The Ultimate Mentor to Women: Dave Goldberg

This month’s blog posting is an excerpt from our friend Rebecca Shambaugh, recognized leadership expert and author. This is her timely blog entry from May 6, 2015 on the passing of SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg. Please see her bio after the blog post.
 
The Ultimate Mentor to Women: Dave Goldberg
by Becky Shambaugh
 
As I heard the news about Dave Goldberg’s death last weekend, I joined many in feeling the sadness of this loss—to his wife Sheryl Sandberg, his family and friends, his colleagues at the company he headed as CEO (SurveyMonkey), and to the technology industry, where Goldberg inspired many.
 
The loss also extends to women in the industry, and to anyone who cares about women’s leadership development, because of the important role that Goldberg played in prioritizing women’s advancement over the decades of his career—long before it became fashionable to do so.
 
I’ve often talked about men being part of the solution to women’s advancement rather than being the problem—and Goldberg’s actions model exactly this. The New York Times reported this week that Goldberg was a “lifelong women’s advocate” and “perhaps the signature male feminist of his era.” The article cited many examples of this, starting back in his teens when he admonished his prom date for not speaking up and sharing her important views in a politics class, and moving into more recent days as a senior executive.
 
“[W]hen Karen Gilford, an early employee at Launch Media, Mr. Goldberg’s digital music company, became a mother, he knew exactly what to do,” reported Jodi Kantor for the New York Times. “He kept giving her challenging assignments, she recalled, but also let her work from home one day a week.”
 
Goldberg also reportedly advised the men in his office on “family and partnership matters,” about which he knew a great deal as a father of two who prioritized work-life balance. It was well-known in Silicon Valley that the power pair would leave their offices at 5:30 as often as possible to eat dinner with their kids, setting a solid example of better balance than is typically shown in the industry. He didn’t hesitate to relocate for his wife’s equally high-powered career, and reportedly “arranged his schedule so that he could be home with their children when she was traveling for work.”
 
Perhaps even more telling than these personal anecdotes is the fact that Goldberg’s management team at SurveyMonkey far exceeds the industry average when it comes to female members. Six of the 16 top executives—including the President and CTO—are women, a much higher number than most companies in the Valley with comparable valuation.
 
When it comes to creating a model for true integrated, gender-balanced leadership, Goldberg set the standard. Through his publicly equal partnership with Sandberg, his encouragement of female leaders in organizations where he worked throughout his career, and his fostering of advancing and retaining more women in senior management roles, Goldberg stands out as the ultimate mentor to women. His words and actions in support of female talent were life-changing to many, and through them, he raised the bar for other men throughout the industry and Corporate America as a whole. He will be sorely missed.
 
To learn more about how SHAMBAUGH can help you build inclusive/integrated leadership within your organization, or about SHAMBAUGH’s targeted women’s leadership development programs, executive coaching, and other core services, visit www.shambaughleadership.com.
 
Rebecca Shambaugh is author of the best-selling books “It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor”, “Make Room for Her: Why Companies Need an Integrated Leadership Model to Achieve Extraordinary Results” and "Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton."

Rebecca Shambaugh’s Biography
 
Rebecca Shambaugh is an internationally recognized leadership expert, author, and keynote speaker. She speaks before thousands of leaders around the world every year, challenging conventional wisdom and overturning assumptions about how to lead in today’s business environment. Her compelling and new vision for leadership in the 21st Century has electrified and inspired audiences on six continents.
 
Rebecca is President of SHAMBAUGH, a global leadership development organization and Founder of Women In Leadership and Learning (WILL), one of the first executive leadership development programs in the country, dedicated to the research, advancement, and retention of women leaders and executives. Rebecca has coached and advised over a hundred leaders and executives and has enhanced their overall level of excellence in such areas as communications, strategic thinking, inclusive leadership, employee engagement, executive presence, and culture transformation.

Prior to starting her own company, Rebecca has worked for such premier organizations as General Motors, Fairchild Industries, and Amax Inc. as a senior executive in the leadership and human capital arena.
 
Rebecca has been showcased on CNBC, TED Talks, Fox News (New York), NPR, Washington Business, ABC, and numerous syndicated radio talk shows. She has been featured in publications such as: Leader to Leader, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Time Magazine, USA Today, Fortune Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Pink Magazine, and Entrepreneur Magazine.
 
