Skip to Content
Pure Storage + Indiana Office of Technology

Modernizing State Services for Every Citizen

To remove technology inefficiencies and better serve Hoosiers, the Indiana Office of Technology replaced the state’s legacy infrastructure with Pure Storage, saving millions of dollars and countless hours.

Actions
min. read
Challenges
Indiana Office of Technology aims to continuously raise the standard of the state’s technology infrastructure for its agencies, which serve 6.7 million residents. It needed to remove inefficiencies and give state employees more time to work with state agencies, improve quality of services, and find innovative new ways to serve citizens.
Results
Indiana Office of Technology chose Pure Storage to kick-start its digital transformation with a strong data storage platform that enables agencies to push the boundaries of expectations. The Pure Storage platform drives performance of even the heaviest enterprise workloads, saving state employees and citizens time when accessing files, uploading aid applications, or filtering through job postings. Pure Storage delivers non-disruptive upgrades and data protection capabilities to keep citizen data safe.
Reduction
50%
in administrative tasks
Of dollars saved
Millions
in hardware, software, and maintenance
Less time spent
70%
on maintenance
Smaller
66%
flash storage data center footprint

Introduction

Created to consolidate IT across Indiana state government, Indiana Office of Technology focuses on improving service levels for citizens, protecting against data loss, and supporting digital transformation. It helps 92 agencies with 35,000 employees across the state gain efficiency and maintain both infrastructure and data security. By consolidating on the Pure Storage platform, the Indiana Office of Technology saves time and money, investing both back into services and technology. With more resources and time, it can focus on innovation to deliver better performance, new services, security, and more.

“Pure Storage gives us a future-proof platform that can evolve and scale alongside us.”

John Thatcher

Assistant IT Director, Indiana Office of Technology

John Thatcher has always had a strong desire to serve others. It’s what inspired him to enroll in the U.S. Air Force, and later to join the Indiana Office of Technology (IOT) more than a decade ago. Today, as Assistant IT Director, Thatcher leads IOT in supporting the technology needs for the state of Indiana. That includes 92 agencies, with 35,000 employees, doing work that touches all 6.7 million residents of Indiana.

From day one, the goal has been to remove technology inefficiencies and give state employees more time to work with state agencies, improve quality of services, and find innovative new ways to serve Hoosiers. Thatcher has helped IOT achieve this and more by consolidating the state’s legacy infrastructure with Pure Storage, saving millions of dollars in hardware, software, and maintenance costs and countless hours of work. 

As a result, IOT has kick-started a digital transformation in the Hoosier State with a strong data storage platform that enables agencies to push the boundaries of what’s expected from state organizations. For leading the way with breakthrough innovations, IOT is the 2024 Pure Storage Visionary of the Year.

Creating Excellent Citizen Service Experiences

Indiana citizens rely on IOT agencies for many reasons: to renew their driver’s licenses, register to vote, manage their income taxes, reserve a campground, connect with social services, and much more. A simple, reliable, and agile data storage platform enables IOT to deliver these high-quality services, all while driving significant cost savings that can be reinvested into further innovation. 

The Pure Storage platform supports 90% of the state’s IT infrastructure, driving performance of even the heaviest enterprise workloads. For citizens and the state employees who serve them, that means less time accessing files, uploading aid applications, or filtering through employment opportunities. 

Crucially, it also means there are no storage-related service interruptions for state agencies such as social services and law enforcement. Pure Storage is more reliable and requires less maintenance. With the Pure Storage® Evergreen® architecture, upgrades are completely non-disruptive, and the storage technology remains ever modern. 

“Our citizens expect a certain level of digital savvy, and the performance and reliability that goes along with it,” says Thatcher. “Pure gives us a future-proof platform that can evolve and scale alongside us.”

Breakthrough Award Winner: Indiana Office of Technology, Visionary of the Year

The Indiana Office of Technology (IOT) empowers 92 state agencies to deliver services to 6.7 million citizens. With Pure Storage, IOT has saved millions of dollars in hardware, software, and maintenance costs, and countless hours of work.
Breakthrough Award Winner: Indiana Office of Technology, Visionary of the Year
The Indiana Office of Technology (IOT) empowers 92 state agencies to deliver services to 6.7 million citizens. With Pure Storage, IOT has saved millions of dollars in hardware, software, and maintenance costs, and countless hours of work.
Actions
min. read

Enhanced Protection for Citizen Data

Like other state departments, IOT acts as a steward of its citizens’ personal data. This also makes it a constant target for bad actors. 

IOT now has a data protection strategy in place that leverages Pure Storage platform capabilities to keep data even more safe from hackers, natural disasters, or even human error. It has also simplified and accelerated its log analytics, improving its security, compliance, troubleshooting, and overall data observability. 

“The people of Indiana trust us with their data, and we take data protection very seriously,” says Thatcher. “We now have a platform that enables us to expand on these capabilities to make our environment as secure as possible.”

“We take data protection very seriously. We now have a platform that enables us to expand on these capabilities to make our environment as secure as possible.”

John Thatcher

Assistant IT Director, Indiana Office of Technology

Putting the Focus on Innovation

As a result of IOT’s investment, citizens are benefitting from incredible cost-efficiencies. With a single, consolidated data storage platform, the team spends up to 70% less time on maintenance, which means more time to focus on supporting new technology projects.

IOT halved both administrative tasks and annual software licensing fees through the predictability and reliability of Pure Storage. IOT also reduced its flash storage data center footprint by two-thirds. To date, IOT has saved millions of dollars in hardware and licensing expenses—dollars the State of Indiana can invest back into services and technology.

With more resources and time on their hands, IOT can focus more on innovation: better performance, new services, security, and more.

We’re excited to see what IOT will think of next, and how their technical leadership might inspire other government agencies across the country to take advantage of technology to better serve their citizens. Congratulations to IOT for winning the 2024 Pure Storage Visionary of the Year Award.

More Stories Like This
Hôpital Montfort Cures its Storage Woes
"Pure Storage allows us to be much more responsive to our operational teams by eliminating the question of capacity from the equation."
Richard DeVore headshot
Richard DeVore
Chief Architect
Richard DeVore headshot
Richard DeVore
Chief Architect
City of Bloomington Modernizes for the Data Age
Your Browser Is No Longer Supported!

Older browsers often represent security risks. In order to deliver the best possible experience when using our site, please update to any of these latest browsers.