General Services Administration

DHS Reports Gains In Adopting Cloud Services

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To mark the June 9, 2012, completion milestone for Federal IT reform, I am pleased to highlight several DHS initiatives. Our focus includes shifting to a cloud-first policy, establishing strong governance of the Department’s IT investments, and the implementation of TechStats.
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This article originally appeared as a blog post on the Federal CIO Council’s website. For more news and insights on innovations at work in government, please sign up for the AOL Gov newsletter. For the quickest updates, follow us on Twitter @AOLgov.
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DHS is establishing a strong foundation for cloud computing services, shifting to a cloud model that will allow Components to quickly acquire services for their business and mission needs. DHS currently has 12 cloud services available to its customers. Nine are provided in the DHS Private Cloud:

  • Authentication as a Service (AUTHaaS)
  • Business Intelligence as a Service (BIaaS)
  • Case and Relationship Management as a Service (CRMaaS)
  • Development and Test as a Service (DTaaS)
  • Email as a Service (EaaS)
  • Production as a Service (PRDaaS)
  • Project Server as a Service (PSaaS)
  • SharePoint as a Service (SPTaaS)
  • Workplace as a Service (WPaaS)

Three are provided in the DHS Public Cloud: Keep reading →

 /  Published June 19, 2012 at 9:10 AM

Clear Skies for Cloud Security: FedRAMP To Bring Service Era

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The benefits of cloud computing are too compelling and numerous for agencies not to take serious adoption steps in this budget-constrained fiscal environment. Some estimate the government can save as much as $14.4 billion through cloud adoption.

Looking ahead, cloud will provide a platform for integrating mobility and BYOD into agencies’ day-to-day operations. The benefits of an increasingly commoditized IT world will be passed along quickly to taxpayers in the form of better and more cost-effective government services delivery. Sooner than expected, the government will be in the “Everything as a Service Era” with the vast majority of IT services being provided virtually via the cloud. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 14, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Could Cutting GSA Contracting Vehicles Become A ‘Slippery Slope’?

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While government insiders applauded the General Services Administration’s move to cut back contracting schedules to save $24 million, some caution against what could become a “slippery slope.”

GSA said it will stop adding new contractors to schedules – the shopping catalog for the government to get bargains and discounts – as the first step toward streamlining its contract offerings. After a year, officials will review the schedules to see if there is still demand for them. GSA plans to eliminate contract agreements that are rarely or never used. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 12, 2012 at 12:00 PM

Agencies Looking Beyond Device Management In Mobile Strategies

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When Roger Baker, the chief information officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs, looks at the challenge of managing mobile technology, he sees more than the task of moving data securely to the tablets and smartphones used by the department’s nearly 280,000 doctors and employees.

Sounding more like a brand manager than a CIO, Baker said that the bigger challenge is managing the department’s mobile applications – and more specifically, the experience veterans and employees encounter when they use them. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 5, 2012 at 10:45 AM

Why We Need A Different Response To Government Workforce

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There is no doubt that the lavish spending by General Services Administration‘s Las Vegas conference planners and the dishonorable behavior by Secret Service agents in Colombia have earned the public’s contempt, but the irresponsible actions of a few don’t define the many.

These incidents made headlines because they are the exception, not the rule. We would do well as a nation not to simply berate and punish the wrongdoers, but also to recognize that our government and the vast majority of its 2.1 million employees each day are honorably serving the nation, and in many cases, accomplishing amazing feats. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 1, 2012 at 10:38 AM

Analysts Applaud Next Step In President’s Digital Efforts

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The federal digital strategy released today is the next step in President Barack Obama’s effort to streamline and improve government services through mobile and web-based technologies and solidifies many efforts already under way.

Analysts mostly applauded the strategy, saying it provides specific, measurable goals, demonstrates a commitment to transforming the use of technology to better serve citizens, requires the use of analytics to enable more responsive government and builds security into to the federal digital architecture. Keep reading →

 /  Published May 23, 2012 at 4:43 PM

Amazon’s Cloud Cover Expanding

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A leading federal cloud provider has launched Amazon Web Services (AWS) on its GSA IT-70 contract, giving Amazon yet another boost in what is already a rapidly expanding presence in government.

Laurel, M.D.-based Aquilent made the announcement last week on the heels of news that Microsoft Corp. plans to develop a new multi-tenant cloud community for federal agencies. Keep reading →

 /  Published May 16, 2012 at 2:00 PM

How GSA Could Have Saved Taxpayers 75%

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The scandal that’s pushed GSA into the ethical spotlight could have been easily avoided if the agency’s officials had followed their own rules and cost-saving measures to plan the event that’s now led to a criminal probe, ruined reputations and lost taxpayer trust.

In fact, according to industry experts, if they had used GSA contracting vehicles, new technology and negotiating power to achieve sharp discounts, the event for 300 attendees at a four-star Las Vegas hotel likely would have cost less than a quarter of the $823,000 GSA spent. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 24, 2012 at 8:00 AM

GSA Hearing Reveals Bribery Investigation, Employee Travel Suspended

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The first congressional hearing into the GSA’s Las Vegas conference scandal revealed investigations into possible bribes and kickbacks and that the agency is forcing two employees to pay the government for private parties they held. And, as Monday’s hearing began, GSA employees were informed that all non-essential travel was suspended.

GSA officials testified at the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform in the first of four hearings this week on Capitol Hill into the scandal over the $823,000 four-day retreat for 300 employees in 2010. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 16, 2012 at 6:00 PM

Another GSA Official On Leave In Wake Of Spending Scandal

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Another in a string of top officials at the General Services Administration was placed on administrative leave Monday, four days after a video that features him joking about the lavish spending at a Las Vegas conference became public.

David Foley, deputy commissioner of the agency’s Public Buildings Service, was placed on leave pending disciplinary review for his conduct at the Western Regions Conference in 2010, the Washington Post reported. Foley appears prominently in the six-minute video clip (pictured right in screen shot above) released last week, which won top prize in a talent contest among employees who attended the four-day event in October 2010. Foley rewarded the employee who stars in the video, 28-year-old Hank Terlaje (pictured left in screen shot above). Terlaje raps in sunglasses about the government tab – $823,000 – to entertain 300 employees at the luxury M Resort Spa Casino. He brags that he will “never be under investigation” for the excess. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 10, 2012 at 11:41 AM
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