Going Mobile - Bitly

VO LU M E 24 • N U M B E R 23

S t r at e gy a n d B u s i n e s s M a n ag e m e n t f o r G o v e r n m e n t L e a d e r s | November 29, 2010

FCW.C O M

Going Mobile

What’s Next? No part of enterprise IT will look the same once mobile devices take over Page 16

Program Management:

OMB’s Five-Pronged Strategy Page 3 Acquisition:

How to Improve RFPs Page 22

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THE

Edited by John Stein Monroe

Reform

BUZZ

STAN BAROUH

OMB Puts Stamp on IT Management The Obama administration’s five-pronged strategy for improving the federal government’s ability to deliver large IT programs has been greeted with kudos and caveats: Kudos for developing an aggressive plan that seeks to make substantial change, and caveats because it is an aggressive plan that seeks to make substantial change. The strategy, which will be launched during the next six months by the President’s Management Council, entails structural changes in how programs are funded, staffed and managed. The plan includes: ■ Aligning budget and acquisition schedules more closely. ■ Developing a professional acquisition corps. ■ Increasing accountability for outcomes by reducing ineffective layers of oversight. ■ Engaging more closely with the IT industry. ■ Prioritizing cloud-based solutions. By fixing perpetual management problems, administration officials believe they can make it easier for agencies to take advantage of ongoing advances in the IT industry. IT management “needs to be more agile, more adaptable to new technologies, more accountable and more focused on results,” said Jeffrey Zients, chairman of the council and OMB’s acting director. He announced the plan Nov. 19 at an event sponsored by the Northern Virginia Technology Council. “Too often, IT projects are over budget, behind schedule and fail to deliver results,” he said. “Fixing IT is central to everything we are trying to do. IT is our top priority.”

OMB’s Jeffrey Zients

Officials at TechAmerica, an IT industry group, strongly support the strategy, particularly because the administration seems intent on pushing it through. “OMB’s six-month time frame shows that they are serious about setting a prudent, common-sense course for improving federal technology,” Phil Bond, TechAmerica’s president, wrote in a letter to Congress. “This framework for improving large federal IT implementations is eminently achievable with the right action plan,” he added. Alan Balutis, a director in the Internet Business Solutions Group at Cisco Systems, said the administration has brought together the key elements for making IT management work, such as governance, purchasing and the workforce. But the most challenging part for Zients will be getting Congress on board, Balutis said. Zients is seeking more agility in budgeting and appropriating funds in exchange for enhanced transparency and accountability. “We’ll see how it works out on the Hill,” Balutis said. Other aspects of the strategy could also be difficult to achieve. Among its new reform initiatives, OMB officials want to improve the

Tomorrow’s spin on today’s news

flow of information between government contracting officials and industry representatives. They believe they can do that if both sides are better educated about what type of communication is permissible under the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Experts say government and industry talks have nearly ceased because of a fear of overstepping a fine line. A single gaffe could cut short a procurement on which an agency has spent a lot of time. Stan Soloway, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, recently said agencies can get sharper and more innovative bids on future projects if acquisition officials talk to companies that didn’t win a contract. They could explain to the losing bidders why they didn’t win, which will help those companies the next time around. In a recent survey by the Professional Services Council, a procurement official said a good relationship between government and industry can be profoundly productive. Right now, the two sides need to find a way to strengthen that relationship. “We need a way to create a functional environment so that we can leverage that relationship to get the latest technology and skills, and that takes a culture of innovation,” the official said. “Right now, it’s not where it needs to be.” Meanwhile, Robert Kahn, chairman, president and CEO of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives and one of the founding designers of the Internet, questioned some of the administration’s assumptions about cloud computing. In particular, Kahn challenged the notion that agencies can successfully shift to proposed cloud computing platforms. He said the government first needs to build a foundational plan to support cloud computing, which involves taking an openarchitecture approach. TURN TO PAGE 6 FOR MORE BUZZ

November 29, 2010 FCW.COM

3

C O N T E N TS

FCW.COM

F E AT U R E S 16 22

| Here’s how the wave of new mobile and wireless applications will change your enterprise IT

THIS TIME IT’S PERSONAL

NEW BIDS FOR BETTER RFPs

| Procurement experts off er

their suggestions for improving how agencies define program requirements 30

PAIGE ATKINS

THE BUZZ

15

CURRENTS 8

ON THE CIRCUIT

10

BLOG BRIEF

11

HARD COPY

32

COMMENTARY 13 Getting a Fix on

IT Performance by Alan Balutis

33

14 Take a Cue from

Navy Social Media by Kristin Bockius and Mark Drapeau

34

Agency Index

Army ...................... 16 Census ................... 10 Congress .......... 6, 7, 11 DISA ................. 16, 30 The Lesson From Google’s Lawsuit FCC ......................... 11 by Chris Bronk GSA ................... 22, 32 HOME PAGES Industry ....... 15, 22, 16 ACQUISITION CORNER: Interior ................... 15 Steve Kempf ’s Practical Approach to NARA .................... 33 Procurement NASA .................... 10 by Matthew Weigelt Navy................... 14, 22 GOV 2.0: Save Th at Tweet? OMB ........................ 3 Social Media and the Archiving Challenge State Dept. ............. 10 by Alice Lipowicz VA ............................ 10 BACK TALK White House ........ 6, 7

ED I TO R’S NOT E

MAN AGI NG EDI TO R/ P RI NT

John Stein Monroe

Terri J. Huck

Michael Hardy

SE NI O R EDI TO RS

Matthew Weigelt John Zyskowski

E DITOR-AT-L ARGE

Wyatt Kash STAFF W RITE RS

Amber Corrin, Henry Kenyon, Alice Lipowicz CONTRIBUTING W RITE RS

Alan Joch, John Moore, Brian Robinson COLUMNISTS

Chris Bronk, Steve Kelman CRE ATIVE DIRECTOR

DIRECTO R O F O P ERATI O NS

Jeff Langkau

Michael Protos

ART DIRECTORS

COPY EDI TO RS

Kimberly Conway Sam Votsis

Whitt Flora Donald White

W E B DESIGN

Biswarup Bhattacharjee E DITOR-IN- CHIE F/ONL INE

Susan Miller WEB PRODUCERS

Heather Kuldell, Natalie Willis CHIE F TECHNOLOGIST/ DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT INNOVATION

Staffan Sandberg

Jennifer Weiss

Call it chaos. Call it what you will, but the IT department is losing control of the infrastructure. Whatever PC might be on the office desktop, for many employees, the PC of choice is their own smart phone, tablet or netbook, and their favorite software is an app. An IT manager could give you a dozen reasons why this is a bad development, but there’s no going back. Going forward, then, the question is how the IT department should adapt to this new environment. What does it mean in terms of plans for buying hardware, software and security solutions? And how do those devices fit into the enterprise architecture? In our cover story, contributing writer Alan Joch explores five ways through which advanced mobile technology could change the enterprise — and how IT managers can cope. Elsewhere in the issue, longtime IT consultant Ray Kane gets a conversation going about how procurement staff members could do a better job of identifying program requirements. His proposal: Stop talking about requirements altogether. Instead, find other ways to ask program managers about the needs they are trying to deal with. Six other acquisition experts weigh in, either responding to Kane’s proposal or offering their suggestions for making sure bidders know what they’re bidding on and agencies end up with the program they want. Of course, the difficulties with program management go way beyond the question of requirements. Alan Balutis, one of the founding members of the CIO Council and now an executive at Cisco Systems, identifies five problems that complicate federal programs and suggests paths for moving ahead. His comment article is based on studies done in the past four years by a veritable who’s who of current and former government executives. By the way, Balutis reflects further on this topic at his new FCW.com blog, “The Net.Worker.” Check it out. — John Monroe [email protected] November 29, 2010 FCW.COM

E DITOR

VP/GROUP PUBL ISHE R

POWER TO THE PEOPLE? Call it a grass-roots revolution.

4

Anne Armstrong

MANAGING E DITOR/ DAILY RE PORT

| DISA’s Evolving Mission

D E PA RT M E N T S 3

VOLUME 24 • NUMBER 23

PRESIDE NT AND E DITOR-IN- CHIE F

DIRECTOR OF MARKE TING

Mark J. Feldman

PRESIDE NT AND CHIE F E XECUTIVE OFFI CER

Neal Vitale SE NIOR VICE PRESIDE NT AND CHIE F FI NANCI AL O FFI CER

Richard Vitale E XECUTIVE VICE PRESIDE NT

Michael J. Valenti SE NIOR VICE PRESIDE NT, AUDIE NCE DEVELO P M ENT & DIGITAL ME DIA

Abraham M. Langer VICE PRESIDE NT, FINANCE & ADMINISTRATI O N

Christopher M. Coates VICE PRESIDE NT, INFORMATION TECHNO LO GY& APPL ICATION DE VE LOPME NT

Erik A. Lindgren VICE PRESIDE NT, ATTE NDE E MARKE TI NG

Carmel McDonagh VICE PRESIDE NT, E VE NT OPE RATIONS

David F. Myers CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Jeffrey S. Klein HOW TO REACH THE STAFF You can reach staff members of 1105 Government Information Group. A list of staff members can be found online at www.fcw.com. E-mail: Staff members can be reached by using the naming convention of first initial followed by their last name @1105govinfo.com. Falls Church Office (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET) (703) 876-5100; Fax (703) 876-5126 3141 Fairview Park Dr., Suite 777, Falls Church, VA 22042 Corporate Office (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. PT) (818) 814-5200; Fax (818) 734-1522 9201 Oakdale Avenue, Suite 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311

Federal Computer Week (ISSN 0893-052X) is published 24 times a year, one issue in Dec., two issues in Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May, Jul., Aug., Sep., Oct. and Nov., three issues in Jun, by 1105 Media, Inc., 9201 Oakdale Avenue, Ste. 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311. Periodicals postage paid at Chatsworth, CA 91311-9998, and at additional mailing offices. Complimentary subscriptions are sent to qualifying subscribers. Annual subscription rates payable in U.S. funds for nonqualified subscribers are: U.S. $125.00, International $165.00. Annual digital subscription rates payable in U.S. funds for non-qualified subscribers are: U.S. $125.00, International $125.00. Subscription inquiries, back issue requests, and address changes: Mail to: Federal Computer Week, P.O. Box 2166, Skokie, IL 60076-7866, email [email protected] or call (866) 293-3194 for U.S. & Canada; (847) 763-9560 for International, fax (847) 763-9564. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Federal Computer Week, P.O. Box 2166, Skokie, IL 60076-7866. Canada Publications Mail Agreement No: 40612608. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to Circulation Dept. or Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2 or IMS/NJ. Attn: Returns, 310 Paterson Plank Road, Carlstadt, NJ 07072.

