More than two thirds of federal IT spending goes to legacy system maintenance. How can agencies reduce this cost while meeting demands for more agile operations? The answer may lie in reassessing their network acquisition model.
Three Strategies to Improve the Citizen ExperienceGov BizCouncil
After a difficult 2014, federal agencies are looking to pivot toward modernizing their customer service infrastructures to better serve an increasingly digital-savvy public. Agencies are well on their way to making technological improvements, but without the corresponding cultural shifts agencies will continue to fall short of their goals. Drawing on recent studies from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), this issue brief lays out a roadmap to help your agency achieve a more citizen-centric mindset.
Download this GBC Issue Brief to learn:
How federal customer satisfaction with public services currently stacks up against the private sector,
What steps the federal government is taking to modernize its customer service infrastructure and what more it could be doing, and
Three strategies that can help your agency better engage with those it serves as well as improve its overall public perception.
Communication Challenges in Federal TeleworkGov BizCouncil
To better understand federal teleworkers' experience with telework and mobile technologies, Government Business Council and Verizon Wireless undertook an in-depth research study of over 350 federal leaders from over 20 departments and agencies.
After a series of events that arguably damaged the reputation of the federal government’s customer service programs, in 2015 the Obama Administration announced its intention to overhaul public services to make them more customer-centric. Customer service factors heavily in the Digital Services Playbook, while the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated it a Cross-Agency Priority Goal, focusing on streamlining transactions, developing standards for high-impact services, and using technology to improve the customer experience.
However, leading consumer studies and public opinion surveys have found that there is still much to be desired from federal customer service. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), for instance, federal customer service continues to lag behind the private sector standard.
To better understand customer service from the perspective of the federal workforce, evaluate the drivers and challenges to reform, and shed light on improvements currently underway, Government Business Council (GBC) and Deloitte conducted a survey of federal managers.
Federal IT networks are under more pressure than ever before. Do federal managers have the IT services they need to effectively do their jobs? If not, how can agencies bring their IT infrastructure up to speed?
Federal agencies’ mission scope is evolving and
expanding on a daily basis, while their budgets remain stagnant, regulations keep them perennially
understaffed, and new technologies necessitate unique and in-demand skill sets. As a result, agencies are
increasingly turning to three forms of outsourcing—contract personnel, shared services, and business process
outsourcing (BPO)—to help close this widening capabilities gap.
Inside Services Contracting: Best Practices for Staff Augmentation and Shared...Gov BizCouncil
Perspectives from three government leaders on how agencies can use staff augmentation and shared services to maximize their needs for flexibility, cost, and operational control.
Envisioning IC ITE: The Next Generation of Information SharingGov BizCouncil
It’s 2016, and the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) is seeking to unlock greater levels of effectiveness by implementing the IC Information Technology Enterprise (IC ITE), a common platform dedicated to enhancing integration, information sharing processes, and security across agencies. In order to learn more about the current state of the intelligence environment, Government Business Council (GBC), Harris, and the Intelligence National Security Alliance (INSA) surveyed government leaders from the intelligence community.
Reach the Edge of the Joint Information EnvironmentGov BizCouncil
To better understand how Department of Defense employees perceive the benefits of and challenges to the Joint Information Environment and mobility, Government Business Council and Verizon Wireless undertook an in-depth research study of over 300 senior DoD employees.
Three Strategies to Improve the Citizen ExperienceGov BizCouncil
After a difficult 2014, federal agencies are looking to pivot toward modernizing their customer service infrastructures to better serve an increasingly digital-savvy public. Agencies are well on their way to making technological improvements, but without the corresponding cultural shifts agencies will continue to fall short of their goals. Drawing on recent studies from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), this issue brief lays out a roadmap to help your agency achieve a more citizen-centric mindset.
