services Board to define clear weighting criteria, and required agencies to align requests to statewide priorities. The result was a streamlined, transparent process that influenced how projects are planned, increased legislative confidence (27 of the top 30 OCIO-ranked projects were funded), and led to a statewide master contract making the tool available to other state and local entities.

State of Washington

Michael DeAngelo

Deputy CIO