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THE BUZZ (Continued from Page 3) BUZZ FACTOR TITLE

These were the most-read stories on FCW.com during the past two weeks. Edited by Michael Hardy SUMMARY

OUTLOOK

1. 2. 3. 4.

Debt commission aims at feds’ pay, benefits

A federal commission is recommending ways to reduce the national debt (See story, Page 7).

With Republicans in charge of the House, calls for spending cuts are going to increase. Your paycheck could be at risk.

4 ingredients of a telework success

Federal organizations with successful telework programs share some of their secrets.

With winter on its way, smart agencies are preparing for office closures by beefing up their telework plans.

Federal pay raise challenged, but union head defends it

The president of the National Treasury Employees Union lashes out at what she believes is an unfair portrayal of overpaid feds.

Remember those Republicans we mentioned? Some of them are planning to oppose your pay raise on the grounds that you’re overpaid as it is.

GSA employee’s error exposes entire staff to potential identity theft

5. 6. 7.

A General Services Administration employee apparently sent a Although it does not appear that the information has been file that contained personally identifiable information, including misused, the agency is offering a year of free identity theft insurance. Another close call. Here’s hoping luck holds. Social Security numbers, for all GSA employees to someone outside the agency.

Federal vs. private pay: The latest take on who makes more

An analysis shows that the gap between federal and private-sector pay is widening.

The growth in the gap is more than the planned raise, if you get one, so look for the chasm to get even wider.

3 case studies in social media experimentation

We profile agencies that took chances with social media and show how their experiments turned out.

The future of Gov 2.0 belongs to those who are willing to take risks and learn from them.

8.

Does Google’s lawsuit mean After getting no help via the protest process, Google has sued that cloud computing has to be allowed to compete for a contract written to exclude hit the bigtime? everyone but Microsoft.

If cloud computing is considered common enough that agencies have favorites to play, it’s a sign that the concept has gone mainstream.

Army CIO Sorenson retires quietly

Those are big shoes, but there are some big-footed contenders.

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson retired as Army CIO, leaving questions about who will fill his shoes.

White House

Online privacy, always a touchy subject when so many people are networking and shopping via the Internet, is about to become a political football. According to Julia Angwin at the Wall Street Journal, the Obama administration is poised to name a so-called privacy czar who will take the lead on strengthening online privacy protections. A forthcoming report from the Commerce Department outlines the administration’s proposals, which could include new legislation, Angwin reports. It’s not altogether surprising, particularly given some recent high-profile privacy mishaps, writes Jacqui Cheng at Ars Technica. For example, some popular Facebook apps apparently have been providing user data to outside commercial parties. And Google has gotten heat for collecting user data from unprotected Wi-Fi networks through its Street View cars. “Crackdowns on some of these issues have been led by countries with more aggressive privacy laws, with the Federal Trade Commission lagging behind, which 6


the [Wall Street Journal’s] sources indicate is the purpose of the new initiative: to bring the U.S. up-to-speed,” Cheng writes. Until now, FTC was lagging behind by choice, at least in part. Rather than dictate data collection practices, the commission

has focused on identifying bad actors and encouraging the marketing industry to police itself, writes Steve Smith at MediaPost.com’s “Behavioral Insider” blog. “If the report proves true, then this puts the debates over online privacy at a whole new level,” Smith writes.

However, the administration’s plans for more active involvement could run afoul of the soon-to-be-Republican-controlled House. “While Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have expressed general support for privacy, they are unlikely to support expanding the regulatory purview of the agencies most likely to be in charge of enforcing new privacy rules, such as the Federal Trade Commission,” writes Joe Mullin at paidContent.org. In some cases, reaction to the news took an Orwellian slant, except instead of people worrying about Big Brother watching them, they were concerned about Big Brother stopping other people from watching them. It is “somewhat ironic to think that an increase in government monitoring and policing of online activities will do anything to increase privacy for consumers,” writes a blogger at Infosec Island. “As a free society, we need to be careful about empowering federal bureaucracies in order to preserve individual freedoms.”

GETTY IMAGES

Privacy Push Could Get Pushback

Wo r k f o r c e

Fed Worker Cuts: Penny-Wise, Pound Foolish? Only in the government can one ask a ment and program management specialquestion and get two opposite answers ists who can make sure agencies buy and develop new systems more wisely. That’s that are both correct. For example, ask how the federal govern- one of the conclusions of a report last ment can cut expenses to help reduce its bal- month from industry group TechAmerica looning deficit, as President Barack Obama Foundation. did when he created the bipartisan National And that’s not just industry’s opinion. As Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and part of its plan to save $100 billion in five Reform, and you would be equally correct years by being a smarter buyer, the Defense whether you said part of Department will continue to the solution is to decrease boost the ranks of its acquisithe number of federal tion workforce, which had been severely downsized in workers or increase the ranks of certain employthe 1990s, reports Matthew ees. Come again? Weigelt on FCW.com. So once again, governThe less-is-cheaper ment workers find themapproach in the form of selves at the center of politia three-year freeze on cal debates about the best federal salaries and a 10 percent reduction in the Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson way to make the governfederal workforce is one ment more cost-effective. of the many measures that commission The Washington Post’s Joe Davidson co-chairmen Erskine Bowles, a former writes that the debt commission’s proposals chief of staff in the Clinton White House, mark a shift in the atmosphere surroundand Alan Simpson, former Republican ing the federal workforce. senator from Wyoming, included in their “With their bipartisan pedigree, offered draft recommendations released earlier by two men who aren’t gunning for quick this month. headlines, the draft proposals give an On the other hand, some experts say the increased level of support and legitimacy government could save plenty of money on for some of the points Republicans have big IT projects if it had more of the right made about federal pay and staffing,” Davidkind of employees, specifically procure- son writes. In recent months, Republicans

have called for cutting or freezing the size of the federal workforce and employees’ compensation, Davidson notes. But the math behind the proposed workforce cuts doesn’t add up, specifically when it comes to maintaining government service levels, writes Stan Collender on the “Capital Gains and Games” blog. He points out that pay cuts will prompt some experienced workers to quit in search of better opportunities, which will make conditions worse for the leaner staffs left behind. The “Bowles-Simpson [draft] projects substantial savings based on the expectation that a less experienced and much smaller federal workforce will be more productive and just as effective [as] the more experienced and larger workforce it replaces,” Collender writes. “That makes absolutely no sense.” With any luck, prudent minds will prevail and workforce adjustments will be made free of political expediency or blunt across-the-board cuts, if changes are made at all. But that might be too much to ask. “If any of these goals were easy, they would have been accomplished long ago,” writes Brian Wingfield on Forbes’ “Business in the Beltway” blog. “It’s easy for Bowles and Simpson to make these suggestions — they’re not running for anything.”

Survey Says: Acquisition Workforce Goes Hungry The federal government is respond-

the average was 3.3, with no one

ing to the ever-increasing acquisi-

giving it a 1 or a 5.

tion workload by investing in auditors

The survey, conducted by Grant

rather than the acquisition workforce,

Thornton and the Professional Serv-

according to a recent survey.

ices Council, also found widespread

Of the 33 federal procurement

support for the idea of broadening

executives surveyed, 86 percent said

the definition of the acquisition work-

more resources are going into over-

force to include program managers,

sight activities than contract admin-

contracting officers’ technical repre-

istration. That’s a slight decrease

sentatives and others.

from the 90 percent who said the

AP WIDEWORLD

same in 2008.

Have the resources to administer contracts increased enough?

5% Yes

9%

To a certain extent

On the whole, the survey “reveals a widening chasm between the trajec-

On what might be a related note,

tory of acquisition policy and what

the morale of the acquisition work-

government acquisition professionals

force is decidedly middling: On a

believe will add value to the mission

scale of 1 (low morale) to 5 (high),

of the government,” the report states.

NO 86%


7

O N T H E CI R CU IT COMMUNITY Here’s a coffee table book for the federal IT managers on your holiday list: “20 Years of Partnership: A Pictorial History of the Industry Advisory Council’s Executive Leadership Conference,” by Don Arnold.

Soraya Correa

The slender hardcover starts with the first ELC in Charlottesville, Va., in 1991, which had 125 attendees. “Lots of things were different in 1991,” Arnold writes. “It was the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the personal computer from [IBM]. 640 kilobytes was considered a lot of memory, but there was a growing demand for more.… In August of that year, Tim Berners-Lee posted an announcement and a specification for something he called the World Wide Web, and the first two Web pages were made public.” Since then, there have been 20 ELCs

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson

— three in Charlottesville; seven in Richmond, Va.; five in Hershey, Pa.; and five in Williamsburg, Va. Arnold’s book brims with pictures from the events and excerpts from their programs. In an essay titled “The Next Twenty Years,” Arnold predicts that the conference will continue to evolve. “ELC is different today than Back Then, but so is the world we work and live in,” he writes. “Many of us miss the intimacy of a conference with only 150 people and the opportunity we had

to work together on larger issues. But today everything is different. The Internet changed everything. Sept. 11 changed everything. PCs changed everything. [The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act] changed everything. Ad nauseam. Everything changed, just like it always does.” Arnold is principal analyst at Quantified Perception. The winner of the 2010 Securing Americans’ Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award is Trudy Givens, an employee of the Bureau of Prisons. Her winning suggestion: Stop mailing thousands of Federal Registers to government employees and let them read the publication online instead. The book of public notices and regulatory proposals is mailed to nearly 10,000 federal employees every workday. The SAVE Award gives federal employees a chance to suggest ways agencies can

2011 Federal 100: Call for Nominations Federal Computer Week is now accepting nominations for the 2011 Federal 100 awards program, which recognizes individuals in government and industry who have played pivotal roles in the federal IT community. All nominations must be submitted via the electronic form at www.fcw.com/federal 100. The deadline is Dec. 17. Here are guidelines for submitting nominations.

