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When it comes to technology implementations, the biggest hurdle is people.
When it comes to technology implementations, the biggest hurdle is people, according to Theresa Beverly, infrastructure transition program manager at the Internal Revenue Service.Speaking today at the FOSE trade show in Washington, Beverly noted that the hardest part of transitioning to new technology is getting buy-in from and working with users through the transition.With the federal government spending approximately $71 billion on technology annually 'making it the single largest consumer of information technology ' the issue of human capital management is not a small matter, said Tim Young of the Office of Management and Budget.Beverly discussed IRS' standardized transitioning management process for technology infrastructure projects, developed five years ago. The most important part of the process, Beverly said, is getting buy-in at the beginning from executive stakeholders. 'Communicate early, that is the key,' she said.Managing technology within a budget is another issue. Michael Milazzo, deputy chief information officer for IT operations at the Housing and Urban Development Department, discussed optimization and consolidation of the agency's infrastructure.'For years our infrastructure was based on the budget,' Milazzo said. Today HUD is driving towards a standardized infrastructure, implemented based on priorities established by a governance body. 'Our vision is to obtain a real-time infrastructure,' he said. 'We want to make sure it's dynamic.'To that end the agency outsourced its operations side, and achieved an immediate benefit with consolidation of about 120 help desks to a single, national help desk, with one-number access, he said. HUD has also seen a 20 percent infrastructure savings. Under the Federal Information Security Management Act, HUD got an A+ for its project.FOSE is run by the 1105 Government Information Group, which also owns Government Computer News.
The GCN Lab guys take their testing on the road to the FOSE trade show in downtown Washington DC. Come check out all the great products from the show that may soon be installed at your federal agency. Watch them here.
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