Download this GBC Issue Brief to learn:
How federal customer satisfaction with public services currently stacks up against the private sector,
What steps the federal government is taking to modernize its customer service infrastructure and what more it could be doing, and
Three strategies that can help your agency better engage with those it serves as well as improve its overall public perception.
Communication Challenges in Federal TeleworkGov BizCouncil
To better understand federal teleworkers' experience with telework and mobile technologies, Government Business Council and Verizon Wireless undertook an in-depth research study of over 350 federal leaders from over 20 departments and agencies.
After a series of events that arguably damaged the reputation of the federal government’s customer service programs, in 2015 the Obama Administration announced its intention to overhaul public services to make them more customer-centric. Customer service factors heavily in the Digital Services Playbook, while the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated it a Cross-Agency Priority Goal, focusing on streamlining transactions, developing standards for high-impact services, and using technology to improve the customer experience.
However, leading consumer studies and public opinion surveys have found that there is still much to be desired from federal customer service. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), for instance, federal customer service continues to lag behind the private sector standard.
To better understand customer service from the perspective of the federal workforce, evaluate the drivers and challenges to reform, and shed light on improvements currently underway, Government Business Council (GBC) and Deloitte conducted a survey of federal managers.
Federal IT networks are under more pressure than ever before. Do federal managers have the IT services they need to effectively do their jobs? If not, how can agencies bring their IT infrastructure up to speed?
Federal agencies’ mission scope is evolving and
expanding on a daily basis, while their budgets remain stagnant, regulations keep them perennially
understaffed, and new technologies necessitate unique and in-demand skill sets. As a result, agencies are
increasingly turning to three forms of outsourcing—contract personnel, shared services, and business process
outsourcing (BPO)—to help close this widening capabilities gap.
Inside Services Contracting: Best Practices for Staff Augmentation and Shared...Gov BizCouncil
Perspectives from three government leaders on how agencies can use staff augmentation and shared services to maximize their needs for flexibility, cost, and operational control.
Envisioning IC ITE: The Next Generation of Information SharingGov BizCouncil
It’s 2016, and the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) is seeking to unlock greater levels of effectiveness by implementing the IC Information Technology Enterprise (IC ITE), a common platform dedicated to enhancing integration, information sharing processes, and security across agencies. In order to learn more about the current state of the intelligence environment, Government Business Council (GBC), Harris, and the Intelligence National Security Alliance (INSA) surveyed government leaders from the intelligence community.
Reach the Edge of the Joint Information EnvironmentGov BizCouncil
To better understand how Department of Defense employees perceive the benefits of and challenges to the Joint Information Environment and mobility, Government Business Council and Verizon Wireless undertook an in-depth research study of over 300 senior DoD employees.
Since the release of the White House’s 2012 Digital Government Strategy, agencies have begun implementing and utilizing digital tools and services. GBC's survey of 396 senior-level federal employees reveals the current state of these services and the challenges moving forward.
Agencies are driven to innovate by the need to lower costs and improve performance -- but existing practices and structures may not encourage federal employees to pursue new ideas.
With much of the federal workforce engaging in some sort of business travel or remote work, organizations may benefit from implementing robust, standardized duty of care policies to better to ensure employee safety. GBC's recent survey of 431 senior-level federal employees takes a look at the current state of agency travel safety and management.
Three Strategies to Accelerate Your Agency's Migration to the CloudGov BizCouncil
Federal agencies have tough decisions to make as they move past the low-hanging fruit and start migrating older and more interconnected systems to the cloud.
The corporate CFO was once confined to financial gatekeeping and oversight. But for some time now CFOs have been taking on wider and more strategic corporate responsibilities. Today’s CFO needs to partner with the CEO on strategic leadership of a company through budgeting and planning, while taking on greater responsibilities in daily operations and even functions such as enterprise content management. Indeed, CFOs are making more decisions in real-time in areas new to them, and they are relying on volumes of new information.
