The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
  (1) Administrative Fees--Those fees as authorized under Texas Government Code §2054.380.
  (2) Application--A separately identifiable and interrelated set of information resources technologies that allows for the manipulation of information resources to support specifically defined objectives on a computer.
  (3) Application Services Center - A statewide technology center described in 1 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 215, Subchapters D - E, and as established by the department pursuant to Texas Government Code Chapter 2054, Subchapter L.
  (4) Application Services Center Customer - Any state or local government entity receiving Application Services Center services.
  (5) Bulk Print and Mail--A service capable of offering high-volume printing and mail needs, such as the production of statements, notifications, letters, and other communications in a highly secure and cost-effective manner.
  (6) Cloud computing services-- As defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology or other widely accepted industry standard.
  (7) Customer Representative--Primary point of contact for a Data Center Services Customer who has authority to request services and obligate funds for Data Center Services.
  (8) Data Center--Physical location where computer and data processing equipment is installed and managed.
  (9) Data Center Services (DCS)--A statewide technology center consisting of private and public cloud environments, remote business office compute, mainframe, and bulk print/mail for consolidated data services managed by a contracted vendor(s) established by the department pursuant to Texas Government Code Chapter 2054, Subchapter L and more fully described in subchapters of this rule.
  (10) DCS Customer--Any state or local government entity receiving DCS services.
  (11) Department--The Department of Information Resources.
  (12) Designated State Agency--A state agency selected for required consolidation at a statewide technology center as specified in Texas Government Code §2054.385.
  (13) Disaster Recovery--The process of planning for, and recovering, information infrastructure after a disaster.
  (14) Discretionary State Agency--A state agency voluntarily receiving services from a statewide technology center.
  (15) Government Entity--A state agency or local government as defined herein and in Texas Government Code §2054.003.
  (16) Information Resources--As defined in Texas Government Code §2054.003(7).
  (17) Information Resources Manager (IRM)--As defined in Texas Government Code §2054.071.
  (18) Information Resources Technologies--As defined in Texas Government Code §2054.003(8).
  (19) Interagency Agreement--An agreement, as authorized by Texas Government Code Chapter 771, entered into between the department and any state agency or institution of higher education Statewide Technology Center customer pursuant to which Services are provided to such customer.
  (20) Interlocal Agreement--An agreement, as authorized by Texas Government Code Chapter 791, entered into between the department and any local government Statewide Technology Center customer pursuant to which services are provided to such customer.
  (21) ITCHE--Information Technology Council for Higher Education.
  (22) Local Government--A county, municipality, special district, school district, junior college district, or other political subdivision of the state.
  (23) Mainframe--A high-end computer processor, with related peripheral devices, capable of supporting large volumes of batch processing, high performance on-line transaction processing systems, and extensive data storage and retrieval.
  (24) Network--Means collectively, WAN, LAN, and other communication or transport networks.
  (25) Partner Group--To effectively engage DCS customers in enterprise decision making, governance committees use a representational approach. DCS customers are organized into groups and each governance committee includes the participation of at least one representative from each group.
  (26) Server--Any computer that provides shared processing or resources (e.g. Application processing, identity management, database, mail, proxy, firewalls, backup capabilities, print, and fax services) over the Network. A Server includes associated peripherals (e.g. local storage devices, attachments to centralized storage, monitor, keyboard, pointing device, tape drives, and external disk arrays) and is identified by a unique manufacturer's serial number.
  (27) Server Consolidation--The mandatory consolidation of select servers operated by Designated Agencies from the legacy data centers to the Statewide Technology Center.
  (28) Service Catalog--The online catalog of the services, equipment, software, and configurations of services, equipment, and software based on deployment standards.
  (29) Service Provider--Multi-sourcing Service Integrator (MSI) and Service Component Provider (SCP) vendors offering managed services through the Statewide Technology Center.
  (30) Software-as-a-Service - As defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology or other widely accepted industry standard.
  (31) SMM--Service Management Manual.
  (32) Statewide Technology Center--As defined by Texas Government Code §2054.375(2) and further described in subchapters to this rule.
  (33) System environment--As defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology or other widely accepted industry standard.
  (34) Technology Solution Services Group--A technology steering committee that approves technology plans and technology standards for hardware and software configurations related to Data Center Services.
  (35) Technology Plan--A Data Center Services Plan that reports how the service provider will support DIR and DCS Customers in advancing their technology objectives and strategies.

Source Note: The provisions of this §215.2 adopted to be effective March 17, 2015, 40 TexReg 1368; amended to be effective November 23, 2015, 40 TexReg 8197; amended to be effective August 1, 2021, 46 TexReg 4681