INNOVATION IN GOVERNMENT ®

Efforts to transform every aspect of government are picking up speed, just as new challenges and technologies are appearing on the horizon

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 On the Teaching Creating a Breaking down Transforming Keeping Modernization Modernizing road to agencies to culture of barriers to data into pace with and the cloud services for modernization modernize modernization collaboration value complexity conundrum veterans

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Government agencies are navigating the challenging terrain Air Force’s innovative Kessel Run project has delivered about 12 software solutions of IT modernization with the help of ever-evolving tools and that are used daily in combat, including techniques an app called Kronos that was created to alleviate problems with the F-35 fighter jet’s HE DUAL EMPHASIS on (MGT) Act. Such top-level support is Autonomic Logistics Information System. IT modernization and digital crucial for ensuring that agencies have the Kronos could form the basis for a future Ttransformation is having a resources they need to modernize. cloud-based version of the system. revolutionary impact on government. The The MGT Act, enacted in 2017, Many of those apps incorporate benefits are well-known — streamlined empowered agencies to deploy next- automation to free personnel for higher- operations, reduced costs and increased generation technologies and capabilities and value activities. According to an Air Force innovation, to name a few. However, to authorized the creation of the Technology news release: “Air Force-led software teams achieve those benefits, agencies must go Modernization Fund — a pool of money have saved warfighters 1,100 man-hours per beyond updating IT systems to modernize from which agencies can borrow to pay for month by automating labor-intensive data every aspect of government. modernization projects. entry at operations centers where combat is Some agencies are already making In addition, the new Cloud Smart orchestrated.” progress. In a 2018 survey by MeriTalk Strategy underscores the key role that Regardless of where they are on their and ACT-IAC, 69 percent of respondents cloud technology plays in modernization. modernization journeys, agencies need said their agencies were working on IT The strategy focuses on improvements to tools that support new approaches to IT modernization in a “more integrated, security, procurement and the workforce infrastructure, cloud adoption and data holistic way than ever before.” Furthermore, so that agencies can take full advantage of protection. 77 percent of respondents said they believe cost-effective, secure, mission-centric cloud Some agencies are saving money and that the wholesale change modernization solutions. streamlining IT activities through the use requires is feasible in the next five years. of hyperconverged infrastructure. HCI is a That progress is being driven by a variety A more flexible, powerful software-defined IT platform that combines of laws and policies, including the Executive infrastructure and virtualizes computing, networking Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity Policies aside, agencies across the and storage into a pre-integrated package of Federal Networks and Critical government are embracing modern that allows for unified management. The Infrastructure, the Cloud Smart Strategy, approaches to software development clustered infrastructures pool physical the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act and because they offer the ability to quickly resources and share them between virtual

the Modernizing Government Technology solve complex problems. For instance, the machines running on any host in the cluster. ParabolStudio/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

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83% $90M 12,000 175 ZB $17.1B Share of finance, IT Amount the Number of labor hours Predicted amount Projected value of and procurement Technology the General Services of data captured the hyperconverged decision-makers who Modernization Fund Administration worldwide by 2025 infrastructure market said their agency’s approved for seven expects to save by (1 zettabyte equals 1 by 2023 future mission projects at five using robotic process trillion gigabytes) success depends on agencies in its first automation to handle Sources: GSA, IDC, MarketsandMarkets, MeriTalk, Office of modernization year routine activities Management and Budget

