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Command Prompts and Project Status

Service oriented architecture, IT authentication, business reference model, IT classification reform, strategic sourcing and consolidation

California State CIO Clark Kelso welcomed about 300 agency CIOs and IT staff to the CIO Academy in Sacramento last Tuesday with his own story of personal computing. His two-year old machine slowed down and some Internet sites did not appear, so he installed the Windows PC fixes, fixed the registry and still had difficulties. Some of the things Kelso wanted to do -- like rename an overloaded temp folder and create a new one -- Windows wouldn't allow. So Kelso went back to basics, got back to the black screen and the MS/DOS command prompts. "I experienced a feeling of great calm," said Kelso, "I got back to something that I controlled."

Clark Kelso
Using the MS/DOS command prompt, he renamed the temp file, created a new one, downloaded a new Flash Player and was able to get back online.

When faced with a problem, said Kelso, you can use all the usual tools, or you can step outside the box, do things you weren't supposed to be able to do, and get down to the roots of the situation. That's part of leadership, he said. "If you don't have a seat at the executive table," he said, "get down to a command prompt, work your way up to the CEO, finance director, etc. find ways to solve these problems.

"How do you forge a new or better relationship with people who are critical to your success? Show up with some savings ... bring something of value to the table."

Project Status
Kelso named some IT projects that were moving forward, including a draft service oriented architecture document published Jan 30. He suggested that those wanting to comment on it do so quickly in order to have suggestions considered by the IT council.

He said draft documents on ID authentication and a business reference model will be released shortly. A collaborative HR project to reform the IT classification and testing system is also moving along well, he said, which should provide "a renaissance in IT workforce procedures," with more focused hiring and workforce development.

Kelso said strategic sourcing is going well, and has provided very large annual savings, with only a handful of requests for exemption. Likewise, consolidation is going faster than planned, and "saving more money than we told anybody we would save."

Photo: Michael Williams
Wayne E. Hanson served as a writer and editor with e.Republic from 1989 to 2013, having worked for several business units including Government Technology magazine, the Center for Digital Government, Governing, and Digital Communities. Hanson was a juror from 1999 to 2004 with the Stockholm Challenge and Global Junior Challenge competitions in information technology and education.