MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Technology

Background Twenty years ago, federal agencies typically did not have senior executives leading key mission support functions such as finance, technology, acquisition, or workforce.  Over those two decades, Congress created a series of “chief” positions, reflecting trends in the private sector – chief financial officers, chief information technology officers, chief acquisition officers, and chief human capital officers.  They recently added performance improvement officers but without the “chief” title.

Both are strategic assets to an agency that understands managing these resources efficiently and effectively is essential to its success. In fact, it was the 19th largest federal civilian agency in terms of IT spending in FY 2010, with a budget of $466 million.

Earlier this month, OMB Director Jacob Lew released a memorandum for the heads of all Federal Departments and Agencies, which focused on four areas for which all Federal Chief Information Officers (CIOs) have authority and “a lead role”: Governance, Commodity IT, Program Management, and Information Security.  The Memorandum further reinforced responsibilities of the Federal CIO Council to manage the Federal IT portfolio across agency boundaries.

Last week our guest blogger, Johnny Barnes, Public Sector Chief Technology Officer, shared with us some of the benefits and cost savings agencies can achieve through application consolidation.

Agencies facing increasingly challenging fiscal environments are looking for ways to make each dollar go further. The interagency councils for “chief officers” are no exception!  In fact, they found that a move toward cost efficiencies is also leading to greater collaboration. The interagency councils were created by Congress over the past 20 years to foster cross-agency coordination, collaboration and idea sharing. The councils formed under the aegis of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)  include:

President Obama has made private sector innovation a centerpiece of the Administration’s agenda for growth and job creation.  This is a subject that has broad support across the spectrum:  citizens, businesses and governments all look to commercial activity as an economic engine; new technologies play a key role in this pursuit.  The Nation’s Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra, has been a very visible leader of this activity, with frequent and recent blogs through the White House and media web sites (

Faster, better decision-making is needed through reduced learning curves and creating a collaborative environment. These goals have led to the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (or DCCI, February 26, 2010).  Near-term projects will focus on reducing cost, improving IT security, and shifting investments into more efficient computing platforms and technologies.

Key principles include:  reducing the number of data centers by at least 800 by 2015; adopting a “cloud first” program that requires agencies to determine three opportunities to move support to the cloud; developing career paths for government IT management; and reforming review and guidance bodies, like the IRB, CIO Council, and TechStat process. Procurement reform and contract vehicle changes are also components of the reform.

Harvey Koeppel is Executive Director of the Center for CIO Leadership. In this capacity, Harvey sets the Center’s strategy and directs internaland external operations. He also serves as Chairman of the Center’s Advisory Committee.