OMB 25 point plan

Budget is the top concern among federal chief information officers in an annual survey from TechAmerica and Grant Thorton, published May 2. Based on interviews with 41 federal CIOs, report authors say federal information technology leaders are concerned about budget constraints caused by the continuing resolution and sequestration, and inadequate budget authorities that impact how much control they have over IT programs.

The Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative has launched a governmentwide marketplace for excess agency data center capacity, said Zach Baldwin, FDCCI project manager, during an Aug. 28 webinar. Right now the marketplace is limited to rack space, but the intention is for agencies in the future to offer up excess virtualized server capacity through a metered service, Baldwin said.

The Office of Management and Budget's 25 point plan to reform federal information technology passed its final milestone, the 18-month mark, on June 9. Just how well the federal government tracked against the plan is unclear, however, as the rhetoric out of OMB has shifted considerably since the plan's December 2010 unveiling.

The goal of the 25-point plan was to shock the system, said Federal CIO VanRoekel May 24 before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee. The strategy served as "a tactical change agent to really wake people up," he added.