Governor Kim Reynolds has hired two private companies to manage and maintain all state government websites and computer systems.
Reynolds has announced all the data centers and computer servers in the executive branch of government will move to a cloud-based system managed by Amazon Web Services. She’s also signed a contract with New Jersey-based Cognizant Government Services to manage day-to-day IT services within the executive branch. The news release indicates the 200 state employees who currently provide those services can apply for jobs with the private company later this month and, on August 3rd, Cognizant employees will start providing on-site technical support to state agencies and employees.
The governor’s office says these moves will save the state $525 million over the next decade, but did not disclose how much the state will pay Amazon and Cognizant.
Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner said there’s no guarantee turning these functions over to private companies will save any money. House Democratic Leader Brian Meyer said “Iowa jobs are for Iowans” and it’s “outrageous” that the governor is laying off 200 state workers in favor of an out of state company “whose executives were charged with foreign bribery in 2019.” The charges against two former Cognizant executives were dismissed last summer after President Trump signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to pause all prosecutions of Americans accused of bribery while trying to do business in other countries.