HCI got a big boost in 2017 when the Cultivating trust in new Digital Tutor to more quickly and General Services Administration added 10 technologies effectively train Navy personnel to be hyperconverged cloud solutions to its IT In the same article, CIO Dana Deasy IT professionals. And the Bureau of Schedule 70. The contract vehicle covers noted that cloud’s computing power Labor Statistics uses AI to analyze data “the most common HCI applications and is essential for reaping the benefits of on workplace injuries, completing in a will enable agencies to simplify their data another modernization technology: day what it took a person a month to do, centers and transition away from legacy artificial intelligence. “It’s almost a according to an article in the Professional infrastructure to a more operationally fundamental imperative to have a cloud in Services Council’s magazine. efficient, modern and optimized platform,” place to do great things with AI,” he said. With so many modern applications, a GSA announcement states. Other government leaders also such as AI, relying on data to function IT infrastructures are also being recognize AI’s importance. President well, protecting that data is essential. In a transformed through the use of cloud Donald Trump’s Executive Order on white paper released in November 2018, technology, with many agencies adopting Maintaining American Leadership in IDC states that “data is at the heart of hybrid cloud environments that combine Artificial Intelligence states that AI digital transformation.” Furthermore, on-premises, private and commercial “promises to drive growth of the United data will continue to grow exponentially, clouds based on mission and security States economy, enhance our economic fueled in part by the expanding internet needs. That approach offers flexibility, and national security, and improve of things. scalability and seamlessness to users while our quality of life.” The order calls for To encourage responsible adoption of recognizing that no single solution fits all increased investment in AI research and that emerging technology, NIST has created needs. development. a program dedicated to IoT cybersecurity. For example, the Defense Department In addition, the National Institute of Its mission is to “cultivate trust in…IoT Cloud Strategy released in December 2018 Standards and Technology said AI “has and foster an environment that enables states that the optimal cloud environment the potential to impact nearly all aspects innovation on a global scale through provides “application and data efficiencies of our society” but adds that AI “must standards, guidance and related tools.” for hybrid cloud and multi-vendor be developed in a trustworthy manner to IT modernization promises to solutions.” Accordingly, an article on ensure reliability, safety and accuracy.” revolutionize government operations, but DOD’s website says DOD’s commercially Several AI applications are already it is a massive undertaking that requires a run general-purpose cloud — the Joint finding success in the federal sector shift in government culture and the Enterprise Defense Infrastructure — in a wide range of areas. For example, development of new skills to support new “cannot meet every DOD need, [so] the the Department of Homeland Security technologies. By modernizing department will also have special-purpose uses AI-based tools to detect network technologies and processes now, agencies — also known as fit-for-purpose — and intrusions. The Defense Advanced are on the road to creating a more

ParabolStudio/Shutterstock/FCW Staff internal-purpose clouds.” Research Projects Agency developed streamlined and innovative government.

SPONSORED CONTENT 3 IT Modernization

Teaching agencies to modernize The U.S. Air Force provides a model for organizations that Cameron Chehreh Chief Technology Officer, want to modernize across the enterprise Federal Sector, Dell EMC

HE U.S. AIR Force’s Air and the IT team to simply add another node focus on higher-value activities, such as Space Operations Centers are when it reaches capacity. evaluating the quality of the algorithm and T responsible for command and Based on the success of the tanker ensuring that the application supports the control of all the service’s air and space refueling app, the Air Force created a Air Force’s overall mission. operations across the globe. When the Air unit called Kessel Run that will apply Force wanted to modernize aspects of its its new modernization strategies to the 3 keys to modernization success AOCs, we brought them to Silicon Valley development of other software-based Based on the Air Force’s experience, to explore commercial best practices, weapon systems. Developers are also agencies should keep three key specifically regarding agile development. exploring the use of machine learning considerations in mind as they seek to Working with Pivotal Labs, airmen to gain even more efficiencies from the modernize. First, they should identify took a series of workshops to learn how to applications they build. When algorithms small programs that roll up into a broader create cloud-based applications. They also run in the background, logisticians can strategy and tackle modernization in learned about avoiding vendor lock-in and partnering with vendors on an ongoing basis. The first solution they created was an application to replace a manual process for managing refueling tankers at the Combined Air Operations Center in Qatar. At the time, airmen were relying on spreadsheets, a whiteboard and their math skills to maintain a complicated air refueling schedule. The Air Force team replaced that time-consuming process with a modern, cloud-native application that runs the necessary algorithms and analytics to accurately predict refueling needs.

