The Data Center Consolidation Project

Data center consolidation projects are not out of fashion yet. NYC and the feds move to consolidate their sprawling infrastructure to gain financial and energy efficiencies. ...

NYC Data Center Consolidation via InformationWeek: "current IT infrastructure of New York City is fragmented, with more than 50 unique data centers serving nearly 48 city agencies, many located in prime commercial real estate space. " NYC IT plans overhaul of data infrastructure: "The consolidation will lower the City’s cost of operations by up to $100 million over five years, reduce energy consumption and emissions, strengthen security, and improve overall IT service quality for agencies."

Federal Data Center Consolidation via Data Center Knowledge: Agencies are challenged to ... "prepare an inventory of the IT assets by April 30 and develop a preliminary data center consolidation plan by June 30. " by Federal CIO.

Stabilization Phase of Projects

Often, there is a short support period after a project phase is completed and the team moves on to the next phase as planned in the schedule. State of Georgia meets with some success by planning for the stabilization phase and slowing down the phases, as necessary, to bring the organization and process to a stable state prior to next-phase kickoff. ...

... "Still, Moore said the biggest challenge has been holding vendors back from launching new phases of the project before agency managers were ready." ...

Via Stateline: Making IT work in state government

Project Visibility

Federal CIO makes progress with government IT strategy, enabling data and project visibility through dashboards. ...

... "And the recently launched federal IT Dashboard--a display of IT project status that corporations would do well to mimic--has not only given the public visibility into the performance of Uncle Sam's big-ticket IT projects, but put agency CIOs on notice that execution matters. " ...

Via InformationWeek: Vivek Kundra

Project Oversight Minimum

While every project should be managed well, there will be problems that require the project manager, a steering team, and a project portfolio oversight role to understand the truth about status and provide transparency to leadership. In this case, systemic cultural barriers makes governance even more challenging. ...

... "A culture of over-optimism held sway, the committee found, and financial management was deficient to the extent that costs and progress were not monitored or reported for the first three years ... " ...

Via politics.co.uk: Minimum competence required

Systemic Problems Require Project Capability Change

Systemic problems with project management at VA suggest improvement opportunities in the front-end and with inflight project oversight. ...

... "Replacement Scheduling Application: no single leader guided overall implementation, there was no overarching risk manager, no integrated project plan, and frequent management churn, while training money was used for other purposes than the RSA project. " ...

Via InformationWeek: VA CIO

Halt Who Goes There ?

The VA executes a reset on the under-performing segment of its project portfolio. ...

... "Each of the 45 projects will be temporarily halted. No further development will occur and expenditures will be minimized. A new project plan that meets the requirements of Program Management Accountability System (PMAS) must be created by the project manager ... " ...

Via Department of Veterans Affairs: Increased Accountability

G-Cloud Project

Government leaders are looking to the cloud computing model as a means to leverage their IT applications investment, so that over time a robust application portfolio is available to the community. ...

... "Development of G-cloud is to be made a priority, according to the Digital Britain report, and while the plan is developed over the next three years, all other IT services procurement should look to follow a similar model in preparation. " ...

Via UK Computing: Government app store

Dashboard Transparency

Expect increased transparency in IT from the current administration, with fresh-look CIO dashboard ready for updated content. ...

... "A few days later at the Management of Change conference in Norfolk, Va., Kundra publicly unveiled the IT dashboard, surprising and exciting both CIOs and vendors alike. " ...

Via Federal News Radio: CIO dashboard

CyberSecurity Role

New cyber-security role to be created in US Government. The information and network security strategy will be refreshed. Cross-governmental integration and public / private partnerships will be used to strengthen the quality of this effort. Protection of privacy remains a key principle. ...

