All IT projects in Iowa agencies are required to prepare ROI material in a standard framework as part of any proposal for new IT investment. The state provides a Web site,¹⁴ supporting materials, and applications for agencies to use when preparing their proposals and ROI analyses. The results reported here are taken from those sources.

The Iowa ROI framework requires attention to certain standard components for all proposals. These include the following.

Analysis requirements. Proposals should include:

• use of the Rapid Economic Justification model¹⁵ —to understand the business, alternative solutions, cost-benefit equations, possible risks, and financial metrics;
• cost and benefit measurements— estimation of project costs and benefits in some comparable unit and determination of whether the benefits exceed the cost; and
• achievement of cost avoidance and dollar matching from state sources.

Software. Proposals should deal with all software components including:

• application software;
• operating system software;
• interfaces to other internal and external systems; and
• standard protocols for data exchange, data warehouses, linking software to third party service providers, electronic referral systems.

Hardware/Facility. Proposals should deal with all physical components including:

• additional platforms that accommodate interoperable operating systems;
• adequate storage and physical environments;
• adequate connectivity and bandwidth;
• logical and physical connectivity; and
• major interfaces to other systems, both internal and external.