Scaling and operating with agility From the minute the app was implemented, the Air Force started saving nearly $1 million a week in fuel alone. Additionally, it took only four months from the moment the Air Force personnel landed in Silicon Valley until the app was deployed. Not only did the Air Force choose to build the app in an agile manner, but officials took advantage of modern, scale- out capacity by deploying the app on a

hyperconverged infrastructure. That allows davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

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When algorithms run in the background, logisticians can focus on higher-value activities, such as ensuring that the application supports the Air Force’s overall mission.

logical, simple ways. They can build on Third, agencies must remember IT modernization is an absolute their success while making progress toward that cloud is an operating model, not a imperative. As the Air Force so clearly a larger goal. destination. The goal is not simply to move demonstrated, we must modernize to Second, agencies should modernize to a public cloud service provider but to meet the needs of our country and their infrastructures in part by using operate with cloud-like efficiency. Strategies continue our leadership role on the global scale-out strategies. That approach allows should focus on deploying efficient and stage. agencies to reduce the total operational effective IT in today’s world, with cloud as costs of modernizing the infrastructure one element. Cameron Chehreh is chief technology while creating a platform that supports Given the rapid changes that officer for the federal sector at incremental projects. technology and the world are undergoing, Dell EMC.

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Simplify IT and Deliver Complete Transformation www.carahsoft.com/DellEMC davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

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Creating a culture of modernization A single team trained in lean methodologies can begin Paul Puckett Chief Technology Officer for Federal, to transform an agency’s mindset Pivotal Software

HEN MEMBERS OF stand by in case they were needed. hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of the Defense Innovation Board The Defense Innovation Board asked fuel a day because it didn’t have to launch W visited the Combined Air their colleagues at the Defense Innovation extra tankers. Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base in Unit to modernize the tanker refueling Qatar a couple years ago, they were stunned process and do it fast. A team from DIU, the The role of highly focused to see that Air Force logisticians were using Air Force and Pivotal turned to cloud-native product teams a spreadsheet and whiteboard to plan tanker software design. They also tapped into a The solution demonstrated that it is possible refueling missions. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for the Air Force to field modern, secure, They were getting the job done, but it pilot project for accelerating security scalable software using lean methodologies. was taking 12 hours to put together each accreditation. That approach involves combining agile plan and there was no way to accommodate As a result, the Air Force’s new tanker practices with pair programming, test- changes without erasing the whiteboard and planning app was accredited and running driven development and user-centered starting over. They would often err on the in a matter of weeks. Now that the mission design to create software that meets a side of caution by launching extra tankers to was automated, the Air Force started saving mission need. When an agency trains a team in those methodologies and sends that team back into the organization, two things happen. First, the outcomes begin to change the culture and the way that people look at problems. Second, leaders cultivate more teams that think this way. The Air Force created the Kessel Run Experimentation Lab to teach other uniformed and government personnel and even contractors to solve problems using modern software development and highly focused product teams. As a result, multiple teams are now designing, maintaining and iterating on services, products and mission capabilities. The Air Force learned how to shape a product team and identify a problem, form a hypothesis and then test it. In fact, a key to the Air Force’s success is its commitment to shaping product teams around problem identification and resolution. By giving these methodologies to smart, passionate people who care about the mission, we can solve any

problem. davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

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To keep agile techniques on track, they must be paired with other disciplines, such as user-centered design.

Wrestling with the right challenge is finding the right solution that Force create a collaborative, open-feedback challenges meets both sets of demands. environment that we can all learn from. At its core, agile development is about All aspects of an agency can benefit The most important goal is impacting the moving quickly, but that doesn’t necessarily from wrestling with those challenges. mission in the right ways, saving lives and mean you’re moving quickly in the right Modernization requires us to constantly protecting our country. If we can all agree direction. To keep agile techniques on learn and face new challenges, but we on that, then the challenges we wrestle with track, they must be paired with other will succeed if we measure the right every day will be worth it. disciplines, such as user-centered design. things, collaborate with one another, test In short, modern software must align with hypotheses and learn from them. Paul Puckett is chief technology officer the mission and with the user’s needs. The It has been a privilege to help the Air for federal at Pivotal Software.

See how Pivotal can help you drive mission effectiveness all while keeping applications and data safe.