■

■

8

Focus on the individual. The Federal 100 program recognizes outstanding contributions by individuals, not groups or projects. Focus on the impact. Explain how a nominee’s work made a significant difference, either in the organization or the community at large. Do not nominate people simply for doing their jobs. Focus on achievements in 2010. If the work for which you are nominating the person is part of an ongoing project, explain the significance of his or her accomplishments in calendar year


■

Look for the unsung heroes. Keep an eye out for individuals who, without the benefit of visibility or influence, made a difference through their creativity, energy and sheer tenacity.

When filling out the form: ■

■

Be sure to include information on supporting nominators. But do not list someone who is unaware of the nomination. If the nomination recognizes work done in or on behalf of government, be sure that either the primary or at

least one supporting nominator comes from government. ■

Do not duplicate the content of a nomination submitted by someone else.

■

Please observe the limits on word counts.

If you have questions, contact Senior Editor John Monroe at [email protected].

RIGHT/STAN BAROUH

■

2010 and why they are deserving of recognition in this year’s awards program. Nominations without this information may be rejected.

save money. The White House received more than 18,000 ideas this year. Three of the four finalists urged the government to use IT to save money. Jeffrey Zients, the government’s chief performance officer and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, announced the finalists on his blog earlier this month. In addition to Givens’ idea, the IT-related suggestions were to: ■ Post public notices about seized property online, not in newspapers. ■ Require mine operators to submit quarterly reports online rather than mailing paper forms. Online reporting would save money on production and postage, reduce input errors, and facilitate faster analysis of the data. Givens will have the chance to present her idea to President Barack Obama at the White House. Politicians always want to reduce wasteful or fraudulent spending, Zients said in a video about the SAVE Award. Too often, the efforts never get past the rhetoric stage, but the Obama administration is trying to change that, he added. Mike Howell is stepping down as deputy

administrator for e-government and IT at the Office of Management and Budget. He will become deputy program manager of the government’s Information Sharing Environment. Previously, Howell was CIO at the Interior Department. He came to OMB in September 2008 to replace Tim Young. The deputy administrator post at OMB had previously been a political appointment. Howell was the first career employee to hold the position. Gary Bass is stepping down as executive

director of OMB Watch, the watchdog group he founded 28 years ago. Bass will help find his replacement, a process that has already started, and then become executive director of the Bauman Foundation no later than fall 2011, according to an open letter published on the OMB Watch website. Bass and OMB Watch have advocated for open government and accountability

during five presidential administrations. “I have preached the importance of change to make our government more accountable and responsive to public needs, placing a high priority on addressing inequities,” Bass wrote. Soraya Correa is leaving her role as execu-

tive director of the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Procurement Operations and is expected to become deputy associate director for management at the Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, Federal News Radio reported. longtime Army CIO and a key leader in military modernization, has retired. Sorenson championed the modernization of military IT and was a powerful force behind the Land Warfare Network, the Army’s portion of the military’s Global Information Grid. GIG is the Defense Department’s enterprisewide communications network designed to link the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson,

RECENT EVENTS The Customs and Border Protection agency uses IT to facilitate the movement of 764 people a minute through the country’s borders, seaports and airports. Therefore, a computer breakdown has widespread consequences. “We can’t afford to ever shut down,” Kenneth Ritchhart, deputy assistant commissioner at the agency’s Office of Information and Technology, told attendees at the Oracle Federal Forum, held in Washington, D.C., in October. A few years ago, airports closed at night, he added, but now, flights leave at all hours. CBP is the nation’s largest law enforcement agency. About 1.1 million people enter the country daily under its watchful eye. Congress wants CBP to take on responsibility for people exiting the country, which would double the amount of people it handles, Ritchhart said.

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9

C U R R E N TS

The best from the blogosphere this week

BLOG BRIEF The Simplicity of Rocket Science NASA

wiki.nasa.gov/cm/blog/J2X Nov. 9, 2010

VA OPENS A NEW DIALOGUE VAntage Point

blogs.va.gov/VAntage The Veterans Affairs Department

Despite all the advanced engineering that goes into making a rocket engine fly, the basic concept is as simple as a child’s balloon. Picture a child blowing up a balloon and then letting it fly until it loses all its air and falls to the ground. Technically, that balloon is “a pressure-fed, monopropellant rocket,” writes NASA rocket scientist William Greene, whose official title is upper stage engine element associate manager. Whether fueled by air or a J-2X engine, a rocket can fly because of Newton’s principle that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The difference, of course, is that a J-2X engine creates a lot more energy, Greene writes. “Thus, the tough part about rocket engines is not their basic concept. That’s simple,” he writes. “The tough part is building a device that can harness the power necessary to make that simple concept useful.”

State’s International Phone-a-Friend State Department

blogs.state.gov Nov. 10, 2010 Janice Jacobs, assistant secretary of State

at the Bureau of Consular Affairs, makes a case for people to enroll in the department’s Smart Traveler program. The idea is to for international travelers to provide the department with information on how to reach them in case of emergency — for use by embassy officials or family members. “Over the years, our consular officers 10


has entered the federal blogosphere to give veterans a new channel for getting information and providing feedback. It will also feature guest columns from VA stakeholders, such as VA doctors

encouraging two-way communication and comments from readers.

and veterans who are attending school

“This tool will allow us to interact with

through the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the depart-

veterans, their families and the public in

ment said in a statement.

ways we’ve never done before,” Shinseki

“All pieces will be considered for pub-

said. “Instead of waiting for veterans

lication based on their rationale and

to find us, we’re going to seek them

reasoned points — not on how closely

out where they already are — which is,

their views align with those of the depart-

increasingly, online.”

ment,” according to the VA statement. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said the

The blog has received hundreds of comments since it launched Nov. 5.

blog seeks to expand VA’s outreach by

in embassies and consulates around the world have assisted thousands of U.S. citizens overseas who have lost passports, had their passports stolen, experienced health problems, been detained, dealt with natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes, and other emergencies,” Jacobs writes. As an example, she tells the story of a woman who took a job at a university in Tbilisi, Georgia, shortly before a military conflict broke out. The embassy provided her with e-mail updates as the situation progressed and eventually helped her get out of the country safely.

Data.gov’s Family Snapshot Census Bureau

blogs.census.gov Nov. 10, 2010

The Census Bureau was sharing its data with the public long before President

— Alice Lipowicz

Barack Obama’s

Data.gov website and other transparency initiatives came along. But its official blog gives the bureau an easy way to highlight and share interesting tidbits from the voluminous data it collects. Those snapshots often give us a view into how the nation looks today compared to the past. A recent blog post provides a link to the latest datasets on U.S. families and makes this interesting comparison: “In 1960, the average household size was 3.33, and men and women married in their early 20s. Only 6 million children lived with one parent…and 7 million people lived alone. Today, our average household size is 2.59, men and women are waiting until their late 20s to marry, 20 million children live with one parent, and 31 million people live alone.” Interpretations of what those changes mean are, as always, in the eye of the beholder.

C U R R E N TS

Recent articles and resources on technolog y and government

HARD COPY Broadband Plan Do-Over Source: Network World

It was no surprise that the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Plan stirred up some controversy when it was released in March, given its goal of providing all Americans with affordable, high-speed Internet access in 10 years at a potential cost of $350 billion — much of that shouldered by industry. One of the plan’s authors now says he wishes he and his colleagues had done a better job of explaining why broadband is essential to economic growth and the functioning of a civic society. That is more important than what much of the attention focused on — the speed of the wireline network to the most rural residents. “It’s not about speed; it’s about use,” said Blair Levin , a fellow at the Aspen Institute, in an interview with David Ramli of the IDG News Service . Levin also talked about the prospect of extending fiber-optic lines to every U.S. home and how U.S. broadband plans compare with those in other developed countries. Myths of Password Protection Source: InfoWorld

You’d think everyone would know by now how to make sure their passwords are secure. But at least one security expert says that isn’t the case. In a post on InfoWorld’s “Security Adviser” blog , Roger Grimes writes that despite companies’ progress in strengthening their password security policies, confusion is rampant. He said he’s heard security vendors give incorrect advice and seen knowledgeable security teams operate on mistaken assumptions. Grimes dispels a few myths, including the importance of length vs. complexity when it comes to passwords because

F I R E S I D E

R E A D I N G

What You Should Know About Employee Turnover The Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton released a report earlier this month titled “Beneath the Surface: Understanding Attrition at Your Agency and Why It Matters.” Here’s a sample of what they had to say.

Researchers have reported that the financial cost to replace a private-sector employee who leaves generally can run from 50 percent to 200 percent of the employee’s annual salary depending on the individual’s role, seniority, specialization, performance level and training received while on the job. But the loss sometimes involves more than money. It is difficult to place a value on key federal employees like a retiring chief meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center, an experi“though you may give users 64,000 different symbols to choose among for their password, most people use the same 40 or so characters.” Furthermore, “contrary to popular belief among many [administrators], smart cards and Kerberos can’t prevent all forms of password hacking,” he writes. Fortunately, Grimes offers a list of ways to improve password policies, such as using two-factor authentication and enhancing employee education. Cybersecurity and the New Congress Source: Computerworld

Amid all the speculation about what the midterm elections mean for the Obama administration, one area is likely to be

enced claims processor for the Social Security Administration, a cancer researcher at the National Institutes of Health, or a cybersecurity expert at the National Security Agency. In the federal government, attrition can potentially affect an agency’s homeland security mission, the nation’s ability to respond to a pandemic influenza outbreak, or the ability to monitor the integrity of our financial markets and economy. Losses like these can have impacts that far exceed financial costs. among the least contentious in the new Congress: cybersecurity and related privacy issues. “Some course corrections are to be expected for sure, but security experts say that cybersecurity privacy efforts are more likely to garner bipartisan support than many other issues that will come before Congress,” writes Jaikumar Vijayan of Computerworld . However, don’t look for the Republican-led House to impose any new cybersecurity regulations on industry, even in the critical infra-structure arena. “And Republican lawmakers in general have been somewhat less keen than their Democratic counterparts to push issues such as net neutrality,” Vijayan writes. November 29, 2010 FCW.COM

11

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By Alan Balutis

CO MM ENTA RY

GETTING A FIX ON IT PERFORMANCE The federal government manages and oversees

more than $2.5 trillion in annual budgets and hundreds of programs critical to the nation. But the federal landscape is littered with runaway systems — projects that are over budget, behind schedule, and failing to deliver promised benefits and functionality. For the past four years, a group of current and former government executives, working under the auspices of the Partnership for Public Service, studied the reasons for project failure and, more important, the necessary actions to ensure success. Our focus has been on the delivery of the government’s mission in the form of outcomes and results. Let me summarize some of our observations, provide a definition of “program management” and outline the goals we set. OBSERVATIONS

Today’s solutions and technologies are complex and span the boundaries of governments, agencies and applications. Driving change while managing current operations is difficult. ■ We do not consistently apply a successful and repeatable methodology for delivering program outcomes, relying instead on luck or heroic efforts. ■ Unsuccessful programs continue to waste billions of dollars while failing to deliver needed services. ■ Enterprise-level change is hampered by legacy systems and embedded culture. ■

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT DEFINED

Program management, as a term of art, can be applied to major change programs or the running of day-to-day operations. In the context of our work, we focused on those disciplines associated with significantly transforming products, business processes, service delivery, IT capabilities, or all of the above. A major program can include several projects. PROBLEM STATEMENTS AND GOALS Problem Statement 1: Program managers are often told to “find a way,” “get it done” or “make it happen.” They are frequently left to solicit help, resources and influence on their own.