This report, commissioned by Qlik, finds that having to use so much new information to shape corporate strategy is a double-edged sword. The growth of non-traditional information sources, such as social media and location-based data, offers more potential opportunities for CFOs to generate important insights about their businesses.
All information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided on is for educational purposes only.
Company names mentioned herein are the property of, and may be trademarks of, their respective owners.
It is not to be construed or intended as providing legal advice.
Company names mentioned herein are the property of, and may be trademarks of, their respective owners and are for educational purposes only.
17 U.S. Code § 107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
Healthcare organizations are awash with data. However, electronic health records (EHRs) and digital clinical systems in many healthcare organizations have been deployed without strategic data and IT infrastructure security planning. As a result, chief information security officers (CISOs) frequently have limited authority, sparse staffing and tight budgets. Data security spending in healthcare lags behind other top cybercrime targets such as financial services, according to new research by HIMSS Analytics on behalf of Symantec Corporation.
Despite the large investments in the field of e-Government (e-Gov) around the world, little is known about the impact such investment. This is due to the lack of guidance evaluation, absence of appropriate tools to
measure the impact of e-Gov on the private sector, as well as the lack of effective management to resolve or eliminate the barriers to e-Gov services that led to the failure or delay of many projects. This paper is primarily concerned in determining the impact of e-Gov services on the private sector. A combination of Modified Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), DeLone and McLean's of IS success will be utilized as a research model and e-Gov Economics Project (eGEP) framework to measure “Efficiency, Democracy
& Effectiveness impact” for G2B services. The research result will help e-Gov decision makers to recognize the critical factors that are responsible for G2B success, specifically factors they need to pay attention to gain the highest return on their technology investment, hence enabling them to measure the impact for e-Gov on the private sector. The paper has also demonstrated the usefulness of Structural
Equation Modeling (SEM) in analysis of small data sets and in exploratory research.
In this study, responses were sought from public sector IT Executives in
The People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, The Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan. Respondents were initially
contacted by FutureGov Research via email and telephone in September.
They were invited to complete an online questionnaire that was hosted
on the FutureGov web site between September and October 2009.
In all, 172 responses were received before the study was closed in
early October 2009. However, not all questions were answered by all
respondents and some were not included. A total of 169 respondents
were included in this study. In addition, five hospital executives in the
region were contacted after the initial analysis had been completed and
asked for their anecdotal comments on some of the survey questions.
What is the importance given to ERM?
How advanced are public sector health organisations in the region in scanning and imaging for converting paper forms into digital formats?
What role does outsourcing play in Asia Pacific’s healthcare sector?
What have healthcare organisations adopted within their strategic plans as offices move toward greater automation?
In order to improve patient care and workflow, who are the decision makers and which departments are involved in IT initiatives?
What are the priorities for deciding how to implement major projects?
Cloud Complexity: The need for resilience is an EIU report that looks into the critical shifts brought about by an increased organisational dependence on the cloud. In this survey, sponsored by Sungard Availability Services, and conducted by the EIU, 304 executives dispersed across France, the United Kingdom and the United States, were polled regarding their organisational resilience and technology adoption.
Since the release of the White House’s 2012 Digital Government Strategy, agencies have begun implementing and utilizing digital tools and services. GBC's survey of 396 senior-level federal employees reveals the current state of these services and the challenges moving forward.
Agencies are driven to innovate by the need to lower costs and improve performance -- but existing practices and structures may not encourage federal employees to pursue new ideas.
With much of the federal workforce engaging in some sort of business travel or remote work, organizations may benefit from implementing robust, standardized duty of care policies to better to ensure employee safety. GBC's recent survey of 431 senior-level federal employees takes a look at the current state of agency travel safety and management.
Three Strategies to Accelerate Your Agency's Migration to the CloudGov BizCouncil
Federal agencies have tough decisions to make as they move past the low-hanging fruit and start migrating older and more interconnected systems to the cloud.