Rebecca is a known thought leader in the industry and is the author of two best seller books titled, “It’s Not A Glass Ceiling, It’s A Sticky Floor” and “Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton,” and her new book, “Make Room For Her: Why Companies Need an Integrated Leadership Model To Achieve Extraordinary Results,” all published by McGraw-Hill. Her books illustrate her unconventional and results-focused approach to creating great leaders.
 
Rebecca partners with a cross-section of clients such as: Booz Allen Hamilton, Dow Chemical, Hilton Worldwide, KPMG, Marriott International, IBM, Cisco, National Grid, Humana, HP, Intelsat, MedImmune, Microsoft, and J&J. She is a member of the National Press Club, the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., on the Board of Visitors for Marymount University, on the Board of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, and on the Executive Board for the Virginia Women’s Center. Rebecca is also the Chairman of the Board of Young Women Lead and an Executive Partner for Bentley University’s Center for Women and Business, as well as on the Board of the Red Cross. Other accomplishments include recipient of the Smart CEO Brava! Award, Women Who Mean Business Award, Entrepreneur Organization of the Year Award, and Finalist for the Outstanding Corporate Citizenship Award for Woman-Owned Business of the Year.
 
Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Relations from Purdue University and a Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Development from Marymount University.

STEM: Engineering the Future for Women in Science

This month’s blog posting is an excerpt from the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Corporate Citizenship Center blog.  This piece is by Anna Maria Chavez, the Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts USA and is titled STEM: Engineering the Future for Women in Science.

Please see her bio after the blog post. Enjoy!

STEM: Engineering the Future for Women in Science - http://www.uschamberfoundation.org/blog/post/stem-engineering-future-women-science/42803
 
Anna Maria Chávez Biography
Chief Executive Officer, Girl Scouts USA

Anna Maria Chávez began her career journey in the very same Movement she now leads: the Girl Scouts.  A lifetime member of Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) and an award-winning community leader, Anna developed the leadership skills that would propel her to the office of the Chief Executive of GSUSA while growing up as a Girl Scout in Eloy, Arizona.

Her experiences in Girl Scouting lit a passion for public service and social engagement that have defined her career.  Anna’s insight and desire to leave the world a better place led her from her hometown to Yale University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in American history before pursuing a juris doctorate from the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona.  She is admitted to the Bar for the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, the Arizona Supreme Court, and U.S. Supreme Court.

Anna’s desire to serve others brought her first to Washington D.C., where she held numerous posts in President Clinton’s administration, including serving a senior policy advisor to former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater. She later returned to her home state of Arizona to serve the first of two female governors as Deputy Chief of Staff for Urban Relations and Community Development under then-Governor Janet Napolitano.  In this role, she promoted the governor's policies, programs, and initiatives in partnership with city, county, and tribal governments, as well as federal agencies and community organizations. 

During her time in state service, Anna provided oversight for programs targeting food distribution for the hungry, shelter and supportive services for victims of domestic violence, refugee resettlement services, and shelter services for the homeless. Additionally, she oversaw Arizona’s adult services programs, including adult protective services.

Looking for opportunities to work with youth and inspire a new generation of female leaders, Anna returned to the Girl Scout Movement in 2009, serving as Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas.  Her achievements leading the Southwest Texas council include vastly enhancing the reach and visibility of the Council, growing the Council’s philanthropic efforts, and boosting membership.  Her success earned her the respect and recognition of GSUSA’s National Board, who appointed her CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA in 2011.

Lauded for her leadership, Ms. Chávez received the 2013 Law College Association Award from her law school alma mater, the University of Arizona, and has been recognized as one of the 100 Women Leaders in STEM by STEM connector. She is the recipient of the 2013 Excellence in Community Service award from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, as well as the 2013 Graciela Olivarez La Raza Award from the National Council of La Raza.  In 2014, she was named number 22 by Fast Company in their annual list of the most creative people in business.  In addition, the Arizona National Guard presented Anna with the Adjutant General's Medal and the Diversity Champion Leadership Award.

FY 2014 Delivers Enterprise Growth in Wireless - Excerpted from Mary Davie’s “Great Government through Technology” GSA Blog

This month’s blog posting is from Mary Davie, you may remember her as one of the speakers on our June 19th panel for Government Leaders at the Helm. Please see her bio after the blog post.

FY 2014 Delivers Enterprise Growth in Wireless - Excerpted from Mary Davie’s “Great Government through Technology” GSA Blog

As we all know, the explosion in demand for wireless and mobile services is continuing at a pace hard to keep up with. And with that popularity comes government’s continuing need to find ways to exploit those technologies while simultaneously saving money and increasing acquisition and operational efficiencies.

