Each agency is built around specific missions and functions, servicing a certain constituency and subject to unique pressures. Their state appropriations and external revenue streams depend first and foremost on meeting their mission requirements. Agencies are understandably reluctant to divert limited resources to any activity which does not appear to help them meet their primary objectives. No widespread tradition of cooperation . Past occasions of multi-agency coordination have been the exception rather than the rule.
Perspectives tend to be inwardly focused.
Technical capabilities and expertise are repeated across many agencies, at no small expense. IT resource limitations . Agency IT managers try to keep up with rapidly changing technology and support the increasing pace of agency operations while facing budget-driven pressures to do more with less. They feel hamstrung by inconsistent and outdated policies, limits on agency authority, barriers to hiring and retaining qualified technical staff, and uneven comprehension of IT's role and potential among agency managers. Under these conditions, it is difficult for them to meet both agency needs and expectations of their participation in cross-agency activities.