The corporate CFO was once confined to financial gatekeeping and oversight. But for some time now CFOs have been taking on wider and more strategic corporate responsibilities. Today’s CFO needs to partner with the CEO on strategic leadership of a company through budgeting and planning, while taking on greater responsibilities in daily operations and even functions such as enterprise content management. Indeed, CFOs are making more decisions in real-time in areas new to them, and they are relying on volumes of new information.
This report, commissioned by Qlik, finds that having to use so much new information to shape corporate strategy is a double-edged sword. The growth of non-traditional information sources, such as social media and location-based data, offers more potential opportunities for CFOs to generate important insights about their businesses.
All information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided on is for educational purposes only.
Company names mentioned herein are the property of, and may be trademarks of, their respective owners.
It is not to be construed or intended as providing legal advice.
Company names mentioned herein are the property of, and may be trademarks of, their respective owners and are for educational purposes only.
17 U.S. Code § 107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
Healthcare organizations are awash with data. However, electronic health records (EHRs) and digital clinical systems in many healthcare organizations have been deployed without strategic data and IT infrastructure security planning. As a result, chief information security officers (CISOs) frequently have limited authority, sparse staffing and tight budgets. Data security spending in healthcare lags behind other top cybercrime targets such as financial services, according to new research by HIMSS Analytics on behalf of Symantec Corporation.
Despite the large investments in the field of e-Government (e-Gov) around the world, little is known about the impact such investment. This is due to the lack of guidance evaluation, absence of appropriate tools to
measure the impact of e-Gov on the private sector, as well as the lack of effective management to resolve or eliminate the barriers to e-Gov services that led to the failure or delay of many projects. This paper is primarily concerned in determining the impact of e-Gov services on the private sector. A combination of Modified Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), DeLone and McLean's of IS success will be utilized as a research model and e-Gov Economics Project (eGEP) framework to measure “Efficiency, Democracy
& Effectiveness impact” for G2B services. The research result will help e-Gov decision makers to recognize the critical factors that are responsible for G2B success, specifically factors they need to pay attention to gain the highest return on their technology investment, hence enabling them to measure the impact for e-Gov on the private sector. The paper has also demonstrated the usefulness of Structural
Equation Modeling (SEM) in analysis of small data sets and in exploratory research.
In this study, responses were sought from public sector IT Executives in
The People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, The Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan. Respondents were initially
contacted by FutureGov Research via email and telephone in September.
They were invited to complete an online questionnaire that was hosted
on the FutureGov web site between September and October 2009.
In all, 172 responses were received before the study was closed in
early October 2009. However, not all questions were answered by all
respondents and some were not included. A total of 169 respondents
were included in this study. In addition, five hospital executives in the
region were contacted after the initial analysis had been completed and
asked for their anecdotal comments on some of the survey questions.
What is the importance given to ERM?
How advanced are public sector health organisations in the region in scanning and imaging for converting paper forms into digital formats?
What role does outsourcing play in Asia Pacific’s healthcare sector?
What have healthcare organisations adopted within their strategic plans as offices move toward greater automation?
In order to improve patient care and workflow, who are the decision makers and which departments are involved in IT initiatives?
What are the priorities for deciding how to implement major projects?
Cloud Complexity: The need for resilience is an EIU report that looks into the critical shifts brought about by an increased organisational dependence on the cloud. In this survey, sponsored by Sungard Availability Services, and conducted by the EIU, 304 executives dispersed across France, the United Kingdom and the United States, were polled regarding their organisational resilience and technology adoption.
API-led connectivity: How to leverage reusable microservicesAbhishek Sood
Government agencies across the globe – whether they be state, local, central, or federal – face a digital transformation imperative to adopt cloud, IoT, and mobile technologies that legacy systems often struggle to keep up with.
This white paper explores how to take an architectural approach centered around APIs and microservices to unlock monolithic legacy systems for digital transformation.
