Room for Improvement

My article posted here was published in the Fall 2013 edition of FedTech Magazine.

IT projects have had, at best, a spotted history in terms of success. While technology has, without question, added great value to our standards of living and created great wealth for individuals and communities, many individual projects have failed miserably. At the same time, projects dealing with the construction of real property seem much less prone to failure. Are there lessons to be learned here? What is missing in the Federal approach? Is PortfolioStat making any difference?

Business of IT: Room for Improvement

Thin Value

My article posted here was publishd in the Summer 2013 edition of FedTech Magazine. 

Thin clients offer a number of benefits as end-user replacements for PCs, including lower cost, longer useful life, enhanced security, improved mobility. In today's cloud-based computing environment, why haven't more Federal agencies implemented thin clients as their primary end-user platforms?

http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2013/08/business-case-thin-clients-clear-and-positive

The Business of IT - Find the Right Focus

The partisan environment in Washington has resulted in a near paralysis of logical decision making. The sequestration is just the latest, perhaps most egregious, example. Is this the best our leaders can do? What will it take to change things for the better? How should CIOs and other Federal executives execute their missions under these conditions? Follow the link below to my article in the latest edition of FedTech Magazine for more on this subject.

http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2013/04/how-agencies-can-handle-their-budget-challenges

Can Legislation Strengthen the CIO Role in Government?

The link below leads to my article with this title published in the Winter 2013 issue of FedTech Magazine.

Once again Congress is seeking to strengthen the Federal CIO position throught legislation.  The draft legislation proposed by Congressman Darryl Issa would strengthen the CIOs' authority in the areas of budgets and human resources, but it does not directly address other important characteristics of success for CIOs such as accountability, influence, management competence, and technical understanding. Will the CIO reforms proposed make a significant improvement for CIOs? Should they go further?

The Business of IT - Executive Power