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November 21, 2010 By Dan Lohrmann
According to Federal Computer Week (FCW), the Obama administration has developed a five-pronged strategy for improving IT management in the federal government. The US Office of Management & Budget (OMB) will be implementing fundamental changes that “entail structural changes in how programs are funded, staffed and managed.”
The plans call for a “cloud-first” policy which boosts the use of government cloud computing for new systems.
The five areas which will see dramatic changes include:
1. Align budgets and acquisitions with the technology cycle.
2. Strengthen program management
3. Increase accountability and streamline government.
4. Increase engagement with industry
5. Adopt light technologies and shared solutions.
These areas are described in more detail in the Federal Computer Week article, and CIO Vivek Kundra will hold a public event Dec. 9 to offer additional details on action items.
Looking through the list, these same actions are bound to become priorities within state governments, in my view. The main reason is that cost-cutting will be even more important in the coming year, as well as showing a return on technology investments. In addition, state governments must follow their federal partners in many cases in order to obtain funding for projects. (In Michigan, approximately 60% of IT dollars spent come from the federal government.)
Therefore, state governments are usually affected by federal trends, either directly or indirectly. Bottom line, expect these same five areas to show up in a state or local government near you. Similar trends can be seen in the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) priority list for the coming year.
What are your thoughts on upcoming management changes in technology for 2011?
November 5, 2010 By Dan Lohrmann
There are many ramifications from the state and local government election results this week, such as this article which highlights new Governors to bring big turnover of State CIOs. So what should current (or prospective) government technology professionals be doing now to prepare for 2011?
One place to start is the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) latest priority list. Here’s a quick peek at the top five priority strategies for 2011:
1. Consolidation / Optimization
2. Budget and Cost Control
3. Health Care
4. Cloud Computing
5. Shared Services
The top five priority technologies for 2011 include:
1. Virtualization (servers, storage, computing, data center)
2. Cloud computing (software as a service, infrastructure, applications, storage)
3. Networking (voice and data communications, unified communications)
4. Legacy application modernization / renovation
5. Identity and access management
I also recommend reading this Governing article on Managing Through a Transition, which was written by the well-respected Scott Pattison back in 2006, but is still just as relevant today.
Another document worth reading is this “issue brief” from the National Governor’s Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices on state government redesign efforts in 2009 and 2010.
Of course, all politics are local, so understanding the priorities from the incoming elected officials is vital.
It’s a good idea to visit the website of our soon-to-be leaders and read about their plans and approaches. Some websites even solicit ideas and take resumes.
Here are a few examples: Governor-elect Rick Snyder in Michigan
Governor-elect Rick Scott in Florida &
Governor-elect Neil Abercrombie in Hawaii
What are your thoughts on transition planning or planning for 2011 and beyond?
Building effective virtual government requires new ideas, innovative thinking and hard work. From federal stimulus projects to enterprise architectures to cloud computing, Dan Lohrmann will discuss what's hot and what's not in the world of technology infrastructure.
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