Obama IT Czar Leaves D.C. for Harvard
After two and half years on the job, Vivek Kundra has resigned as Chief Information Officer of the United States government.
No reasons were given, but the Harvard fellowship must have been attractive to Kundra, who put together an aggressive plan for IT reform during his two and a half year tenure as the technology czar.
A massive task and challenge awaited Mr. Kundra as he sought to change the direction of the government’s $80 billion annual Information Technology budget. In December 2010 the changes in direction were outlined in his 25 point plan to reform government IT.
Much of his focus relied on moving the government from “heavy decentralized computing systems” to consolidated data centers and “cloud based” solutions. Essentially easier systems that were simpler to deploy, maintain and modify, making the Federal government more responsive to technology trends. A key part of his focus also was to improve cycle times for procurement and align them with technology trends. Much of the procurement system makes it difficult for new vendors and technology suppliers to bring them to bear in Federal circles, with many barriers to entry protecting existing suppliers and systems.
Vivek Kundra recognized many problems with government IT systems, and perhaps most of all the processes in use to procure and manage systems being antiquated and in need of major overhaul. Without these improvements it would be difficult to free up budget money to deploy the SaaS solutions he sees as our government’s future.
Reports of his success levels vary, but no doubt Kundra stirred the pot and set a direction. Changing the direction of anything at the Federal government is not for the faint or impatient heart.
Time will tell to determine if this plan is followed by his successors in Washington. The Federal government does not have the pressure the states or local government IT departments have, that is to balance the budget and control costs. Perhaps this is why most of the innovation in government IT is happening at this decentralized level.
The successor will have an equally challenging job, perhaps picking the baton up on the second leg of what will be a very long relay race to change the government’s IT operations.
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