Alan Balutis, a founding member of the CIO Council, is a director of the Internet Business Solutions Group at Cisco Systems and editor of the forthcoming book “American Governance 3.0: Rebooting the Public Square?”

Goal: Clarify all parties’ responsibilities and

accountability for program results, including stakeholders and executives. Problem Statement 2: Despite its proven value, program management is not recognized as an essential discipline for government performance, success and results. Advocacy for program management often resides with individuals, not organizations. Outside a few agencies, program management is not institutionalized as an established management discipline and the way government and agency business is conducted. Goal: Increase performance and results by establishing program management as a discipline.

This article is based on a four-year study by current and former government executives working under the auspices of the Partnership for Public Service. The group includes Balutis, Dan Chenok of IBM, Greg Giddens of the Veterans Affairs Department, Norm Lorentz of Grant Thornton, Emory Miller (recently retired from Robbins-Gioia), Stan Soloway of the Professional Services Council and Jim Williams of Daon.

Problem Statement 3: There is no consistency

across government in the training and development of program managers. There is no job series for program management established by the Office of Personnel Management and with graduating levels of responsibilities. Goal: Establish a program management career field to recruit, sustain, and retain talent and expertise in program management. Problem Statement 4: Program managers are not

recognized across government. There is no network for federal program managers. There is no recognized alignment with the acquisition and business/ program functions of government. Goal: Improve the effectiveness of government by creating an environment in which federal program managers can collaborate and share best practices and lessons learned. Problem Statement 5: Programs invoke change. They fail for many reasons, including inadequate governance, meaningless metrics and insufficient change capacity. Goal: Improve agencies’ change capacity to enhance the success of organizational and program change. We believe results begin with effective management built on a long legacy of successful practices that we refer to as program management. November 29, 2010 FCW.COM

13

CO MM ENTA RY By Kristin Bockius and Mark Drapeau

TAKE A CUE FROM NAVY SOCIAL MEDIA The Navy’s recently published “Social Media

Handbook” has some good lessons for everyone. Geared toward Navy commanders, the handbook is intended to encourage the use of social media and provide some guidance on matters of online etiquette, privacy, security and related issues. However, although the handbook is Navy-centric, many of its ideas and best practices apply across the government. Here are some of the takeaways we found, along with insights we gathered in developing a similar guide for Microsoft’s public-sector customers. ■ Get guidance from the top. Rear Adm. Dennis Moynihan, the Navy’s chief of information, clearly supports the Navy’s use of social media. Such senior-level support is necessary for any corporation, agency or institution that plans to engage in social media conversations. Employees should not be confused and wondering if they may or may not use social media or how they may use it. Now more than ever, they need some structure and guidance. ■ Keep an ear to the ground. The handbook points out that social media provides a great way to learn about your employees’ thoughts and concerns. That is incredibly insightful. Social media can indeed be a great indicator of things going right or wrong at your organization. ■ Protect your brand. The Navy’s handbook points out that service members and employees who use social media are always brand ambassadors and should act accordingly. We take it one step further: Your actions and reactions online affect not only your reputation but also your professional affiliation. Thus, you must act in a way that is proper for yourself and your employer. ■ Keep the brands simple. For our work in state and local government, we use two big brands — @Microsoft_Gov and Bright Side of Government — rather than breaking up our content by solutions, such as e-mail or cloud computing, or by audience, such as states, cities and counties. In many cases, we feel that such divisions unnecessarily dilute a brand and make it harder to engage in consistent online conversations. 14


The manual reminds people that anyone who is establishing a social media presence must register that outlet with the Defense Department’s public affairs office. That makes it possible to roll up all the activity into a master online directory. Our own company could do a better job of this, considering the many brands and social media accounts that we have. ■ Have a response plan ready. For an organization like the Navy, having a crisis communications plan is somewhat of a no-brainer. But that is true of all kinds of organizations. Your public relations team should have a crisis plan in place — for before, during and after conversations — so you can manage any crisis or rumor that arises. All brands are increasingly at risk for public criticism. Acknowledge that and plan accordingly. ■ Centralize brand management.

Kristin Bockius is relationship and social media marketing manager at Microsoft’s U.S. state and local government business. Mark Drapeau is director of public-sector social engagement at Microsoft. The opinions expressed in this article are their own and do not reflect the official position of Microsoft.

Any time employees use social media, they are by default brand ambassadors and should act accordingly.

The Navy’s handbook suggests that people should selectively choose what to archive and even use screen shots to do it. But these days, you can find cheap or free tools to help you archive everything automatically. For example, many government agencies already use SharePoint to share enterprise content. You can now get a free, open-source SharePoint plug-in that can help you manage archiving. Overall, we think the Navy’s social media guide — like the Air Force’s flowchart for online rules of engagement that preceded it — will provide valuable information about social media not only for the military services but also for agencies across the federal government and beyond.

■ Save your work.

By Chris Bronk

CO MM ENTA RY

THE LESSON FROM GOOGLE’S LAWSUIT A good deal of controversy has arisen from the

recent decision by Google to file suit against the Interior Department. Google claims that Interior was unduly restrictive of competition. The rest of the federal IT community needs to carefully watch Google’s moves regarding Interior. The lawsuit is about more than a contract squabble; it’s also about cloud-based services and what venture capitalist John Doerr calls the Third Wave of computing, in which mobile rises to prominence as the productivity platform. Government must understand which players might be most helpful in moving to a new — I dread using this word — paradigm for enterprise IT in government. I don’t mean to be critical of any of the players here. Google is not emulating the contract protests lodged by defense firms over major Defense Department awards, such as the Air Force’s notorious effort to select an airborne refueling tanker aircraft to replace the jets bought with taxes collected during the Eisenhower administration. Nor is Microsoft cast here as exercising monopolistic control of the government IT sector, although I do believe the federal government is still the company’s top customer. Finally, the officials at Interior don’t deserve scorn. It just seems that they lacked the vision to understand that there might be an alternative to Microsoft products. Heaven knows when this humble columnist will entertain tapping out copy on anything other than Word. It is all about intuition. Can anyone remember what life was like before BlackBerrys in Washington? Years ago, I was in the hard spot of trying to explain to a senior federal government official why wikis are useful in collaborative work. After some time, he held out his BlackBerry and said, “Whatever you propose has to be as intuitive as this!” For senior government executives — the managerial folks who hold the purse strings — this is anything but what they see when pundits like me start talking about cloud apps or software as a service.

Chris Bronk is a research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and adjunct instructor of computer science at Rice.

The government fails to understand that almost all work, except for the really sexy stuff that goes on in Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, will be pushed through universal-looking pipes to devices that are basically customizable Web browsers. I’m not saying the PC is dead, just that there might be a way to see this whole Interior/Microsoft/Google business a bit differently. Microsoft and Google will compete toe to toe in selling browser-based productivity software. For the first time, we have viable choices in

Government IT will no longer be a monolithic desktop standard with lots of client applications on PCs.

word processing and spreadsheets since Lotus and WordPerfect disappeared from the desktop. There will be issues, such as interoperability and all manner of identity management headaches, but there might be some choice, which is good for consumers. We have to accept that the paradigm for government IT is no longer a monolithic desktop standard with lots of client applications on PCs. The new look is something in which information is distributed and accessible from a variety of platforms, from desktop PC to mobile device. An added dividend will be that agencies can virtualize their services and begin managing not only data but also information. I look forward to following the lawsuit and watching the fireworks fly as Microsoft and Google compete the way Honda and Toyota do for customers.