Find out how to build up your API management strategy, and learn how you can:
Accelerate project delivery driven by reusable microservices
Secure data exchange within and outside agencies
Use API-led connectivity to modernize legacy systems
And more
Besides the benefits are there possible challenges government agencies are likely to encounter should they
decide to adopt cloud computing? What strategies should be deployed to overcome the inhibitors of cloud
computing? These are but few questions this paper aims to investigate. Studies have shown that, cloud
computing has become a strategic direction for many government agencies and is already being deployed
in many critical areas of the government's cyber infrastructure. The benefits and the challenges of cloud
adoption have heightened interest of academic research in recent times. We are however uncertain, per
literature factors that hinder successful cloud adoption especially in the Ghanaian context. We posit that,
understanding the challenges of cloud adoption and overcoming them must accompany the use of the
technology in order to prevent unwanted technical consequences, and even greater problems from
government information management. This study is based on unstructured interviews from selected
government agencies in Ghana. The study is grounded on the theory of technology, organization and
environment (TOE) framework. Major inhibiting factors identified include lack of basic infrastructure for
cloud take-off, data security, unreliable internet connectivity, and general lack of institutional readiness
Internet of Everything: A $4.6 Trillion Public-Sector OpportunityJoseph M Bradley
More than perhaps any technological advance since the dawn of the Internet, the Internet of Everything (IoE) — the networked connection of people, process, data, and things — holds tremendous potential for helping public-sector leaders address their many challenges, including the gap separating citizen expectations and what governments are currently delivering.
Learn the Secret of Building a Dynamic, Responsive Network Access Architecture
Today’s networking landscape is growing so fast that the most expansive predictions risk underestimating the phenomenon. Both the extent and rate of growth are breathtaking—and that could seem like a trickle compared to what’s in store. This deluge is the result of rising video and all-IP traffic volumes, rapid migration to the cloud, and momentum toward 100 GbE and 4G LTE, all accelerated by the insatiable appetite for tablets and smartphones.
CIO Council's White Paper: Networks of the FutureNeil McDonnell
The Innovation Committee of the Chief Information Officers Council put out this white paper to provide Federal Government CIOs insight into the next generation of network technologies and how they will impact agencies.
Neil McDonnell and the GovCon Chamber of Commerce is bringing this document to industry as part of our commitment to find and share information that will help small businesses better prepare to serve the federal market.
Research done while in PwC Mexico. A short version was included in the PwC publication "Future of Pacific Alliance", presented at the presidential summit of Chile on July 2016.
Similar to A New Network Acquisition Model for the Federal Government (20)
03062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
31052024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
‘वोटर्स विल मस्ट प्रीवेल’ (मतदाताओं को जीतना होगा) अभियान द्वारा जारी हेल्पलाइन नंबर, 4 जून को सुबह 7 बजे से दोपहर 12 बजे तक मतगणना प्रक्रिया में कहीं भी किसी भी तरह के उल्लंघन की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए खुला रहेगा।
हम आग्रह करते हैं कि जो भी सत्ता में आए, वह संविधान का पालन करे, उसकी रक्षा करे और उसे बनाए रखे।" प्रस्ताव में कुल तीन प्रमुख हस्तक्षेप और उनके तंत्र भी प्रस्तुत किए गए। पहला हस्तक्षेप स्वतंत्र मीडिया को प्रोत्साहित करके, वास्तविकता पर आधारित काउंटर नैरेटिव का निर्माण करके और सत्तारूढ़ सरकार द्वारा नियोजित मनोवैज्ञानिक हेरफेर की रणनीति का मुकाबला करके लोगों द्वारा निर्धारित कथा को बनाए रखना और उस पर कार्यकरना था।
An astonishing, first-of-its-kind, report by the NYT assessing damage in Ukraine. Even if the war ends tomorrow, in many places there will be nothing to go back to.
In a May 9, 2024 paper, Juri Opitz from the University of Zurich, along with Shira Wein and Nathan Schneider form Georgetown University, discussed the importance of linguistic expertise in natural language processing (NLP) in an era dominated by large language models (LLMs).
