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

Surviving Budget Chaos

The link below leads to my article with this title published in the November 2012 issue of FedTech Magazine.

For Federal CIOs, the pending sequestration, if implemented, will cause significant turmoil in funding agency IT operations and programs. But even if the sequestration is avoided, cutting Federal costs will be a key action area in moving towards a more balanced budget and reducing the deficit. How will Federal executives fare as they tackle this issue? Can CIOs effectively position IT as a significant tool for delivering efficiency?

http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2012/10/how-survive-budget-chaos

The Business of IT - A Tale of Two Strategies

The article linked below was published in the Summer 2012 edition of FedTech Magazine.

Developing a strategy to progress towards a desired end result is just one component of a successful program. Crafting plans and successfully implementing those plans are equally critical. In my Summer 2012 column in FedTech Magazine, I evaluated two recent strategies issued by the Federal CIO to assess the likelihood of their success. What do you think? To what degree will the Federal government be successful in implementing the shared services and mobile computing strategies released earlier this year?

http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2012/07/finding-right-it-strategies

Why Big Data Is Big

The article linked below was published in the Spring 2012 edition of FedTech Magazine.


Big data is a hot new trend in IT, and the Federal government is moving to put it to use. Big data can help the government become more efficient, which is key in tight budgetary times. The use of big data also holds the possibility of moving government from a "reactive" stance to a "proactive" stance, where it actually attempts to prevent wrongs versus seeking redress - a much more impactive and fundamental change. Are you tracking this trend or working to use big data? Where do you see it first being applied? What are the short and long-term barriers that stand in the way?


http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2012/04/big-data-big-deal-government

The Business of IT - Cloud's Dirty Little Secret

The article linked below was published in the Winter 2012 edition of FedTech Magazine.

Cloud computing has been a hot trend in computing over the last several years, and has been anointed a strategic initiative for the Federal government. Cloud holds great promise as a technology-based service offering that enables government to consolidate and save money as well as providing a platform for innovative new uses of technology.

To achieve the benefit of comprehensive savings and innovation, government will need to move past the "low-hanging" fruit implementations of cloud computing like email and web services and begin to redeploy agency mission systems to the cloud. This will require require major upgrades to systems, complex projects and high risk. How is your agency positioned to undertake this task? Is the journey ahead fully understood? Will government gain full advantage of cloud benefits, or just tangential returns?

http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2012/02/clouds-dirty-little-secret

The Business of IT - Spin Cycle

The article linked below was published in the November 2011 edition of FedTech Magazine.

The article describes some "boorish" behaviors that sometimes emerge in the Federal IT community, for the most part resulting from the politics of Washington, DC.

Have you seen these or similar behaviors from your peers or agency leaders? What other behaviors have you seen in addition to those described here? Do these techniques "win" for those who use them, or do they backfire?

http://www.slideshare.net/vtpw72/fed-tech-nov-11

The Business of IT - Observations from the Field

The link below is to my article in the August 2011 edition of FedTech Magazine.

The article looks at the Obama administration's "25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Information Technology Management" in the Federal government. In doing so, I look at what the Plan accomplished - creating focus, establishing priorities - and also look at what remains to be accomplished, most importantly, implementing the Plan.

What do you think of the Plan? From your view, how well is implementation progressing? What do you think will ultimately be the results achieved and the benefits derived from this Plan?

http://www.slideshare.net/vtpw72/fed-tech-aug-11

The Business of IT - Facing Down the Budget Crisis

The Federal budget crisis is clearly affecting business as usual for all Federal agencies. Federal CIOs are dealing with the leading elements of the budget crisis - short-term funding and more active cross-government oversight of IT spending and projects. Federal CIOs are also in the vanguard of those addressing the Obama administration's IT reform initiative, which is largely focused on consolidation and large-project risk management.

While this crisis creates many difficulties for CIOs, in many ways IT offers the potential for addressing budget shortfalls. IT costs are steadily declining on a price/performance basis, and the CIOs have tremendous opportunity to use their IT dollars more effectively through consolidation and avoidance of duplication. Perhaps more importantly, IT also provides the capability to manage mission programs better by streamlining processes, incorporating new technologies and more fully engaging the citizenry in "self-service" delivery of government services.

Are you seeing the impacts of the budget crisis beginning to affect longer-term strategy? Are components of your agency beginning to work together more cooperatively? Is your senior leadership using the budget as a leverage to deliver meaningful change? Is your CIO organization equipped to play a bigger role in agency transformation?

http://www.slideshare.net/vtpw72/fed-tech-may-2011

The Business of IT - Payment Integrity

Attached below is a link to my latest column in FedTech Magazine on the subject of payment integrity.

Payment integrity and improper payments is a huge problem for the Federal government. In 2010, OMB estimates that Federal agencies released $125 billion in improper payments. There exist commercial analogs that mirror this problem and provide lessons and guidance on how to address it. Should government be doing more to adopt commercial best practices and technologies to reduce improper payments?

http://fedtechmagazine.com/article.asp?item_id=931

The Business of IT - The Customer Service Imperative

The Customer Service Imperative - Citizens have an awareness of what constitutes outstanding customer service and an expectation that government organizations can meet it.
What do you think? How is your organization positioned to help government with this trend? Will serving the public better help improve the public's image of government?

http://http://fedtechmagazine.com/article.asp?item_id=875

Informaton Pedigree

Attached below is a link to my latest column in FedTech Magazine on this subject. Key focuses are the potential, using IT, to move from "reactive" to "proactive" government, and the key role of data provenance/information pedigree to ensure proactive decisions are based on reliable data. I cite as examples the financial crisis and the BP spill as huge system failures that might be avoided.

What do you think of proactive government? When will the citizenry be ready for it? Can IT produce in such a key role? Can government deliver the high quality, reliable information required to make proactive government a reality? Do you see information pedigree as important?


http://fedtechmagazine.com/article.asp?item_id=815