15

COVER STORY

PHOTO CREDIT HERE

IT’S PER 16


THIS TIME

RSONAL Here’s how the wave of new mobile and wireless applications will change your enterprise IT

M

obile applications and even today’s hottest gear, such as tablet PCs, have been around

for years, so it’s easy to gloss over one of the

key findings in a recent report on the mobile and wireless market. Financial services firm Morgan Stanley predicts that within five years, more people will connect to the Internet using mobile devices than with desktop PCs. On the surface, that doesn’t sound earthshaking, given

the wall-to-wall adoption of smart phones and other mobile technologies. But some forward-thinking agency IT proBY A LA N J OC H

fessionals and consultants say that prediction is part of a larger trend that will fundamentally transform enterprises by mid-decade. Put another way, mobile apps won’t just be extensions

1105 MEDIA

of traditional enterprises; they could become the primary platform for internal agency processes and the delivery of services to citizens. November 29, 2010 FCW.COM

17

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

Take hardware as an example. Annual shipments of smart phones matched desktop PCs two years ago and are on their way to doubling to about 250 million units by the end of this year, according to market researcher IDC. During the same period, desktop PC shipments dipped and are expected to stay flat through 2014. IDC forecasts smart-phone shipments to nearly double again to almost 500 million units by 2014. At the same time, tablet PC sales could surpass desktop PC sales in the United States by 2013, according to Forrester Research. Changes such as those would create profound differences in how IT departments function and how newly empowered mobile workers and constituents interact with government agencies. “There’s an attitude [among employees] that says, ‘I am the consumer. I’m carrying my personal device. And I want access. You need to serve me,’” said Fernando Alvarez Tabio, vice president of mobile solutions at Capgemini Technology Services. “That is a drastic change, and IT cannot look the other way.” In some agencies, trends such as that one will relegate desktop PCs to specialty devices while smart phones, tablets and laptops do the bulk of everyday work. And if that happens, the IT department will also lose the relative ease of managing standard Windows desktop configurations and an occasional Mac. “We are going to see a proliferation of different client platforms, and that’s going to make our lives a lot more complex from an IT perspective,” said Jeffrey Hammond, a principal analyst at Forrester Research. That’s only the beginning. The coming wave of advanced mobile computing could fundamentally alter many of the main elements of today’s enterprises, including: ■ How we use the Internet. Standard-issue Web- and browser-

based applications could decline in favor of special-purpose native applications downloaded from government application stores. ■ The inner workings of applications. Mobile workers won’t just pull data from headquarters, they’ll continuously update central databases and enterprise applications with the latest information from the field. ■ The role of hardware. Whether they’re traveling or at home base, workers will carry their portable devices with them to stay connected at all times. ■ Security. Around-the-clock access to agency information and downloadable apps will require a range of new security technologies and policies, including devices with multiple personalities to wall off and secure personal and professional activities. ■ Emerging technologies. Ubiquitous mobile computing could accelerate the adoption of cloud computing and serviceoriented architectures (SOA). ■ Enterprise architecture. Instead of starting at the core and working outward to mobile users, IT planning will start at the edge and work inward. This new world will require a modern mobile game plan and updated enterprise architecture to deal with the day-today and long-term changes that will result. Mobile technology veterans said organizations should begin now to update their mobile strategies by focusing on five areas where wireless computing will have the greatest effect.

1. CONNECTIVITY ASSUMPTIONS RECAST The Defense Information Systems Agency is leading the way toward a new generation of mobile applications, including ones for command and control of combat

What’s new:

MOBILEMUSCLE Estimates for worldwide shipments of various computers forecast a growing dominance of mobile devices.

DESKTOP PCs

PORTABLE PCs*

2010 Shipments (in millions)

138

217

2014 Shipments (in millions)

143

427

Percent Increase

3.6

97

Source: IDC

18

*Includes notebooks and netbooks


forces. But rather than relying on hard-wired desktop PCs, those programs will be mobile-device applets like the kind you see on iPhones and Android smart phones, said David Mihelcic, DISA’s chief technology officer. The challenge: Traditional Web-centric applications stop working if connections to the Internet and IP-based networks break, which could hamstring users at critical times. How to cope: DISA and others are creating thin-client applications written for specific mobile hardware and operating systems. The programs will store enough data on the devices so people can work off-line and then automatically sync to central data centers when network connectivity returns. Unlike Web-based applications, those programs can also take advantage of unique performance or user-interface capabilities inherent to a particular platform. “The richness of the applications is a little better in a native app [compared with Web-based programs], so the instinct is to go native, especially for mission-specific applications,” said Tim Hoechst, CTO of Agilex Technologies, a systems integrator.

2. PLATFORMS PROLIFERATE What’s new: Unlike the widespread commonality that exists among Windows desktop PCs, there’s enormous diversity in mobile hardware and their operating systems, in addition to strong individual opinions among users about which combination of hardware and operating system best suits their needs. “It’s not going to be any one device or any one operating system” that will prevail, said John Pedroza, the Army’s deputy of technology at the Mission Command Capabilities Division of the Future Force Integration Directorate at Fort Bliss, Texas. The group is testing the use of smart phones and tablets in combat operations.

SMART PHONES

TABLETS

270

8

490

46

81

475

The challenge: Platform diversity complicates IT management and help-desk activities because Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and Windows platforms are incompatible. The problems increase as mobile devices proliferate. “Agencies will go from managing a thousand devices to managing 10,000 devices,” Hoechst said. How to cope: To avoid potential chaos, agencies need to create policies that balance personal preferences with management and budgetary considerations. Mihelcic predicted that agencies will create lists of approved products and operating systems. “That will simplify this process significantly, so you don’t have to worry about whether a piece of software will work with a phone,” he said. “We will be able to test those applications much more efficiently.” But nobody likes to be pushed around regarding the use of a particular mobile device, said Leon Kappelman, professor of information systems at the University of North Texas. He advised IT departments to solicit user input about which mobile platforms to support rather than steamrolling standardization. “Let [department heads] know that you will support whatever they decide but that nothing else is going to be acceptable,” he said. “That way they own the decision and then go into the enterprise to be the champions of that standard.” If IT makes those decisions instead, you will end up needing to fix the nonstandard devices that will inevitably show up, even though you have a standard, Kappelman added.

3. NEW APPS AND DATA FLOWS ARISE Agencies are evolving from simply porting slimmed-down versions of enterprise applications to building applications from the start with mobile platforms in mind. “People are quickly realizing that it’s not just about writing an app on the smart phone,” Hoechst said. “It’s about building an information system that happens to have a mobile front end.” That change in perspective is creating new roles for mobile applications. For example, mobile warfighters won’t just pull data from headquarters; they’ll constantly be relaying important data such as troop movements and enemy positions to commanders. “Instead of having to wait hours or even days to get that information up to the higher echelons, they can report it immediately,” Mihelcic said. Similar two-way data flows and Global Positioning System capabilities will make it possible for civilian agencies to improve field inspections, case management and first-responder effectiveness. The challenge: IT departments need to revise processes for developing applications to accommodate those new work and data flows and platforms. How to cope: First, agencies will need to draw on their platform standardization policies to make choices about which devices and operating systems are best for particular applications. For example, a building inspector might require a smart phone with a high-end still camera rather than one that doubles for low-resolution videos, Pedroza said. “The choices depend on the mission and what your objective is,” he said. Second, agencies should think about democratizing the What’s new:


19

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

development of new mobile applications by providing an infrastructure for supporting distributed development of applications, Mihelcic said. He cited DISA’s Forge.mil, which provides collaborative open-source development tools and encourages Defense Department personnel to create applets that others can download to smart phones.

4. SECURITY RULES GET SMARTER, MORE GRANULAR What’s new: On-demand access to proprietary information and easily downloaded apps from a variety of sources add to the security threats that enterprises traditionally face. The challenge: Still-evolving security policies and blurred lines between the personal and professional roles of wireless devices require security approaches that go beyond traditional firewalls. How to cope: Encryption remains a foundation for securing sensitive data stored on mobile devices or flowing across networks. The National Security Agency created its Suite B software encryption protocols in part to help secure data on commercial devices using IP. To lock down information as it moves across networks, the National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes algorithms for virtual private network encryption. In addition, agencies should develop and centrally manage security policies that control device usage, including blocking staff members from individual wireless networks or sites deemed unsafe. As long as mobile device and operating system platforms remain incompatible, agencies will need to create individual configuration guidelines for Apple, Android, BlackBerry and Windows products. Eventually, individual devices might have technologies for creating multiple personalities that give government users the option of conducting personal and professional business on one piece of hardware. “This half can connect to these networks, and that half can connect to those networks. And never the twain shall meet,” Hoechst said. A precursor of that feature is the ability of the iPhone’s operating system to divide individual applications. If one part becomes infected with malware, the others remain safe. To control the threat of spreading app-induced malware, agencies should create lists of authorized sources. In some cases, agencies will launch their own app stores that offer special-purpose mobile programs that target the agency’s mission and are vetted for security and reliability. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is testing such a store for iPhone and Android applications for DOD. It is scheduled to open next year, Mihelcic said. Agencies can also use Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server to host secure programs for the company’s devices. And if a device is lost or stolen, agencies need to remotely wipe it clean of data, contact lists and applications. Third-party mobile device management software includes technology from

AirWatch, Trust Digital, and MobileIron and the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and Apple’s MobileMe service.

5. ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURES EVOLVE What’s new: Agencies will need to update enterprise architec-

tures to better deal with the dominance of mobile applications and devices and figure out how newer trends, such as cloud computing and SOA, fit into the picture. The challenge: Most enterprise architecture mapping efforts focus on fixed IT assets and core applications that run on them. Mobile devices and applications are often unaccounted for in future plans of architectures. But that’s the part of the architecture that agencies need to consider to efficiently and securely accommodate future mobile capabilities. How to cope: The Environmental Protection Agency, which already provisions and supports more than 9,000 laptops with wireless capability in addition to handheld devices, avoids breaking down its enterprise into mobile and traditional worlds. “From an architecture perspective, we need to manage new wireless technologies alongside current in-place technologies and provide consistent support, no matter the physical location of the device,” a spokesperson said. One way to do that is to view enterprise architectures as a method of facilitating communications between technology and business staffs about a common vision of technology services, Kappelman said. “There’s so much more value the federal government could get out of their enterprise architecture investment if leadership would understand the importance of this as a management improvement issue and not as something just for IT,” he said. Enterprise architectures should also clarify the use of cloud computing and SOA in a mobile context. Cloud computing could play a prime role in helping mobile applications connect to agency information. “It’s a lot easier to provision the connectivity in the clouds using Internet standards than it is to try to do everything in your own data center and maintain” all the service-level agreements, Forrester’s Hammond said. Similarly, some mobile specialists expect SOA will grow in importance in the mobile world because it helps developers create back-end applications that can accommodate a variety of user interfaces and client devices. “The meat of the systems is offered up to any front end via a collection of well-defined services,” Hoechst said. “That makes the development of mobile apps much more straightforward.” To promote that flexibility, look for the wider implementation of a SOA development strategy, known as service façades, which publish sets of common, high-level SOA services for allowing multiple devices to access data and applications. “This architectural pattern is going to become much more important as organizations start to support multiple delivery channels as a regular design principle for their applications,” Hammond said.

TO CONTROL THE THREAT OF SPREADING APP-INDUCED MALWARE, AGENCIES SHOULD CREATE LISTS OF AUTHORIZED SOURCES.

20


Snapshot_full_pg_FCW112910.qxd

11/16/10

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New Bids for

Better RFPs Procurement experts offer their suggestions for improving how agencies define program requirements

T

he truism that you

has been around the federal

Here is our roster

get what you ask for

IT market for more than 40

of experts.

is painfully evident

years, has seen more unhap-

■ Ray Kane, IT business

in the world of federal IT pro-

py stories than he cares to

development consultant.

curement.

remember, but he said he

So many programs have gone wrong because con-


fixable.