In FY 2014, we saw agencies increasingly turn to GSA’s Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI) Wireless Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs). Initially launched in the second half of FY 2013, the BPAs experienced substantial growth in FY 2014, with multiple enterprise level buys (greater than 2,500 units) awarded and task order-level competition yielding very competitive rates and cost savings for most federal users.

Since June 2014, month over month program growth exceeded 30%. Additional awards are anticipated in early FY 2015 increasing agency usage and savings (>20%) for the foreseeable future.

Cost Savings, Choice, and Efficiency

The growing demand of the FSSI Wireless solution is largely due to the >22% cost savings they deliver and the flexible features they offer (including no-charge refreshable devices, open market premium devices, agency-level pooling to reduce overage costs, and adherence to federal policies and administrative priorities). The achieved savings by participating agencies is compared to their prior rates or government-wide average and not list prices.

FSSI Wireless BPA task order competitions have driven rates lower from the award value to rates as low as $42, $40, $38, and $36 per user per month for many common smartphone plans.

This competition lowered the average monthly rate across all federal mobile users to approximately $40 per user. The prior average rate across government based on the contracts we reviewed was nearly $55, which was comprised primarily of devices with limited data capabilities. This means the FSSI Wireless BPAs are producing considerable additional savings for agencies as they deploy devices with a much greater data-intensive footprint.

The BPAs have the added advantage they include government-wide discounts that apply as government-wide usage increases, which adds even greater value.

The more agencies use the BPAs, the greater the current and future cost savings for the government and taxpayers.

Initial savings are through the discounted wireless plan pricing and no-cost devices. Two of the four carriers on contract have committed that the BPA prices are the lowest they offer government buyers.  In addition, agencies can see the published prices on all the BPAs in a single place.

In addition, the pooling option for data and minutes are saving agency dollars by allowing high-volume users to leverage the unused minutes and MBs purchased by lower volume users, further reducing overage costs.

Savings came in acquisition efficiencies too. In the past year, some agencies procured services from the BPAs in as little as 3-5 days.  One agency procured 3500-plus devices in less than two months and indicated they could have executed the order in less time.

Wireless Buying Trends

The most popular data add-on and data-only plans are the 500MB Pooled and Unlimited plans. The most popular voice plans under the BPAs are the 400 Minute Pooled and 100 Minute Pooled plans.

We’re finding agencies default to unlimited when they don’t know what they will use to avoid potential overages. The FSSI wireless contracts offer agencies usage data enabling them to structure the right plan and pooling arrangement that will satisfy individual needs reducing risk of overages.

During 2014, government agencies also took advantage of additional assistance offered by GSA to help manage the mobile component of their IT enterprise by using GSA’s Managed Mobility sources of supply list or the FSSI Wireless BPAs to add mobile management resources they can bundle with wireless service plans.

Overall, 2014 was a successful year for GSA’s wireless and mobile programs.  Building on the FSSI Wireless Program and Managed Mobility Program, we consolidated these solutions and category management approaches under the GSA Enterprise Mobility Program.

Going forward in 2015, we expect wireless BPA usage and savings to continue to grow. Several agencies indicate the BPAs will be their contract vehicle of choice for all future acquisition of wireless services.

The Transformative Nature of Cyber

This month’s blog posting is from Ira E. Hoffman, who is joining us as one of the speakers for tomorrow’s WIT.Connect: CyberConnect-The Intersection of Technology, Law and Law Enforcement. Please see his bio after the blog post.

The Transformative Nature of Cyber

Excerpted from Ira E. Hoffman’s “A PCI Blog Series”

This is the first in a series of blogs on the theme of the transformative nature of “cyber.”  In this installment, we will begin setting the baseline for a dynamic discussion of a wide range of cybersecurity issues, starting with the definition of “cyber.”  We will also provide a briefly annotated list of the statutes that most relate to the cybersecurity issues we will address.  In future blogs, we will cover other sources of U.S. cyber law and policy, and then will turn to the transformative nature of cyber.  Although cybersecurity affects everyone, not just government contractors, and we will address the effects of cyber issues on society, generally, we will always maintain a focus on the effects on government contractors, in particular.

