The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and Modernization of Government Technology (MGT) Act call for improved service delivery to the public through strategic investment by agencies in modern technology solutions. For 20 years, OST has provided breakthrough approaches and strategic innovations that meet the objectives of both acts.
Objectives
- Strengthen the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) to serve as an important entity for development, integration, delivery optimization, and streamlining operations for all Information Technology (IT), IT-enabled services, and related products
- Make the CIO more accountable for an agency’s IT cost, scheduling, performance, and safety
- Formulate management practices that align IT resources with goals, missions, programmatic priorities, and statutory requirements
- Entrench IT management controls to provide the flexibility agencies need to adapt to changing mission requirements
- Increase transparency and expand portfolio review
- Consolidate federally governed data centers
- Implement outcome-oriented cyber security policies
Responsibilities for Agencies
Both FITARA and MGT requires agencies to implement productive policies and procedures through several phases guided by the Common Baseline. (1) Here are some of the new key responsibilities for agencies:
- Submit self-assessments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for acceptance
- Follow OMB guidance regarding oversight activities and PortfolioStat (2) sessions to assess ongoing implementation
- Ensure transparency via portfolio review
- Use defined metrics and performance indicators to strengthen risk management and reporting
- Improve monthly reporting, data programs, TechStat Sessions (3) and Automatic TechStats
- Implement performance-based acquisition, with clear objectives outlined (in place of specific actions or workflows)
Benefits of Working with OST on Strategic Innovation
OST has a proven ability to offer strategic innovations in conformity with government regulations. Our well-defined management process provides customers with flexible and adaptive program management, incremental and transformative innovation, management consulting, optimal staffing, capacity building, Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and other critical advantages. Leveraging previous high-visibility Program Management Office (PMO) success, OST can confidently provide guidance and support for billion-dollar programs.
When an organization heeds help aligning internal capabilities and external interests to meet the FITARA and MGT objectives discussed above, OST has the expertise to assist. Strategic innovation coupled with industry foresight, consumer/customer insight, core technologies, and organizational readiness can transform an organization and optimize deliverables.
Areas strengthened by OST’s intervention include: multi-factor authentication, enterprise-bound services cataloguing, disaster recovery solutions, targeted diagnostics and mitigation, application design framework standardization, dynamic and static application security, and lifecycle testing. OST also establishes continuous improvement policies and processes for SLAs and Operational Level Agreements (OLAs), comprehensive cloud strategy adoption, enterprise architecture, and implementation of both public and private Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).
Expertise of OST Management Consultants
OST management consultants are experts in:
- Process/Workflow Streamlining: OST’s management expertise has helped customers such as the Pennsylvania and District of Columbia governments save more than $50M each.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: OST establishes processes and technology for organizations to accurately collect timely performance data used to monitor, identify, diagnose and resolve performance issues in a cost-effective manner.
- Data Modelling and Predictive Analytics: OST’s expertise in data modelling and predictive analytics incorporates the latest advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to identify changes in data patterns, helping organizations to improve performance and customer satisfaction, identify and respond to security threats, more effectively manage resources, and reduce costs.
- Business Process Reengineering (BPR): Under BPR, OST combines techniques such as automation, downsizing, flowcharts, and time/motion studies to implement radical vs. incremental changes, meeting FITARA and MGT goals by optimizing service delivery.
Success Story: OST Strategic Innovation at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
OST strategically reengineered business processes for the HUD Subsidy and Grants Information System (SAGIS). To baseline their current processes, OST conducted a gap analysis and risk assessment, then converted these processes into systems requirements for implementation in a Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) tool. This replaced inefficient and time-consuming spreadsheets and home-grown tools with a modern web-based system to manage more than $10B in grants.
End Notes
(1) Common Baseline – Sets a minimum level of standards that provides flexibility for agencies to implement the law in a manner consistent with each agency’s/department’s unique requirements.
(2) PortfolioStat – A tool that agencies use to assess the current maturity of their IT portfolio management process, make decisions on eliminating duplication, augment current CIO-led capital planning and investment control processes, and adopt shared solutions to maximize the return on IT investments across their organizations.
(3) TechStat – A face-to-face, evidence-based accountability review of an IT investment; it enables the federal government to turn around, halt, or terminate IT projects that are failing or not producing results for the American people.