■ Tom Love, CEO of Shoulders-

Corp, an IT consulting firm. ■ Jaime Gracia, president and

tractors have done their

The task, as Kane sees it,

best to deliver exactly what

is to rethink how customers

their customers said they

define their requirements.

wanted. In some cases, it’s

Indeed, they should stop

■ Dennis McDonald, an IT

because the customers’ stat-

thinking in terms of require-

consultant.

ed requirements are out of

ments at all.

whack with what they really

As is often the case, one

wanted. In other cases, the

good idea leads to another.

requirements turn into a

After posting Kane’s article

moving target, which inevi-

online, we asked other pro-

tably takes a toll on costs

curement experts to join

and schedules.

the conversation, either by

There are endless vari-

responding directly to Kane’s

ations on this theme of

idea or by offering their own

mismanaged requirements,

suggestions for improving

and none of them ever ends

how agencies define require-

happily.

ments in their requests for

Consultant Ray Kane, who

22

still believes the situation is

proposals.

CEO of Seville Government Consulting.

■ Peter Tuttle, CPCM, senior

procurement policy analyst at Distributed Solutions. ■ Sterling Whitehead, a

contract specialist at the Navy and a blogger at www.

allthingssterling.posterous. com. ■ Mary Davie, assistant

commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Office of Assisted Acquisition Services.

Stop Talking About Requirements By Ray Kane

Requirements are the Achilles’ heel of procurement. Ask users, managers and regulators for a program’s requirements, and you will get a vague description of products and services that are currently available. They inevitably “require” what they already know could work today. And that’s a problem because by the time the request for proposals is released, the proposed solution might be overtaken by better and more affordable options. What a program requires is a competitive procurement that complies with regulations and delivers the desired results. The challenge is determining what a program really needs. How can we define those needs in such a way that bidders can propose solutions that take advan-

tage of what’s available today but also retain the ability to meet changing and future needs? One answer is to ask the “What are your requirements?” question in a few different ways. Tom Love, CEO of ShouldersCorp, offers hope in this regard. He suggests we bench the term “requirements” and use other terms that will unearth real needs. In other words, pose the question to elicit more thoughtful and thorough responses. Love has put together a list of 18 terms or concepts that can help deepen a discussion and bring real needs to the surface. For example, one idea is develop story cards that show how the solution might be used. Love also encourages people to incorporate refreshment plans for updating technology and decommissioning plans for bringing systems to a close. This approach can help us break our reliance on known and preferred solutions and focus instead on the actual needs of users — to transform from solution understanders to user-oriented requirements understanders, as Jim Beveridge put it in his sales and marketing seminars in the 1970s. It might also help us finally resolve what renowned software engineer Barry Boehm calls the IKIWISI problem — “I’ll Know It When I See It,” a common problem that makes it difficult to define needs. As the needs are identified, we might

prioritize them by creating three categories: needs, wants and desires. For example, we need a payroll system. We want to include the ability to issue W-2 statements in the required period. We desire to deliver it all on the first official release day to impress our employees with our support services. Discussing perceived needs might unearth some interesting possible solutions and bring to light the readiness to accept new or revised solutions. A lot of this comes down to semantics, but in this case, semantics matter. The ultimate solution might very well come out better if we pose the question in a different way.

Don’t Handcuff Yourself With Specifications By Jaime Gracia

There’s no question that the requirements process is an Achilles’ heel of government procurement. But what is truly astonishing is that little attention is being paid to this fundamental problem. The Office of Management and Budget’s guidance in the past 16 months has focused on various areas of contract management reform and featured a renewed stress on contracting openness and trans-

Ask users, managers and regulators for a program’s requirements, and you will get a vague description of products and services that are currently available. November 29, 2010 FCW.COM

23

ACQUISITION

parency — certainly important issues that need improvement to boost acquisition performance. However, poorly defined requirements often derail an acquisition and set up a program for failure from the beginning. It is a simple fact that government can’t keep up with the rapid change and advancements of modern technologies. Therefore, a paradigm shift is desperately needed to enable the government to focus on best-value procurement and buy what is truly in its best interest. The key is innovation. Innovation, along with competition, is what drives industry to find ways to offer the best solutions at the best prices. So why does the government not allow

itself the opportunity to capitalize on its buying power and take advantage of innovation? The fear of change, combined with a risk-averse culture, has created a procurement process for technology that is outdated and obsolete. Instead of focusing on needs, the government focuses on buying specificity by the dreaded “shall” statement. Specifications are larded into a statement of work to the point that best value is not possible. Instead, contracts go to the lowest bidder and are accompanied by ubiquitous modifications to create failing programs that are over budget and behind schedule. The performance-based approach to technology is the path to improvement when buying technology. Instead of concentrating on specifications, the government must focus on needs and outcomes. Programs should have business cases that prioritize needs that are aligned with the agency’s mission and identify the program’s objectives and ultimate outcomes. It’s those outcomes that the government is after. Therefore, continuing to tell industry “how” is continuing a cycle of failure.

The performancebased approach to technology is the path to improvement when buying technology. Instead of concentrating on specifications, the government must focus on needs and outcomes. 24


Focusing on outcomes and allowing industry to propose innovative solutions to solve the government’s problems is the path to success. Government simply does not have the technological acumen to know what is in its best interest. Instead, it must focus on what it needs to perform its mission, allow industry to present the best value and then manage for results.

Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Process By Dennis D. McDonald

I know it’s attractive to focus on outcome and performance rather than on tool or product require-

Even the process for buying standardized or generic products or services is likely to change.

ments. The theory is that if you make vendors focus on ways to accomplish a goal rather than how to accomplish that goal, you will get a better and more effective solution. The problem is that solutions are rarely developed independent of existing practices. A good example is the Interior Department’s solicitation for cloud computing services. It specified Microsoft software, triggering a lawsuit by Google. At one level, the requirement makes sense if it fits with Interior’s operating environment. However, that requirement clearly prevents the proposal of a competing solution. We’ll always have those types of problems because of the need to balance innovation with efficiency. Arriving at such a balance clearly goes beyond how requirements are defined to include not only RFP outcome requirements but also RFP process requirements. Of course, outcome requirements refer to the target of the procurement action: acquisition of products or services that generate some benefit for a user community. Process requirements, on the other hand, refer to the way the RFP process is supposed to be conducted, as governed by rules such as the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement. Experienced managers in government and industry know how to keep track of the two. Those who are less experienced can get confused by process requirements that seem to have little to do with what the government is trying to procure. It’s natural for any bureaucracy to formalize and standardize how processes are performed. Why reinvent the wheel every time something has to be purchased? The problem is that nothing stays static for long. Even the process for buying standardized or generic products or services is likely to change. Think about how people communicate during the course of a procurement. Many of the rules and regulations surrounding government practices were first developed and codified when communications relied more heavily on the movement of paper from Point A to Point B. But these days, people communicate formally and informally in ways that stretch traditional definitions of competition, openness and secrecy. For example, procurement-related information can be published online instantly — or perhaps not published at all but instead communicated via real-time conferencing systems. Those issues must be taken into account when developing process requirements for RFPs. People often mistakenly assume that RFP outcome requirements are static as well. But as a project

Software Requirements? Keep Your Options Open. On a recent interagency

nor are these requirements

software project, I noticed

ever fixed. Actually, require-

that team members kept

ments only become fixed

talking about requirements.

when they are expressed in

Asked to be more specific,

code, even if it is really hard

they offered 14 different

to understand and change.

meanings of the term. I real-

The solution is to break

ized that a complete set of

large projects into short-

requirements requires all 14

duration development proj-

— a clear impossibility!

ects with the test cases

I also became intrigued

for each two-week devel-

by the verbs preceding the

opment sprint recorded in

word “requirements.” Exam-

advance on an index card —

ples included gather, har-

also known as a story card.

vest, collect, elicit, capture

Even then, it takes five to

and develop.

seven development sprints

What an interesting set of

for a newly formed team to

images this evoked. I imag-

accurately estimate what it

ined a nice young lady with a

can build in two weeks.

basket walking through the

If the agile team can’t

user community “gathering

consistently deliver on its

requirements” or a tractor

two-week sprints, its con-

driving along “harvesting

tracts should be canceled.

requirements” or an aging

It’s actually a low-risk way

hippy with a pony tail “cap-

to do projects and has been

turing requirements” with a

shown to scale to projects

butterfly net.

involving 175 team members

It doesn’t work that way. We are deluding ourselves.

and millions of lines of code. One

such

p ro j e ct

We need to rethink one

replaced 11 million lines of

of the most fundamental

existing code with 500,000

aspects of the way we work.

lines of maintainable, exten-

And our rethinking has to

sible code — all developed

start with the acquisition

in two-week development

process.

sprints with continuous user

Large projects routine-

involvement. That agile re-

ly fail because there is no

engineering project was

such thing as a complete

delivered on time with excel-

set of requirements for a

lent quality.

software product or project,

— Tom Love


25

ACQUISITION

manager, I know that there is always a difference between what you plan for and what actually happens. Requirements and goals can change dramatically between the start of a procurement and the final award. The RFP must include a process for accommodating such changes or there will be problems down the road.

Got the Content? Now Work on the Clarity. By Peter G. Tuttle

I think most of us can agree that it is difficult to describe requirements in writing, whether they are high level and brief, detailed and granular, or outcome-based. The effective communication of requirements or needs has always been

somewhat of a challenge despite technological advances. Humans must think through needs and then communicate them in a manner that can be understood by as many people as possible — no matter how easy technology makes it to transmit and receive the information. Ray’s suggestion of asking questions about requirements in different ways is a good approach when those questions are specific enough to elicit useful responses or generate an additional dialogue that improves understanding. Tom Love’s list of suggested terms is another method that can help flesh out areas that have some impact on the requirements or must otherwise be considered because of regulations, for example. Naturally, all that is easier said than done because the process for generating requirements can be extremely timeconsuming, complex and frustrating and involve a multitude of stakeholders. Because the process today is generally bureaucratic and burdensome — for at least the past 30 years — agency leaders should focus on ways to improve communications, elicit meaningful dialogue, and create the potential for greater understanding and collaboration throughout the requirements process instead of being tempted to dissect and neuter the process. The wiki is a promising tool for enhancing communications and, perhaps, collec-

The wiki is a promising tool for enhancing communications and, perhaps, collectively thinking through the building and refining of a requirement. 26


tively thinking through the building and refining of a requirement. Although its use should be subject to the usual security and legal constraints, a wiki can serve as an excellent platform for collaboration in the requirements-generation process. At a minimum, a wiki can be used to gather expertise and input from multiple stakeholders and facilitate the process of defining and writing the requirements so they can then be released as part of the formal acquisition process.