To begin with, we need a working definition of “cyber,” and we derive ours from the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) definition of “cyberspace.”  Although the term “cyber” is usually used as a prefix in conjunction with words such as attack, incident, security, space, and threat, we will use the term “cyber” broadly, with or without a suffix, to refer to information technology (IT) that is used in connection with “the interdependent network of information systems infrastructures, including the Internet, telecommunications networks, computer systems, and embedded processors and controllers.”  See NIST, Glossary of Key Information Security Terms, NISTIR 7298 (Rev. 2, 2013) (adapted from definition of “cyberspace”).

Now that we have a working definition of “cyber,” we turn to the current state of U.S. law relating to cyber, which can only be described as a “patchwork.”  Since there is nothing in the Constitution about cyber, and even though the courts have recognized a constitutional right to privacy, starting with Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), the primary source of cybersecurity law is statutory.

Unfortunately, there is no single, comprehensive, remotely up-to-date Federal cybersecurity statute.  In that light, the following is a list, albeit an idiosyncratic one, of statutes that establish or affect significant Federal cybersecurity requirements.  Since they were passed in response to successive, evolving cyber threats of differing magnitudes, but without having a harmonized statutory scheme as an organizing principle, it is illuminating to list the selected statutes in chronological order.

• Counterfeit Access Device & Computer Fraud & Abuse Act of 1984, Pub. L. No. 98-473 (codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. § 1030) (prohibits attacks on Federal  computers and bank networks in interstate and international commerce)
• Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFAA), Pub. L. No. 99-474 (codified at 18 U.S.C. §§ 1001 note, 1030) (expanded scope of CFAA of 1984; carved out  exemption for Intelligence Community (IC) and law enforcement agencies)
• Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA), Pub. L. No. 99-508 (codified at scattered sections of 18 U.S.C.) (bans unauthorized electronic eavesdropping) (includes the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2701-2712, which proscribes illegal access to stored communications, which now include “cloud” storage of emails)
• Computer Security Act of 1987, Pub. L. No. 100-235 (codified at 15 U.S.C. §§ 278g-3 & 278g-4, 40 U.S.C. § 759) (directed NIST to develop cybersecurity policies for Federal civilian agency networks, except for national security systems used for DoD and the IC)
• Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. No. 104-13 (codified as amended at 44 U.S.C. §§ 3501-3520) (directed OMB to develop Federal cybersecurity policies) (superseded in part by Homeland Security Act, infra)
• Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (a/k/a Federal Acquisition Reform Act (FARA) & Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 (ITMRA)), Pub. L. No. 104-106) (repealed portions of Brooks Act by giving agency heads authority to acquire IT; established CIO position at each agency; required agency heads to ensure adequacy of agency cybersecurity policies; exempted national security systems from most provisions)
• Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA), Pub. L. No. 104-191 (codified in scattered sections of 29 and 42 U.S.C.) (amended in pertinent part by the HITECH Act, infra) (required HHS to establish technical standards for protection of Personal Health Information)
• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, Pub. L. No. 106-102 (codified at 15 U.S.C. §§ 6801-6827) (requires financial institutions to protect customers’ personal information)
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act), Pub. L. No. 107-204 (codified at scattered sections of 15 & 18 U.S.C.) (requires public companies to report on internal financial controls, including cyber attacks that result in loss of protected information)
• Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-296 (codified at scattered sections of 6 U.S.C.) (established Department of Homeland Security (DHS); included Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-296, Title II, § 225 (codified at 6 U.S.C. § 145 & scattered sections of 18 U.S.C.) and original Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), Pub. L. No. 107-296, Title X; transferred many cybersecurity functions from other agencies to DHS; directed DHS to provide information on cyber threats to State and local authorities and private entities and assist them in protecting critical infrastructure)
• Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), Pub. L. No. 107-347, Title III (a/k/a E-Commerce Act of 2002) (codified at 44 U.S.C. §§ 3541-3549) (established broad framework of standards and requirements for Federal IT networks and services; last overarching Federal cybersecurity statute)
• Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), Pub. L. No. 108-458 (codified at scattered sections of 42 and 50 U.S.C.) (created post of Director of National Intelligence; established cyber responsibilities for certain entities in the IC, homeland security and national security communities; and created a Privacy and Civil Liberties Board)
• Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), Pub. L. No. 111-5 (2009) (codified at scattered sections of 42 U.S.C.) (updated and expanded HIPAA cybersecurity and privacy requirements for health-care providers)

To be sure, other statutes (and lists of statutes) contain provisions that are related to cyber, see, e.g., Eric A. Fisher, Cong. Research Serv., R42114, Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity:  Overview and Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2013), but this list and the blog series will focus more on those sources of law and policy that affect or potentially affect government contractors.

