The California Department of Information Technology was created in 1995 to provide leadership, guidance, and oversight for information technology (IT) initiatives and projects throughout the state. The complexity of the state's governance and other circumstances created insurmountable challenges, and in 2002, the agency ceased to exist. The authors review lessons from states with exemplary practices in IT governance, identify best practices, and make recommendations for a new agency of information technology in California, pointing out challenges such an agency would likely face.