The Veterans Affairs Department lacks a fully documented, detailed view of its information technology architecture and does not consider such a high-level view critical to developing an IT strategy, said Roger Baker, VA chief information officer. Baker testified during a May 11 hearing of the House Veterans Affairs' subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

"On architecture, I would love to get there. I believe it's a matter of prioritization and just the way I look at an IT organization," he added.    

Providing concrete numbers on IT assets is also a challenge at VA. According to Baker, VA has 62 data centers and approximately 37,000 servers, but some of those could be virtual instances running on a single physical server. When asked how many physical servers fell under VA's purview Baker said, "Today I do not have that answer. Yesterday, when I prepared my testimony I thought I had that answer for you."

Subcommittee chairman Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) said he is "concerned that we don't have an overall 30,000 foot view of the VA's IT environment," given the millions of dollars spent on IT at VA.

The department struggles when it comes to developing information systems, securing systems and working with the Defense Department to implement joint systems, said to Joel Willemssen, managing director for information technology at the Government Accountability Office. A clear picture of VA's overarching architecture is "absolutely critical" to improving in those areas, he added.

"I understand the magnitude of what the chief information officer is facing and given that magnitude, he probably has to take it in doable bites. [But he should be] looking at the most critical functions and the architecture of that, and most importantly, where does he want to go?" said Willemssen.

But Baker said he's been focused on cancelling failing programs and restructuring the way VA's IT operates, rather than to focused on the broader architecture. 

"The government clearly does not operate like a private sector organization. None of the disciplines that I think are necessary for an IT organization existed inside of VA IT. The way is had been run before I arrived was not in a way a private sector organization would be organized or run," said Baker.

For more:
- go to the hearing webpage (webcast and prepared testimonies available) 

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