With that in mind, future blogs will cover Executive Order 13536, Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, which the President issued in February 2013 to address the growing cyber threat to critical infrastructure, which “represents one of the most serious national security challenges we must confront.”  76 Fed. Reg. 11739 (Feb. 19, 2013).  We will also cover the cyber aspects of the interim DFARS rule on requirements relating to Supply Chain Risk, DFARS Subpart 239.73; the final DFARS rule on Safeguarding Unclassified Controlled Technical Information, DFARS Subpart 204.73; and the final DFARS rule on Detection and Avoidance of Counterfeit Electronic Parts, DFARS Subpart 246.8.  Then, having covered most of the sources of cybersecurity law relating to government contractors, we will turn to U.S. cyber policy, as set forth in, e.g., the NIST Framework and the various National Strategies regarding cyberspace.

Ira E. Hoffman’s Biography

Ira E. Hoffman is a Principal, practicing Cybersecurity, Government Contracts and International Law at Offit Kurman, a multi-state law firm.  He is a member of the CyberMaryland Advisory Board, the Governor's International Advisory Council, and the Board of the Public Contracting Institute. 

He has published several articles on aspects of cybersecurity law and policy, and has been a moderator or panelist at a number cybersecurity conferences, including CyberMaryland (2013 & 2014), the inaugural CyberMontgomery, and the Defensive Cyber Operations & Intelligence (DCOI) annual conference, which is co-hosted by Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and the U.S.-based Cyber Security Forum Initiative (CSFI). 

Do I dare to follow my dream?

This month’s blog posting is from our own Jane Maliszewski, Chair of WIT’s Programs Committee. This post focus on the upcoming WIT.Connect: Dreaming Big, Growing Big, Thursday September 18th, 6:00-8:30 PM at the Gannett Building, 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean. Register at: http://bit.ly/Z5QOOn. Please see her bio after the blog post.

 Do I dare to follow my dream?

Guest post by Jane Maliszewski

I met an energetic young woman at a tech event earlier this week and we got into a deep conversation about her career path. She's worked in several areas--HR, facilities, systems, project management--but her real love--I could sense from the intensity in her voice and expressiveness of her eyes-- was Business Analysis/ Business Requirements. 

She was animated as she spoke about how BA is not often done well and so many projects fail to meet customer expectations because the developer side and the customer side aren't talking the same language. As an IT executive for many years, I knew exactly what she was talking about! 

Her most enjoyable projects were the ones where she could serve in this conduit role, linking the customer needs with the product's development. She had even started some small workshops at her company to teach others how to do better requirements analysis. 

In our brief time together we didn't quite get to the point of framing out a dream to follow. But our upcoming WIT.Connect was definitely on my mind and I hope she will be there to gain inspiration and momentum on this passion that clearly drives her. 

On September 18^th WIT will have this amazing panel of successful women sharing the stories of their dreams, what matters to them, how they were challenged, persevered, and where they ended up. Like my new connection, who sees a gap that needs filling in requirements analysis, these women saw something that needed doing and followed that dream. 

Our panel: 

• Michele Bolos, Founder & CEO of NT Concepts, a technology and business solutions company, who has a passion for rewarding entrepreneurship


• Dr. Nicole Close, WIT Leadership Award and Founder & CEO at Empiristat, who carved out a unique niche in the bio-med field and is a serial entrepreneur


• Sabrina Hersi Issa, Founder & CEO at Be Bold Media, who combined her knowledge of technology and passion for advocacy into a conduit for civic engagement


• Jennifer Weiss, former publisher at 1105 Media, who followed her dream into a totally different career field as a salon owner

In coaching, we often encourage our clients to write down and speak out loud the thing they want to change, whether that is a fear to conquer or a goal to achieve. Putting it down on paper and sharing it with others is incredibly empowering. During our networking 'connect' time, everyone will have the opportunity to contribute to the "WIT Wall of Dreams" to share in black & white & color what matters to you, your dream. I hope that will be at least your first step towards making it your reality. 

WIT.Connect: Dreaming Big, Growing Big, Thursday September 18th, 6:00-8:30 PM at the Gannett Building, 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean. Register at: http://bit.ly/Z5QOOn.