Do Your Homework (But Let RSS Help) By Sterling Whitehead

A few years ago, I was an intern for Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), now retired. One

Strategic market research — which is essential to requirements definition — is ongoing, and it is about keeping an eye on the market.

thing I remember about him is that he was very well informed. He would spend three or so hours every morning reading the Washington Post and other newspapers. He was well regarded as a senator, and I believe much of that had to do with his awareness of the world, in addition to his legendary chivalry. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have three hours to read the paper on a given day. The key, then, is to make better use of our time, and one way to do that is to use Web-based Really Simple Syndication feeds. Essentially, RSS feeds let you subscribe to multiple sites’ updates, whether they are news, trade magazines, press releases, comments, video or audio. Those updates feed into a single page, and you can scan them or analyze them at your leisure. The only requirement is that a site must allow RSS feeds, and many do. It’s simple to use — you just search the Web feed for keywords as you would a regular search engine. Strategic market research — which is essential to requirements definition — is ongoing, and it is about keeping an eye on the market. Web feeds are perfectly suited for that purpose. You can find feeds that let you keep tabs on specific companies, such as Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman, or different technology areas. You do not have to visit multiple sites. You do not have to search. The information comes to you. I use Google Reader. It’s popular, pleasing to the eye and intuitive. I started using it three years ago, and it has changed my life. I know more about the markets for defense, mobile phones, social media, and finance and innovative happenings in the contracting world, which helps me in my job as a contract specialist at the Navy. I get 100 to 200 stories a day. I scan most and read others, but I am hyper aware of what’s going on in the IT world. The best thing is that the Web feed is now a habit. If I check my e-mail messages, I also check my feed. It’s part of my morning routine, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. So take my advice: Set up a Web feed and make a habit of using it. I promise you will be happy you did. ■

7 More Ideas for Better Buys The General Services Administration’s Mary Davie has been actively involved in identifying ways to improve the federal procurement process through the Better Buy Project, a joint effort by GSA, the National Academy of Public Administration and the American Council for Technology/Industry Advisory Council. She passed along the following ideas that have surfaced during those discussions. ■ Build repositories to share market

■

Create agency advisory boards

research across government — and,

composed of the eventual users

for that matter, to share statements

of the procured items or services.

of works, statements of objectives and performance-based state-

■ Segment acquisitions into smaller

pieces for faster procurement

ments of work. An example

and increased com-

is the Defense Depart-

petition. Keep the

ment’s DODTe-

pieces small

chipedia, which

enough that

was designed

vendors can

to increase com-

effectively

munication and

compete for

collaboration

them, thereby

among DOD sci-

reducing costs

entists, engineers,

for the government

program managers and

through competition and

warfighters. DOD also created a public crowdsourcing system named DefenseSolutions.gov. Market research should be a shared

creating small-business jobs. ■

Require open standards, open-

development environments and

responsibility both governmentwide

open-source code so individual

and in collaboration with industry.

pieces of the project can be tracked

■ Collaboratively build requirements

in the open on a wiki and ask for

as they are developed. That will also ensure that they will fit together.

input from any interested parties.

■ Consider crowdsourcing ways to

GSA tested that approach and had

break projects into smaller pieces

success through the Better Buy wiki.

that you can start immediately.

■

Use integrated product teams

to define requirements and frame solicitations.

But keep in mind that using social media to gather requirements can make a project’s scope become impossibly large.


27

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QUESTIONS FOR: PAIGE ATKINS Director of the Strategic Planning and Information Directorate, Defense Information Systems Agency

DISA’s Evolving Mission

T

he Defense Information Systems Agency’s Paige Atkins recently made the jump from director of the Defense Spectrum Organization to director of the Strategic Planning and Information Directorate and has been running at top speed ever since. The agency is taking a lead role in government IT and collaboration, and it’s also moving from its longtime Arlington, Va., location to Fort Meade, Md., under the Base Realignment and Closure Act. The two challenges would be tough separately, but DISA’s evolving mission and impending relocation are happening simultaneously. And Atkins is in the middle, coordinating strategy and policy to make sure it all happens smoothly. She met recently with staff writer Amber Corrin to talk about balancing priorities, managing key partnerships and coordinating a relocation without losing sight of the mission. FCW: What are your top priorities?

Atkins: Well, No. 1 is BRAC. BRAC specifically, but in general, people — taking care of our folks. You can’t accomplish the mission without the folks who are doing it day to day. So that’s definitely our top priority. Another priority is aligning the agency’s processes and resources to ensure that we can rapidly adapt to changes in requirements and priorities. Our current and future state is largely wrapped around unpredict-

30


ability and complexity. We have to be postured to deliver our capabilities in that changing environment, so we need to be ensuring that our processes and resources can adapt to that. That’s very important. The last priority I’ll mention — and this isn’t all-inclusive by any stretch, but I’m giving you my top three — is all about the partnerships, particularly with our customers and the stakeholders we work with but also industry. We can’t be successful without those partnerships. Everything we do is reliant and enabled through those partnerships, so that’s another key priority both for me personally and for the agency. FCW: How are you dealing with the

move from Arlington to Fort Meade? Atkins: From an agency perspective, the leadership focus is going to be the most important part of making the move successfully. Coupled with that is a lot of detailed planning. We have a lot of rehearsal of concept drills, where we walk through the move in terms of people, equipment, execution and ensuring there is no degradation to our mission during the process, ensuring we’re synchronized. It’s going to start in the January timeframe and go through July. And it’s going to require constant communication and also understanding the environment we’re moving to, both in terms of the building, the capabilities and the Fort Meade area. We’re helping people understand what it’s going to be like and, if they’re interested in

moving, helping them look at the area and the school system, transportation options, all of that. We’re focused on minimizing the impact to the workforce. We’re aggressively trying to retain our talent in a lot of ways, especially by getting people excited about the mission and leveraging things like telework and more forward-looking capabilities. And we’re aggressively recruiting to fill the anticipated gaps. We’ve had job fairs that have drawn thousands of people. We didn’t turn anyone away. There’s a lot of excitement in the area. FCW: How do you see DISA’s mission

evolving, and what is contributing to its growing complexity? Atkins: Part of the complexity is around the nature of how we go to war today. It’s about coalitions, working with partners that we haven’t traditionally worked with before and the complement of those partners changing depending on the engagement at hand. Iraq looks one way, Afghanistan looks a different way. Both require different coalition and interagency partners. Then you get into something like the Haiti response, and that’s a whole different [complexity]. It’s heavier on interagency and nongovernmental organization collaboration, so it’s a different dynamic you’re working with. There’s also the complexity of dealing with technology. Part of that complexity is tied to the aforementioned partners because you might have engagement at lower echelons and those echelons may have differing

our ability to deliver our capabilities because we are working together and garnering that synergy. The 100 percent increase in bandwidth in Afghanistan that [DISA Director Lt. Gen. Carroll Pollett] has talked about, the diversity and robustness of the fiber we use, the common and improved security architecture, the deployment of enterprise services such as our work with the Army to deliver enterprise e-mail in a way that it’s scalable and can be a joint solution in the future — all of those things have been enabled by these partnerships. That’s been a very powerful opportunity for [the Defense Department]. FCW: What are some of the challeng-

STAN BAROUH

Culture is one of the hardest things to change.... I think the most significant impact you can have on culture is for people to understand what you’re trying to achieve and how important it is. levels of technological maturity. How do you ensure that you can communicate and have effective command and control as you’re dealing with those differing levels of technology and systems? It’s really a combination of things, and a large part of that complexity is the unpredictability of what’s next — what the engagement will look like, what the enemy will look like, so to speak.

FCW: Where do you see the most

progress being made and how? Atkins: The most significant progress I’ve seen, particularly over the past few years, really is the partnership. The progress that we’ve made and the synergy that we’ve gained have been tremendous — with the services and combatant commands in particular but also with [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] and the Joint Staff. We’ve collectively accelerated

es you expect to face in the future? Atkins: In general, as we look toward the future, the biggest challenge I see is the challenge of change. We are fundamentally changing how we do things. If you look at our enterprise infrastructure, we traditionally delivered services and capabilities in a stratified model where we deliver network services, computing services or other enterprise services. Essentially, what we’re doing is moving from that stratified model and collapsing those layers and really providing a service that’s integrating and seamless. It requires a different perspective where you’re thinking end to end rather than just the network piece or just the computing piece. And it’s not just one person but pervasively everyone thinking end to end, starting at the edge. People have to understand how these things interrelate to each other, technically and in terms of processes, operations and security. Not that we don’t do some of that today — we do — but it’s a fundamental culture shift in approach. Culture is one of the hardest things to change. You approach it in different ways. Personally, I think the most significant impact you can have on culture is for people to understand what you’re trying to achieve and how important it is. When people embrace that thought process and get excited, inevitably you start changing that mindset. November 29, 2010 FCW.COM

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HOME PAGES:ACQUISITION CORNER By MATTHEW WEIGELT

Steve Kempf’s Practical Approach to Procurement Some observers say FAS’ new commissioner might not be flashy, but he’s the right man for the job

