OMB announces 25-point implementation plan for restructuring federal IT

The Office of Management and Budget announced Dec. 9 that it will move forward with a plan for restructuring federal information technology. The specific changes outlined by OMB are based on information gathering from TechStat reviews of high-priority agency IT projects and recommendations from industry, said Jeffrey Zients, deputy director for management and federal chief performance officer, during a press briefing at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C.

Zients said OMB's 25-point implementation plan will help remove the barriers that consistently get in the way of successful project management and execution. The 25 points are based on five broad changes to agency IT, outlined by OMB on Nov. 22: Adopting light technologies and shared services; aligning the budget and acquisition process with the technology cycle; strengthening program management; streamlining governance and increasing accountability; and, increasing engagement with the IT community.

Apply "light technology" and shared solutions

The entire shared services strategy within federal government is being revisited, said Vivek Kundra, federal chief information officer. The goal, he said, is to have something like online restaurant reservation website Open Table, but for data centers. If one agency needs more space and another has it, the first agency can use that space already available within government rather than purchasing that capability, Kundra said. Below are the OMB action items that apply to technology adoption.

Strengthen program management

There is currently no career track within government for project management, said Kundra. These workers have no community for sharing best practices and lack appropriate training and tools, he said, adding that his office will work with Office of Personnel Management to create a distinct career path with direct hiring authorities. A pilot program will start immediately, Kundra said.

He also advocated a technology fellows program where people could join an agency for six-month stints to share ideas. This would be an option for young workers--training the next generation of civil servants--and for industry professionals to join government to share ideas and work on implementing new technology. Below are the action items that apply to program management.

Align the acquisition process with the technology cycle

The White House plans to change several aspects of the acquisition process. First, it hopes to develop a cadre of specialized acquisition professionals. It also aims to stand up templates that support modular development. Kundra also said OMB will is "going to enact a set of policies that will attract those innovative companies that want to do business with the federal government." Below are the action items that apply to improved acquisition.

Align the budget process with the technology cycle

The budget cycle often requires agencies to predict in some detail what technology they will need two years down the road. Kundra said OMB will work with Congress over the next few months to create budget models that support agile software development. These reforms will ensure agencies don't throw good money after bad just because they're afraid of losing funding, he said. Below are the action items that apply to budget process reform.

Streamline governance and improve accountability

Kundra said OMB has had to go through seven or eight layers of governance, during TechStat meetings to find the person actually responsible for an IT system. This has created what he calls "a culture of faceless accountability," in that if everyone's accountable, no one is accountable. Kundra also said OMB will have to fundamentally rethink the agency CIO's job, so CIOs can focus less on policy and more on portfolio management. Below are the action items that apply to governance and accountability.

Increase engagement with industry

"We need to be crystal clear on what our requirements are and we need to be crystal clear on what's not working," said Kundra in reference to public-private partnerships. "We want to make sure that the platform allows us to get innovative ideas early." OMB has tapped Daniel Gordon, administrator for federal procurement policy within OMB, to lead a "myth-busting" campaign.

"We need to take better advantage of flexibilities we already have," said Gordon, during the press briefing. He added that it is not necessary to make new statutes or changes to Federal Acquisition Regulation because "procurement reform in the 1990s gave us the tools [we need] to do this...now we need to really make this happen in execution."

If these 25 points are implemented correctly, said OMB officials, major gains will be made in federal IT. However, one point was noticeably absent from the discussion: Additional funding for projects. As for the federal acquisition corps, Gordon said he is working with agencies to find ways to get the training done within the budget agencies have today. OMB is also working with congress to add money in this area, but it is unlikely budgets will loosen anytime soon, he added. 

Other IT items excluded from the implementation plan include any formal mention of telecom or cybersecurity. OMB considers telecom as "commodity IT," said Kundra, and cybersecurity is not a single item to touch on, but an encompassing concern for all parts of agency IT restructuring. 

Teri Takai, CIO at the Defense Department made a request of Kundra toward the end of the meeting, "that we really look at the cybersecurity aspects as important as our innovation and efficiency drives." She added, that security could become an unintentional trade off with the rapid implementation being demanded of agencies. 

Kundra assured Tekai that security is "vital" to the plan and "baked in."

UPDATE Dec. 15: The Defense Department has also released a document about its plans to reform IT acquisition and management. Read our coverage of it here. You can also see a side-by-side Wordle comparision of the two plans here.

For more:
- download the OMB plan (.pdf)
- see a visualization of the most common words in the plan
- watch a video of the event 
- book a restaurant reservation with Open Table

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