 

Jane Maliszewski is an Executive Coach and founder of VAULT Associates, a consulting business providing leader development and organization effectiveness services to technology companies. She often works with leaders who want to develop Emotional and Social Intelligence competency to create positive changes in their professional and personal lives. Jane served 27 years as an officer in the US Army. She has Masters degrees in Business Administration and National Strategy, and advanced professional certification in Leadership Coaching, Organization Development, and Knowledge Management. Jane is a WIT Board member and Chair of the WIT Programs Committee. Favorite things -- besides helping people achieve their potential! -- are cooking and adventure travel.

“Easy to Find, Easy to Buy” – Envisioning the Next Step for Cloud Computing on IT Schedule 70

This month’s blog posting is from Mary Davie, you may remember her as one of the speakers on our June 19^th panel for Government Leaders at the Helm. Please see her bio after the blog post.

“Easy to Find, Easy to Buy” – Envisioning the Next Step for Cloud Computing on IT Schedule 70

Excerpted from Mary Davie’s “Great Government through Technology” GSA Blog

GSA has led efforts to create a 21st century government, including introducing cloud to federal agencies. We offer a variety of contract vehicles that help agencies streamline acquisition of cloud technologies, including IT Schedule 70, the Email as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs), and Government wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC) like Alliant and Alliant Small Business.

As the cloud marketplace is maturing, we are seeing an increased focus on IT Schedule 70 as one of the main acquisition vehicles for agencies.

IT Schedule 70 is already the largest, most widely used IT acquisition vehicle in the federal government, and we are continuously looking to improve what it offers. One area we are exploring is looking for ways to help customers find and buy cloud services.

For example, we are considering the creation of a single Special Item Number (SIN) for all cloud services that would provide clear cloud technology differentiation for customers and improve ease of access to acquire cloud services. We recently released a request for information, seeking industry input on this idea.

IT Schedule 70 already offers cloud services, and our industry partners have cloud offerings in several SINs, so why create a new SIN?

Through customer dialogue and market research, an integrated team of acquisition, technology, and program experts across the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) has identified that there would be benefits to creating a Cloud SIN to all parties involved:

·     GSA Customers – Clear differentiation of cloud services vs. non-cloud IT products and services, and empowered cloud buying through better data

·     Industry Partners – Opportunity to market distinctive solutions and offerings on IT Schedule 70

·     Internal GSA Operations – Enable more granular reporting on cloud sales to enable decision making, and help our customers buy better through data

The goal of this new SIN would be to provide clear cloud technology differentiation and ease of customer access through systems such as eBuy and GSA Advantage!

Since SINs create logical categories of services within a Schedule, we envision the creation of a Cloud Computing Services SIN will provide a level of differentiation for customers that would more easily and clearly identify cloud services.  Additionally, GSA could establish a set of qualifying requirements that would help customers in identifying cloud services that meet acceptable standards around security, data, and other characteristics.

We are always looking for ways to make sure that doing business with us is as easy and reliable as possible. We believe that adding a Cloud Computing Services SIN would realign IT Schedule 70 cloud technology offerings to better reflect the current cloud computing market and satisfy customer needs.

The cloud market is sufficiently mature to offer differentiated and vetted cloud services through a single SIN, and this makes sense for both GSA customer agencies and industry partners. We are looking for feedback to make sure we get it right and look forward to the conversation. Read the RFI.

 Mary Davie’s Biography

Mary Davie is the Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Integrated Technology Services (ITS) in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS). The Federal Acquisition Service provides buying platforms and acquisition services to federal, state and local governments for everything from office supplies to motor vehicles to information technology and telecommunications products and services.

As the ITS Assistant Commissioner, Mary is responsible for the largest fee-for-service information technology (IT) procurement and services operation in the U.S. government. Mary leads a highly skilled and diverse workforce that manages more than 7,000 contracts, providing access to relevant and timely IT and telecommunications products, services, and solutions to defense and civilian agencies, as well as to state, local, and tribal governments.

Before her current position, Mary served as Assistant Commissioner for Assisted Acquisition Services, responsible for managing the acquisition of $3.5B in information technology and professional services products, services and solutions to federal agencies worldwide.

Mary has also served as the Acting Assistant Commissioner for marketing and business development in FAS. Mary led business development and marketing efforts intended to increase agency awareness and satisfaction with GSA products, services and solutions. She was responsible for developing strategy, planning for new business, and leading teams to develop customer-focused, integrated solutions.

