When Herschel Cleveland joined the Department of Information Systems in 2007, the state was running out of room for servers. Cooling pipes -- carrying water beneath millions of dollars worth of fragile computer equipment -- needed replacement.
"After I first toured the data center, I asked [former DIS director] Claire Bailey, 'Have you told the governor how bad this is over at DIS?' And she said, 'No, but I will,'" Cleveland said. "So she went to the governor and basically appointed me and said, 'You fix it.'"
Cleveland, a former Democratic Arkansas house speaker and attorney from Paris, began working at DIS in 2007 as an enterprise program manager and was appointed deputy director in 2008.
On Monday, when the 69-year-old retired from his deputy director position, the state had extra room for servers in a new data center. The old data center had been refurbished.
Cleveland said Arkansas avoided the pitfalls of other states, which were facing similar problems and spent tens of millions of dollars to fix them.
A study, commissioned by the Arkansas Legislature, said the state would need to pay about $65 million for a new data center and office space, Cleveland said.
He said he didn't think $65 million was reasonable, and when all was said and done, the project cost closer to $2 million.
The department had been criticized in recent years over the cost of the services -- including Internet access, phone systems and other information technology services -- that it provides to other departments.
The department's previous billing problems cost Arkansas $44 million in 2006, after the state settled a lawsuit with the federal government.
But Cleveland said DIS is rebounding from past problems.
In the past year, DIS supplanted the Arkansas Department of Education as the state department in charge of broadband expansion to schools and fought off a Department of Finance and Administration recommendation to cut 49 positions.
"Gov. Hutchinson came in and repurposed [the department]," said Arkansas House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, after contracts were awarded by DIS to expand broadband access in schools. "A new director came on. [Hutchinson] felt that they were back [on track.]"
Mark Myers, director of the Arkansas Department of Information Systems, replaced Cleveland, who served as the DIS interim director from October to January.
And in May, Gov. Asa Hutchinson asked DIS to review all information technology contracts that could cost more than $100,000 before bids are requested.
Janet Wilson, spokesman for the department, said Cleveland had been involved in many of the recent decisions, but called the data center that cost $2 million instead of $65 million his "crown jewel."
Cleveland said getting the data center involved some luck, cutting out new office space and a technology that was fairly new in 2007 -- virtualization.
Virtualization allows a server to act as several distinct machines -- so one server can handle mail, a database and other applications.
Before the technology caught on, most servers performed just one task and usually operated at 5 percent to 15 percent of capacity, according to VMware, a company that sells virtualization software.
By combining tasks into one machine, server centers could shrink, as well as use less energy, wiring and cooling capacity, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Cleveland said other states started building or leasing massive new data centers to meet their needs before the technology caught on.
"They're suffering now because they're paying back a lot more money than they needed to because of virtualization," he said.
DIS looked into building a smaller server center by utilizing the technology and possible tax credits, which would have cost the state about $20 million.
Finally, DIS located a server room that Verizon was getting rid of. Cleveland asked the company to donate it to the state. He didn't hear back but kept an eye on it.
DIS bid twice, eventually buying the server room for about $1.5 million and spending about $500,000 on repairs. Cleveland said the state got $2 million worth of backup generators in the deal.
DIS also secured American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funding to refurbish the old data center -- replacing the old cooling pipes and wires.
"We are in better shape than any state in the union as far as the data centers go," he said. "I think what we've done here, it's virtually impossible for any rational person to outsource IT to a private company."
Myers said the department is on better footing thanks to Cleveland.
"Herschel's reputation as a leader and public servant is among the best in our state," Myers said in a statement. "He was committed to his service at DIS, and I appreciate his partnership in leading the agency and his mentorship to me. I wish him all the best in his retirement."
Metro on 07/04/2015