Halvorsen: DoN policy will aim to curb customization

A forthcoming policy from the Department of Navy will discourage the customization of information technology systems, said (.pdf) DON Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen.

"You will see a policy coming out that basically says that customization is really bad, standardization is good," said Halvorsen May 16, at the Business IT Transformation Town Hall in Virginia Beach, Va.

The policy will say "the only way you can customize [commercial off the shelf] software is to get approval from either [Marine Corps CIO, Brig. Gen.] Kevin Nally, [DON deputy CIO] Janice Haith, the Secretary of the Navy or the DON CIO," added Halvorsen.

Some will likely find the new policy "cumbersome" and it will "slow you down" but "that's exactly what I want to happen," said Halvorsen. It needs to be dome because customizing information technology is a serious problem at DON, he added.  

"We are running variants of all kind of stuff. Variants add complexity. They add cost that we have to pay to maintain them," he added.

Not only are customized systems expensive to maintain, they're more difficult to keep secure, he said.

Halvorsen also talked about data center consolidation and IT system consolidation during the event. He said Army has found savings by moving email to an enterprise network run by DISA, but DON can't find savings in the same areas because it has made some of those transitions already.

"The Army saves money on collapsing multiple network infrastructures and old network directories. We have already done that. We will go to DISA when it makes operational and financial sense to the DON," said Halvorsen.

For more:
- download a transcript of Halvorsen's remarks (.pdf)

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