Cloud Encounters Of The Federal Kind
In the next two years, the Department of Homeland Security will join Federal agencies trying to figure out whether they should be "buying IT by the drink"; and how they can use Cloud Computing to boost mission capabilities while reducing costs at the same time. Heading up the DHS Cloud Computing effort is HQ CIO Margie Graves.
"I'm really excited about moving out on that initiative; I think it's the wave of the future," she told the audience listening to the Federal Executive Forum broadcast on Federal News Radio.
Moderated by Jim Flyzik of the Flyzik Group, Graves discussed Cloud Computing and other key issues facing DHS CIOs as part of a panel that included:
• Charlie Armstrong, CIO, Customs and Border Protection
• Luke McCormack, CIO, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• Sandy Peavy, CIO, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
Federalized Clouds
With Cloud Computing Graves said, “we are going to be able to scale up and scale down, we are going to reduce our data center footprints; we are going to be able to concentrate on our mission applications and less about the infrastructure going forward.”
“I also believe that we have to tackle the issue that is prevalent in the federal government regarding cyber security. That ties directly in to the Cloud Computing initiative in the sense that we have to figure out how to federalize those clouds.”
What we need to do is figure out how to have Clouds talk to each other said Graves. “There may be regional clouds out in the critical infrastructure. There may be federal clouds talking to commercial clouds. We have to tackle the issue of the security surrounding that so that we maintain the integrity of the data and the privacy aspect of the data within the federal government while still being able to take advantage of that technology.”
And where Social Networking is concerned, Graves said the public is going to expect that we will be communicating with them in the future using the social network technology. “It is front and center, it’s obviously a priority of this administration and the federal government has to get on board that train and keep rolling.”
The Next Two Years: DHS CIOs Focus On Mission
Sandy Peavy, CIO at FLETC is trying to create a virtual college campus and “create a mesh network so that the students can access training, the internet, and Social Networks any time and any place.”
CBP CIO Charlie Armstrong said that his team is working on standing up classified networks to help share information as it comes out of the intelligence community and gets fused with our internal law enforcement information and information gleaned from our other data sharing partners.
At ICE, CIO Luke McCormack said on the infrastructure side, “we are pushing forward and transitioning into the DHS data centers and I’m talking here of a 12 – 18 month window when I talk in general terms here. So we need to knock that out and get our stuff into those data centers would be Number One.” Read More
Obstacles To Overcome
When you talk homeland security, people say it’s not the technology; the obstacles lie in the coordination, the processes, the governance structures and the culture issues that are a part of everyday life. “It’s usually not the technology, it’s the governance and you are exactly on point with that, explained Margie Graves, DHS CIO. Read More
Don't Eat The Elephant All At Once
Treasury has been around for 233 years. Ditto State; ditto War/Defense. DHS has been around for just 8. More than 20 plus entities – many had been around for more than 100 years were mixed together with a new HQ structure with new leadership. Getting everyone together takes time. New structures spawn new lessons learned as components strive to work together. “Don’t eat the elephant all at once is important,” said ICE CIO Luke McCormack. Read More
Just Over The Horizon
Because DHS operates under the pressure to be perfect all of the time, it’s no surprise that frontline officials do focus on short term goals. But the focus is not always on the short term at DHS. At the components, Armstrong, Peavy, Graves and McCormack have clear visions of what they want to accomplish in the future. Read What They Are