... "Today, I want to focus on the important responsibilities this office will fulfill: orchestrating and integrating all cybersecurity policies for the government; working closely with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure agency budgets reflect those priorities; and, in the event of major cyber incident or attack, coordinating our response. To ensure that federal cyber policies enhance our security and our prosperity, my Cybersecurity Coordinator will be a member of the National Security Staff as well as the staff of my National Economic Council. To ensure that policies keep faith with our fundamental values, this office will also include an official with a portfolio specifically dedicated to safeguarding the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. " ...

Via The White House: Cyber Infrastructure

Renewed Commitment to Project Requirements

US CIO and OMB look to focus on the front-end of projects to improve the development of business requirements and position the project portfolio for greater predictability in cost performance. ...

... "He said the OMB was looking for ways to overhaul IT project management in government, starting by creating better project requirements in order to foster cost control before the projects even begin. " ...

Via Information Week: IT Project Management

New CIO to Drive Innovation

You can read the new CIO job description in the link. This appointment should work to revitalize the IT function in government, where significant opportunity to innovate remains untapped. ...

... "Obama: I have directed him to work to ensure that we are using the spirit of American innovation and the power of technology to improve performance and lower the cost of government operations. As Chief Information Officer, he will play a key role in making sure our government is running in the most secure, open, and efficient way possible. " ...

Via The White House: Vivek Kundra Chief Information Officer

A video clip from 2008 ...

Virtual CIO Planned

Government IT will get an efficiency and alignment boost with virtual CIO's ...

... "Rebecca tells us the 20-year-old company is creating a virtual CIO that can give clients an IT strategy. " ...

Via Washington Tech Bis Now: TWIN TECH

Government IT Strategy Sees Smart Island

Malta sets new IT strategy to create a smart island. ...

... "In terms of the new strategy, the government wanted to see IT in every aspect of life, with the country exploiting all the opportunities which IT offered and all the people benefiting from these gains. " ...

Via Times of Malta: Smart Island

Government IT Project Short-List

Trust, credibility and competence are called into question when risky government IT projects are undertaken. The UK ID card project is not leveraging lessons-learned. ...

... "Asked to name one IT project where the government has got it right over the past decade, and the answer appears quickly enough: there is none. " ...

Via Sunday Herald: Lost Discs

Project Transparency and Oversight

High-risk government IT projects are on the rise as federal project managers share the facts on their projects. This is a good thing as there's significant investment at risk. ...

... "OMB attributed the increase to better oversight of the projects and better reporting. " ...

Via FederalTimes: Project Management

Government IT Projects: COTS

Governments are getting fiscally smarter by making smarter software investment decisions, such as common off-the-shelf software, COTS, when IT projects are considered. ...

... "Another change lawmakers approved would require agencies to justify paying for a custom-built computer system whenever they decide they don't want to use a standard off-the-shelf program. " ...

Via Pierce County Herald: Government IT Projects

IT Org Model Seeks to Integrate Distributed Teams

Government reorganizes IT leadership in order to increase performance on key projects and initiatives. ...

... "The idea is for the governor's respected Chief Information Officer Michael Locatis to forge better collaboration and expertise-sharing among information technology teams now scattered across 20 agencies ... " ...

Via GovExec: Reorganizing for IT Project Success

Project Business Case: Watch List

Feds make progress in managing down project gaps as watch list volume decreases. ...

... "The management watch list highlights weak business cases for hundreds of government IT projects. The projects are considered at risk because of deficient acquisition strategies, poor data security measures or flawed design plans. " ...

Via Federal Times: Project Business Case and Watch List

Government IT Project Cancelled

Wisconsin IT project cancelled after delays and overruns in upgrading a legacy system. ...

... "The project was halted in the second of seven phases, which involved an appeals system that was never completed due to delays and the accompanying expense ... " ...

Via Wisconsin Technology Network: Wisconsin Technology Projects

Federal-IT Project Management Progress

Feds make progress on the IT project management front, close gaps in security, and have more work to do on talent. ...

... "OMB also reported that, based on current agency submissions, 83 percent of major IT investments have qualified project managers compared with approximately 70 percent reported in last year's submissions. " ...

Via GCN: IT Perspective on the Federal Budget