S

ome agency leaders can inspire employees with a vision of the future and motivate them to work hard to achieve it. Those leaders enter as if they rode in on a white stallion. Other leaders arrive on a workhorse. They aren’t hailed with cheers or thunderous applause. Instead, they make people realize that it’s time to get down to business. Steve Kempf has been commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service since July, and he arrived leading a workhorse. In an interview before taking on that role, Kempf said his strategy “will largely be in the context of this administration, GSA’s current thinking and then finally where FAS wants to take the [Multiple Award] Schedules program.” Kempf gave his first speech as commissioner Nov. 2 at the Coalition for Government Procurement’s annual Fall Conference. The gathering lacked an atmosphere of excitement or lavish praise for Kempf. “He’s not making a lot of waves, and there are no big steps,” said John Howell, a partner at Sullivan and Worcester law firm, after the speech. It seems that the leaders on white stallions are already here and have cast their grand visions. Kempf referenced Obama administration officials “who see GSA as an asset” and GSA Administrator Martha Johnson. Johnson has enthused GSA employees since 2009 with her vision of customer intimacy, innovation and operational excellence. Kempf ’s vision is simple, and it’s about work. “It’s very important for us to meet our obligations and our commitments” to make FAS the No. 1 brand, he said. According to Kempf, in the next decade, FAS will become agencies’ first choice when they need to make a purchase because FAS will offer easy-to-use tools, fast service and a wealth of options. Kempf is moving ahead on many fronts by taking the infrastructure that was already in place and making it work. He

32


is launching new Web-based tools, including eOffer/eMod, which allows companies to electronically submit new offers and modifications to their schedule contracts. Early in 2011, GSA officials plan to enable government customers to manage their contracts online with such tools. Kempf also said he recognizes the growing importance of data in this era of transparency. He said FAS customers need to have easy access to data about sales and pricing so they can see whether they’re getting the best deal for their money. And he plans to get that information for them. A KNACK FOR GETTING THINGS DONE

Roger Waldron, new president of the Coalition for Government Procurement and a retired GSA official, said Kempf is working on projects that started during Waldron’s tenure at the agency. “He’s carrying them to fruition,” Waldron said, adding that the projects are important building blocks. Although Kempf is not making waves, Howell and others are quick to say he was a good choice for FAS commissioner. A GSA employee who attended the conference said Kempf knows FAS well. He joined GSA in 1992 as a marketing coordinator at the Office of Technology Assistance. Since then, Kempf has held leadership positions at the Federal Systems Integration and Management Center, the Office of Integrated Technology Services and FAS. During his career at GSA, Kempf has planned and coordinated acquisition policy and overseen complex governmentwide IT contracts. Kempf knows FAS’ challenges because he has been on the front lines for years and has worked on the operational and strategic sides, said the GSA employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The employee added that Kempf couples experience with research. Kempf marshals his resources well and can often point employees to research that is relevant to their particular projects. Kempf’s success as FAS commissioner will likely center on collecting more data about pricing and transparency. He will also be a leader in the emerging world of green procurement, the employee said. Furthermore, Kempf is down to earth and doesn’t think of himself as above everyone else. “He’s not in an ivory tower or on a high horse,” the employee said. Matthew Weigelt writes the “Acquisition Corner” blog on FCW.com.

HOME PAGES:GOV 2.0 By ALICE LIPOWICZ

Save That Tweet? Social Media and the Archiving Challenges. Agencies are looking for ways to preserve Web 2.0 content, but NARA is still trying to refine its policy

F

ederal media managers probably felt a little relieved when the National Archives and Records Administration issued a report this fall that categorizes most federal blogs, wikis, and Facebook and Twitter postings as temporary in nature and not official records. “NARA and agencies must recognize that the majority of Web 2.0 records…do not have permanent value,” agency officials wrote in “A Report on Federal Web 2.0 Use and Record Value.” The respite was brief. Several weeks later, U.S. Archivist David Ferriero strongly cautioned that any social network or Web 2.0 content could be an official federal record if it met criteria for uniqueness or for business or policy value. “The informal tone of the content…should not be confused with insignificance,” Ferriero wrote on his blog Nov. 2. So now, after hearing that most Web 2.0 content is temporary, do managers need to comb through every tweet and Facebook comment to choose the nuggets that are fit for posterity? “It is a little confusing,” said Chase Reeves, director of marketing at Iterasi, which provides records systems. A records specialist was blunt: “It would be impossible to sort through 10,000 tweets a day to see what is affected.” The specialist asked not to be named because he has contracts with federal agencies. “The federal Web 2.0 record policies are a moving target.” I posed the questions to Paul Wester, NARA’s director of modern records programs, and Arian Ravanbakhsh, the agency’s electronic records policy analyst. They explained that agencies’ use of social media is evolving and that NARA is continuing to offer updated guidance. They agreed that most Web 2.0 content is temporary, but as Wester put it, “We are trying to give direction to be able to identify the 1 percent to 3 percent that is a record.” The clearest way for a federal agency to publish social media content that doesn’t need archiving is to publish only duplicative content on Web 2.0 platforms — for instance, agencies can post news releases on Facebook and Twitter that already

appeared on the agency’s website, Wester and Ravanbakhsh said. Initially, many agencies did just that. But now, they are finding that approach too restrictive and want to do more. “The challenge is when the content is no longer repurposed and the tools are being used to develop new content,” Ravanbakhsh said. “Agencies may not have thought through the record implications before starting a Twitter account,” Wester added. He advised having the agency’s CIO, records management official and relevant program office work together while getting started in social media. KEEP EVERYTHING…OR NOTHING?

The duplicative nature of agencies’ initial Web 2.0 use is likely to diminish. After all, why would an agency bother with social networking if it simply replicates other content? It seems like a waste to ignore Web 2.0 platforms’ ability to collaborate and share information and feedback. If an agency uses a collaborative Web 2.0 platform for an explicit business use or policy development purpose that meets the criteria of a record, the agency probably needs to manage that record, NARA officials said. While NARA develops further guidance, Wester encouraged agencies to create their own disposition schedules for Web 2.0 records and submit them for NARA’s review under the Federal Records Act. However, NARA has a two-year backlog on reviewing such schedules and takes as long as a year to complete the reviews, according to a report the Government Accountability Office released Oct. 27. Meanwhile, data storage is inexpensive, and industry is urging agencies to store all Web 2.0 content while the policy debate continues. “Archiving everything is cheaper than hiring more people,” said Michael Riedyk, founder of PageFreezer.com, a provider of a website archiving solution. But NARA officials warn that archiving data indiscriminately runs contrary to the philosophy of records management. Furthermore, that approach might be affordable in the short term, but in the long run, the costs of storing all information — and making it searchable and accessible — are unrealistic, Wester said. It looks as though Web 2.0 archiving policies might take a few more months to develop. Depending on the results, maybe we’ll start seeing listings for federal jobs with titles such as tweet sorter and wiki comment reader. Alice Lipowicz writes the “Gov 2.0” blog on FCW.com. November 29, 2010 FCW.COM

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BACK TALK IT MANAGEMENT:

How Appointees Muck Things Up Hosted by John Stein Monroe

FCW readers couldn’t agree more with columnist Steve Kelman’s suspicions about the damage done by short-timing political appointees.

tions within military commands — and probably any organization. Not infrequently, new commanders or directors…are more concerned with building personal résumés or legacies than with finding the best ways to achieve or sustain mission excellence. As with appointees, a senior officer’s predecessor’s ongoing initiatives are frequently killed, to be replaced by the new leader’s pet projects. What can’t be concluded within the leader’s tenure, often two to four years, dies on the vine or is deliberately cut away. — Mark H.

When it comes to IT, political appointees usually stick around long enough to do some damage but depart before they have a chance to do some real good. That’s the consensus among Federal Computer Week readers who commented on a recent column by Steve Kelman. A former political appointee himself, Kelman pointed out that some problems with large IT programs could be avoided if political appointees had an incentive to carry through with initiatives that were not begun on their watch. The problem is that appointees often feel they have no vested interest in programs initiated by their predecessors, he wrote. So Kelman suggested that the Partnership for Public Service create a continuity award to recognize officials who successfully see existing programs through to completion. The organization’s president and CEO, Max Stier, responds below. Here’s a sampling of what readers had to say. Comments have been edited for clarity, length and style.

Big Bite, Slow Chew

Although the continuity of leadership is clearly important, there is also a tendency in the IT world, particularly in government, to try to specify the requirements for a huge and perfect IT system, to code it, and then to launch and operate it. This takes a long time, and the originally perfect design and coding may become less than perfect or even unacceptable as that design and coding takes two to three years or more [to complete], regardless of who’s in control. — Jeff Myers

Political Appointees, Mil-Spec Style

The same dynamics apply to senior posi-

Another Approach

Steve, I am a big believer in the power of awards, but I don’t think it would do much in this case. Better from my end would be a term-appointed chief operating officer and career management executives all the way around. I don’t think the case for making them political outweighs the massive problem you highlight. That may be shooting for the moon, but how about a transition process that systematically identifies these key opportunities for the new leadership team? — Max Stier, Partnership for Public Service

INK TANK

Résumé Padding

I’ve seen a lot of appointees come and go. They have three main flaws: They usually don’t understand enough about their agency to make proper decisions on IT, they usually come in with a management style called “new broom tactics,” and they usually are just trying to reinvent using IT to build their résumés. Most of these appointees have no IT experience on their résumés but want to add it at any cost, usually not caring about the department or the IT folks. — Don

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Read cartoonist John Klossner’s blog at www.fcw.com/InkTank.

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS CDWG www.cdwg.com/federal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FOSE Exposition & Conference www.FOSE.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28-29

Strategy & Business Management for Government Leaders Published 23 times per year, Federal Computer Week provides news, analysis and insight to help federal government executives and policy-makers manage IT in government to deliver business results. Every issue offers in-depth coverage of:

Government Training Exchange www.governmenttrainingexchange.com . . . . . . 12 iConect Development, LLC www.iconect.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

• Government missions, programs, policies, business case for IT • Business best practices, creating accountability, measurability, along with people management • Procurement strategies, technology solutions, management

Merlin International www.FCW.com/DataCenterSustains . . . . . . . . . 21 Northrop Grumman www.northropgrumman.com/IMakeADifference . 36 U.S. General Services Administration

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www,gsa,gov/atyourservice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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Jamie Barnes, Health Research Analyst, Northrop Grumman

www.northropgrumman.com/IMakeADifference Jamie Barnes works on research that enables prevention and intervention programs to help reduce and hopefully stop the transmission of HIV/AIDS. At Northrop Grumman, we realize that it’s people like Jamie who make a difference every day, and we’re proud to have her on our team.

© 2010 Northrop Grumman Corporation

“I help reduce the chance of HIV/AIDS from spreading. That’s how I make a difference.”