The authors explained that while machine translation (MT) previously relied heavily on linguists, the landscape has shifted. “Linguistics is no longer front and center in the way we build NLP systems,” they said. With the emergence of LLMs, which can generate fluent text without the need for specialized modules to handle grammar or semantic coherence, the need for linguistic expertise in NLP is being questioned.
01062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
2024 is the point of certainty. Forecast of UIF experts
A New Network Acquisition Model for the Federal Government
1. 1
1
A NEW NETWORK ACQUISITION
MODEL FOR THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT
On one hand, the pressures to cut costs and
operate more efficiently are as intense as ever. On
the other, increasingly dynamic operational
environments, both domestically and
internationally, demand that agencies become
more agile to achieve their missions. President
Obama’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request
succinctly sums up this dual challenge, claiming it
will “maximize the value of every taxpayer dollar
while increasing productivity and the quality of
services throughout,” all while decreasing funding
for 13 major agencies.1 How agencies approach
these compounding challenges will have long-lasting
effects on their ability to achieve
their missions.
At the core of both the efficiency and agility
imperatives is the IT network agencies rely on to
operate. It is becoming increasingly clear that
maintaining current network infrastructures is
more costly than many believe. Moreover, as
agency operations depend more and more on their
ability to access and leverage IT networks,
achieving mission will require agile and flexible
networks. A different approach to network
acquisition, known as Network-as-a-Service,
offers a new way forward.
The True Cost of Network Ownership
Federal IT spending has stagnated over the past
several years. From FY 2001 to FY 2009, federal
IT spending had a compound annual growth rate
3
For many, the first step is evaluating the true cost
of IT network ownership.
Most of what agencies spend on IT goes to
maintaining the status quo. A recent Government
Accountability Office analysis found that agencies
spent $59 billion on operating and maintaining
systems in FY 2014, $30 billion of which is spent
on upkeep for “steady state” (i.e., legacy)
systems.4 However, this figure only includes
maintenance spending for IT infrastructure, or
support for common user systems, security,
computing infrastructure, and IT capital planning,
and may therefore understate the true cost of
maintaining legacy systems.
FEDERAL AGENCIES TODAY FACE A
STRATEGIC INFLECTION POINT IN HOW
THEY MANAGE ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS.
2
of 7.09 percent. Over the last five years, this rate
has fallen to just 0.78 percent.2 For FY 2015, the
President’s budget shrinks spending to $79 billion
from $81.4 billion in FY 2014.3 As expectations for
federal IT continue to rise while budgets do not,
agencies will face pressure to realize efficiencies.
AT THE CORE OF BOTH THE
EFFICIENCY AND AGILITY IMPERATIVES
IS THE IT NETWORK AGENCIES RELY
ON TO OPERATE.
2. 2
4
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
Percentage of Total Federal IT Spending* Reported as
Maintenance Spending, FY 2008-2015
Maintenance Spending Upgrades/New Spending
Unspecified % of Total Reported as Maintenance Spending
Agencies also spend a substantial portion of their
IT budgets on mission area maintenance, or
upkeep of IT that directly supports agency-designated
mission delivery (e.g., military
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance).
Thus, the combined total cost for maintenance of
all federal legacy IT systems for FY 2014 was
actually $52.9 billion, or 70 percent of total IT
spending (with the exemption of classified DoD IT
spending).5 Moreover, this proportion has been
increasing in recent years and is expected to reach
73 percent in FY 2015. Even as total IT spending
stagnates, maintenance spending is growing.
Network breaches and outages also generate
tremendous costs that are often overlooked when
considering cost of ownership. The United States
5
75%
70%
65%
60%
55%
Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT)
reported a 33 percent increase in cyber incidents
disclosed by federal agencies from 2010 to 2013.
In one instance, personally identifiable
information on more than 100,000 individuals
was stolen from a Department of Energy
computer network, a breach estimated to cost
more than $3.7 million to resolve.6
Network outages, which are often self-inflicted,
can be just as consequential. In January 2014,
legacy system failures were blamed for a
“catastrophic network technological outage”
affecting the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.
The outage left the agency “without access to
mission-critical systems.”7
61%
62%
65%
66%
70%
72%
70%
73%
50%
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Millions
of
$
*Not including classified DoD IT spending (approximately $6 billion per year)
Source: ITDashboard.gov
3. 3
8
critical component of this rebalancing. Assessing
the ongoing evolution of global threats and
technological change, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, General Martin Dempsey said, “the military
that maintains the most agile and resilient networks
will be the most effective in war.”11
The Air Force, in particular, has embraced the
strategic agility concept. Its most recent 30-year
strategy, released in July 2014, emphasizes that
6
The true cost of owning IT networks, however,
transcends fiscal and direct mission setbacks for
federal agencies. Government network failures
also damage public trust and federal employee
morale. The troubled rollout of healthcare.gov
offers a potent example. The website’s crash on
October 1, 2013 contributed to a significant loss of
confidence in the government. A December 2013
poll found 70 percent of Americans lack
confidence in the government's ability to address
major problems, with most identifying health care
reform as a top priority.8 Federal employees were
similarly negatively affected by the very public
failure. As a March 2014 Government Business
Council/Nextgov poll found, just 32 percent of
federal technology executives are confident in
their agency’s ability to execute IT priorities.9
Examined carefully, the true cost of ownership for
federal IT networks is much higher than generally
accounted for.
The Agility Imperative
Realizing IT network efficiencies is certainly a
major priority for federal agencies, but even more
important is their ability to achieve mission in
increasingly dynamic environments.
Having completed its Quadrennial Defense
Review in March 2014, the Department of
Defense provides a salient case in point.
9
“agility is the counterweight to the uncertainty of
the future and its associated rapid rate of change.”
In order to maintain the Air Force’s edge in the
emerging operational environment, the strategy
asserts that it will move away from large, long-term
acquisition programs that limit flexibility
and “begin designing agility into
capability development.”12
Strategic agility is not just an imperative for DoD;
civilian agencies are also tasked with meeting the
expectations of a 21st century citizenry. The
President’s FY 2015 budget identifies the speed and
ease with which individuals and businesses can
complete transactions with agencies as being critical
to the government’s ability to deliver the “world-class
service that citizens expect.”13 Agencies must
also be prepared to cope with extreme variations in
demand for services. During extreme weather
events, outbreaks of disease, and even tax seasons,
civilian network capacity needs vary greatly.
“THE MILITARY THAT MAINTAINS THE
MOST AGILE AND RESILIENT NETWORKS
WILL BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE IN WAR.”
7
After more than a decade of large-scale, prolonged
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military is
rebalancing for a broader spectrum of conflict that
requires much greater agility and adaptability.
The strategy’s force structure projections provide
concrete evidence: while the Army is set to shrink
to roughly 450,000 soldiers from a wartime high
of 570,000, Special Operations Forces will grow to
nearly 70,000 personnel.10 IT networks form a
4. 4
About GBC
Government Business Council (GBC), the research arm of
Government Executive Media Group, is dedicated to advancing
the business of government through analysis and insight. GBC
partners with industry to share best practices with top
government decision-makers, understanding the deep value
inherent in industry’s experience engaging and supporting
federal agencies. For more information, please visit:
www.govexec.com/gbc.
About Brocade
Brocade® networking solutions help federal agencies achieve their
critical initiatives as they transition to a world where applications
and information reside anywhere. Today, Brocade is extending its
proven data center expertise across the entire network with open,
virtual, and efficient solutions. To deploy new technology without
appropriating CapEx, agencies can utilize Brocade Network
Subscription, an OpEx acquisition model that aligns with federal
directives and provides network-as-a-service flexibility with
limitless network scalability and upgradability. (www.brocade.com)
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A New Network Acquisition Model
To bring down the true cost of IT network
ownership and meet demands for more agile
operations, federal agencies can look to a new
model for IT network acquisition: Network-as-a-
Service.
Traditionally, agencies have considered IT an
asset requiring upfront capital to purchase and
long-term planning to maintain. This ownership
model may permit the utmost control of network
infrastructure, but it also limits flexibility and
impedes innovation. By contrast, an “as-a-service”
approach to network acquisition would allow
agencies to pay for use based on consumption.
Although agencies would no longer own their
networks outright, they would actually have
greater control over how they leverage them.
“Network-as-a-service” facilitates five main
improvements:
1. Scalability - Agencies can increase and
decrease network capacity as needed,
allowing for quick adaptations to sudden
changes in requirements and
unpredictable environments.
2. Efficiency - Agencies can invest money
they would otherwise spend on
maintaining legacy systems in enhanced
IT capabilities, helping them make the
most of taxpayer dollars.
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3. Upgradability - Agencies can upgrade or
downgrade their networks as needed to
maintain top quality while ensuring
compatibility with legacy systems
4. Security - Agencies can maintain up-to-date
security features, helping them stay
ahead of evolving cyber threats.
5. Responsiveness - Agencies can quickly
respond to fluctuations in service
demands, allowing them to adopt a “just in
time” strategy to deliver services to
citizens.
The key to successfully navigating the inflection
point the federal government faces in enterprise
operations is strategic agility. Agencies can start
by reassessing their approach to network
acquisition.
5. 5
Sources
1. Fiscal Year 2015 Budget of the U.S. Government, Executive Office of the President, March 2014.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2015/assets/budget.pdf
2. Federal Information Technology: FY 2014 Budget Priorities, Steven VanRoekel, Executive Office of the
President, April 2013.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/egov_docs/2014_budget_priorities_20130
410.pdf
3. “Federal IT Spending Slashed in Proposed 2015 Budget,” InformationWeek, March 2014.
http://www.informationweek.com/government/cybersecurity/federal-it-spending-slashed-in-proposed-
2015-budget/d/d-id/1114126
4. “Agencies Need to Strengthen Oversight of Multibillion Dollar Investments in Operations and
Maintenance,” Government Accountability Office, November 2013.
http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/658794.pdf
5. IT Dashboard, FY 2015 Edition
www.itdashboard.gov/export/trends_report
“Agencies Need to Improve Cyber Incident Response Practices,” Government Accountability Office,
April 2014.
http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/662901.pdf
6. “Pentagon Policy Agency Hit by ‘Catastrophic’ Network Outage,” Nextgov, May 2014
7. http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2014/05/pentagon-police-agency-hit-catastrophic-network-outage/
83842/
8. “Poll: Americans Have Little Faith in Government,” AP, January 2014.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/poll-americans-have-little-faith-government
9. “Federal Tech Execs Pessimistic About White House IT Priorities,” Government Business Council, April
2014.
http://www.govexec.com/gbc/federal-tech-execs-remain-pessimistic-about-white-house-it-priorities/
82213/
10. Quadrennial Defense Review 2014, Department of Defense, March 2014.
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/2014_Quadrennial_Defense_Review.pdf
11. “DOD Must Stay Ahead of Cyber Threat, Dempsey Says,” American Forces Press Service, June 2013.
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=120379
12. America’s Air Force: A Call to the Future, United States Air Force, July 2014.
http://airman.dodlive.mil/files/2014/07/AF_30_Year_Strategy_2.pdf
13. Fiscal Year 2015 Budget of the U.S. Government, Executive Office of the President, March 2014.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2015/assets/budget.pdf
First image: Flickr user Beraldo Leal (Creative Commons)
Second image: Flickr user U.S. Pacific Air Forces (Creative Commons)
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