Mary is an active advocate of the use of Web 2.0 and social media tools to improve government acquisition. She was a founding member of the Better Buy Project and has contributed to the Better Buy Blog.

Mary began her career with GSA in 1989. She has two Bachelor of Science degrees in business finance and business management from Virginia Tech, and a Master’s of Business Administration with a focus in technology management from the University of Phoenix.

 

Consolidating IT Infrastructure: Lessons from the Trenches

This month’s blog posting is from Teri Takai, you may remember her as the Keynote Speaker for this year’s WIT Leadership Awards.  Please see her bio after the blog post.

Consolidating IT Infrastructure:  Lessons from the Trenches

A perspective from Former DoD CIO Teri Takai

I am so excited to be initiating the WIT blog! I am a huge supporter of WIT and am always so impressed with the work that you do to provide networking opportunities and scholarships to encourage young women in technology fields. 

As government at all levels is looking at information technology to provide secure, effective, and cost efficient services, the question of improved control through consolidation becomes a popular topic. The challenges in driving consolidation are many. The challenges vary depending on the organization and the current state of information technology. Cost savings can be predicted based on current expenditure but are much harder to realize as the consolidation progresses. It often takes upfront funding with savings realized in out years. It is also difficult in many settings to actually realize the savings in reduced personnel and contractor costs or elimination of facility costs if there are other drivers which keep those costs in place like personnel policies and long term contracts.

But the greatest challenge is people and what I call 'organizational inertia' - it is hard to move from an operational organization to one which buys/gets services from someone else. There are very valid concerns about who is responsible for the level of service that the customer demands. There are also concerns over what it means to current personnel.

So why consolidate at all? Are the cost savings really worth it? While cost savings are important, security of networks and data is becoming one of the primary drivers. Organizations are finding that securing their current distributed and diverse infrastructure is not possible. The other driver is the ability to introduce new technology applications faster - we can no longer build an infrastructure from the 'data center up' for every new customer demand. Mobile and cloud technologies are teaching us that.

So, what next? Is the value of consolidation worth it? Are the inhibitors greater than the reward? No - it just means that it is hard and it cannot be driven only from the top down. While the direction must come from the top, it is the implementation from the 'bottom up' that will ensure that the consolidation objectives are met while ensuring operational stability and customer service are maintained and improved. In the end, it is patience, persistence and a dedication to the outcomes that will ensure success.

Teri
 

Teri Takai’s Biography

Teri Takai served as the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer (DoD CIO) until May of 2014, after being appointed in October 2010. In this capacity, she served as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense for Information Management/Information Technology and Information Assurance as well as non-intelligence Space systems, critical satellite communications, navigation, and timing programs, spectrum and telecommunications. She provided strategy, leadership, and guidance to create a unified information management and technology vision for the Department and to ensure the delivery of information technology based capabilities required to support the broad set of Department missions.

Prior to this federal political appointment, Ms. Takai served as Chief Information Officer for the State of California. As a member of the Governor's cabinet, she advised the governor on the strategic management and direction of information technology resources as the state worked to modernize and transform the way California does business with its citizens.

As California’s CIO, Ms. Takai led more than 130 CIOs and 10,000 IT employees spread across the state’s different agencies, departments, boards, commissions and offices. During her tenure as State CIO, Teri pursued an agenda that supports viewing California’s IT operations from an enterprise perspective, including: Forming a Project Management and Policy Office, release of the California Information Technology Strategic Plan, passage of the Governor’s IT Reorganization Proposal, establishing a Capital Planning Process and directing agency consolidation activities.

Prior to her appointment in California, Ms. Takai served as Director of the Michigan Department of Information Technology (MDIT) since 2003, where she also served as the state's Chief Information Officer. In this position, she restructured and consolidated Michigan's resources by merging the state's information technology into one centralized department to service 19 agencies. Additionally, during her tenure at the MDIT, Ms. Takai led the state to being ranked number one four years in a row in digital government by the Center for Digital Government.

Additionally, in 2005, Ms. Takai was named "Public Official of the Year" by Governing magazine. She is also Past-President of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers and currently serves on the Harvard Policy Group on Network-Enabled Services and Government.

Before serving in state government, Ms. Takai worked for the Ford Motor Company for 30 years, where she led the development of the company's information technology strategic plan. She also held positions in technology at EDS and Federal-Mogul Corporation. Ms. Takai earned a Master of Arts degree in management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan.