FEDERAL SECTOR REPORT

May 2004

IN THIS ISSUE

"No Change" Recommended for Exhibit 300 Process

CIO Council Publishes 2004 Strategic Plan

The Consolidation Trend Continues

Links of the Month: IT Performance Management

Consulting Services

Home Page

(c) 2004 by the P2C2 Group, Inc.

"NO CHANGE" RECOMMENDED FOR EXHIBIT 300 PROCESS

The federal CIO Council has recommended to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that the Exhibit 300 business case process, required by the OMB Circular A-11, remain largely unchanged for Fiscal Year 2006. Agencies must submit their business cases for '06 budgets in September of this year. The CIO Council's recommendation was reported in Government Computer News on May 5^th.

Previously, OMB had circulated a draft Circular A-11 which included significant changes in the Exhibit 300, as reported in our April newsletter.

CIO COUNCIL PUBLISHES 2004 STRATEGIC PLAN

In 2004, the CIO Council will focus on advancing agency progress in the areas of e-Government, cross-agency collaboration, information security, and upgrading the federal IT workforce. The Council's 2004 Strategic Plan is available for download at
http://www.cio.gov/documents/CIO_Council_Strategic_Plan_FY04.pdf. According to the plan, the Council envisions that:

• The E-Gov infrastructure is expanded to create a more results-oriented, efficient, and citizen-centered federal government.
• There is effective cross-agency collaboration to maximize use of shared solutions and best practices.
• The federal government information infrastructure is secure and reliable.
• The federal government has the IT resources and skills necessary to meet mission objectives.

The above focal points continue to be strategic to federal agencies, contractors, and grantees. Contractors may market locally (to individual agencies), but they need to think globally (in terms of how solutions fit into the broad e-Gov strategy, the Federal Enterprise Architecture, interoperability, and government-wide results).

It is worthwhile paying attention to the priorities of the CIO Council: Its responsibilities are now part of the E-Government Act of 2002, and its membership includes all of the executive branch. It is working in many areas:

• With National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to improve federal records management--a serious issue now that so much of the public record is in electronic format
• With Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on addressing skills requirements for federal information technology--especially technical and project management skills
• With all agencies to identify best practices, promote cooperative partnerships, and formulate recommendations for government-wide IT solutions.

The changes ahead are exciting and promising!

When you see the CMC mark on the business card or letterhead of a consultant, it means that he or she has met strict certification requirements of the Institute of Management Consultants. The Institute was founded in 1968 by the principal associations in the consulting field to establish publicly recognized standards of competence and professional conduct for the individual management consultant. Applicants for certification undergo thorough investigation of his or her consulting experience; he or she is interviewed by a panel of senior consultants to verify their technical competence; and he or she must pass a written examination evidencing their familiarity with the Institute's Code of Ethics, which he or she has pledged in writing to follow.

THE CONSOLIDATION TREND CONTINUES

The trend is toward major consolidation within the federal sector. Several decades ago, IT shops were doing their own thing, but much of that style is coming to an end. Today, the federal government truly doesn't need 101 financial management or HR systems, or document management systems, or Web portals. Consolidation cuts costs, speeds implementation of improvements, and simplifies HR requirements for IT support.

OMB is working with agency task forces to pursue a "Line of Business Initiative," which would seek to develop common IT solutions for five lines of business (LoBs) that cut across the entire federal government. The areas of focus and the lead agencies are:

• Financial Management (FM) -- The Departments of Energy and Labor
• Human Resources Management (HR) -- The Office of Personnel Management
• Grants Management (GM) -- The National Science Foundation and the Department of Education
• Federal Health Architecture (FHA) -- The Department of Health and Human Services
• Case Management (CM) -- The Department of Justice

OMB reports that federal agencies have identified an aggregate total of over $1 billion for finance, HR, and grants during Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005.

Perhaps 20 percent of IT won't fit into the consolidation trend, because of true R&D requirements or national security issues, but 80 percent is generic government business process. Developing a common approach to the common business processes could literally save billions of dollars over system lifecycles.

LINK OF THE MONTH: IT PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

E-Authentication

The E-Authentication Initiative will provide a trusted and secure standards-based authentication architecture to support the 24 government-wide E-Government initiatives. This approach will provide a uniform process for establishing electronic identity and eliminate the need for each initiative to develop a redundant solution for the verification of identity and electronic signatures. E-Authentication's distributed architecture will also allow citizens and businesses to use non-government issued credentials to conduct transactions with the government.

CONSULTING SERVICES

We provide enterprise-level management consulting services for federal agencies and the contractors who support them. Our areas of specialization are Capital Planning and Investment Control, Enterprise Architecture, strategic planning, performance evaluation, and acquisition support including work statements. Our consulting specialty includes experience in many related areas such as CIO program support, earned value management, risk management, the C&A process for security, and customer satisfaction surveys.

HOME PAGE

One of my springtime joys is visiting Brookside Gardens, which is a few minutes from where I live. It The 50 acres of outdoor gardens come alive with color beginning with tulips, progressing to azaleas, and evolving to roses and dozens of other species. Brookside Gardens is located at 1800 Glenallan Avenue, Wheaton MD. For more information, go to http://www.mc-mncppc.org/parks/brookside/. Keep in touch! I enjoy the follow-up e-mail chat with friends, clients, and subscribers.

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