Learn more at carahsoft.com/pivotal davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

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Breaking down barriers to collaboration Modernization depends on government and industry joining Bill Rowan Vice President of Federal Sales, forces in new and powerful ways VMware

T CAN BE challenging for a single allows the Air Force and its Kessel Run into the development cycles and segment company to bring forth a solution Experimentation Lab to deliver a secure the various activities. That approach will I to today’s increasingly complex DevOps environment that can then be allow a combination of cloud solutions to technology challenges. That’s why Dell, deployed via multiple purpose-built systems come into play based on the Air Force’s Pivotal and VMware joined forces to provide within the platform. future needs. a fully integrated, pretested solution to a It is a perfect use case for HCI. Being pressing problem the Air Force was facing. able to visualize the airspace or battlefield Recognizing similarities and Officials were looking for a true requires big-data analytics and potentially possibilities combined solution — not a collection of high-performance computing. Instead of Industry will continue to take collaborative individual parts — to modernize how they having separate solutions for each area, HCI approaches because the challenges are managed the refueling of air assets for the has all those capabilities, and each one has daunting and few companies can provide service’s operations in the Middle East. its own purpose-built system. all the pieces that an agency or particular In many respects, they were developing a In addition, the Air Force was able to program might need. supply chain for getting a fuel tanker to the integrate networking and security platforms Furthermore, the tanker refueling right aircraft at the right time. They also wanted to relieve their team of a manual process in which the slightest error could not only be quite expensive, but could have ripple effects across multiple activities. We helped the Air Force create a series of interconnected applications and seamlessly incorporate agility and automation into the existing environment. As a result, the Air Force is saving millions of dollars, and it is continuing to use that approach to drive down costs and increase operational agility across the board.

A platform with built-in flexibility By working together to tackle the problem, government and industry created a solution that accelerates and simplifies processes, dramatically reduces costs and streamlines the management of the solution. A key component of the Air Force’s success is its adoption of hyperconverged infrastructure. HCI brings together the compute, storage and networking elements into one platform that’s easy to stand up,

deploy and operate. This particular solution davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

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We helped the Air Force create a series of interconnected applications and seamlessly incorporate agility and automation into the existing environment.

application might be unique, but it was Air Force’s success has made people start process itself. Such silos are adding not a unique situation for organizations to to consider things they didn’t think were unnecessary complexity and hindering encounter. At VMware, we’re excited about possible. Maybe those manual, archaic agencies’ ability to transform. By contrast, how agencies throughout and beyond the processes that some employees have said combining those forces to streamline and Defense Department — at the federal, state could never be modernized or automated modernize operations will allow the and local levels — can benefit from the Air actually could be transformed. government and industry to keep pace with Force’s approach. Breaking down internal silos will be current and future demands. Other agencies have already taken notice essential. The Air Force had to dismantle and are asking themselves how they can silos inside the air operations centers that Bill Rowan is vice president of federal adopt the same tools and techniques. The went beyond IT to include the planning sales at VMware.

Modernize your IT and get to cloud faster with HCI.

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Transforming data into value The growing focus on data capital is a catalyst for key Ed Krejcik Manager of Isilon Systems Engineers, modernization technologies Dell EMC

NE OF THE biggest trends Beyond traditional analytics 2. Big data. Being able to combine data in digital transformation is the At Dell EMC, we’ve identified four from different areas of the government O shift from simply storing data to important areas where data capital is is transformational. In the case of IT, for converting it into intelligent and actionable driving modernization: instance, analyzing logs from a variety insights. When raw data is interpreted into 1. The digital experience. Employees need of machines can support intelligence- meaningful information, it becomes data up-to-date intelligence at a moment’s notice, based security as new correlations reveal capital. no matter how geographically dispersed vulnerabilities that weren’t visible before. Agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau, they are. For instance, two employees might 3. Internet of things. Agencies are Social Security Administration and the need access to the same data, but one sits generating so much data that it’s difficult to IRS are already mining their own data to at an agency workstation while another is keep up. As sensors are being added to just gain important insights into the economy, using a mobile device in the field. Deployed about everything from cars to refrigerators, population movement and the effectiveness warfighters in particular require fast, easy the photo and video data streaming from of government programs. access to information and intelligence. those sensors is increasing in resolution

Exploring new combinations of data Unstructured data typically accounts for more than 80 percent of storage capacity, and that data continues to grow at an exponential rate. Pooling unstructured data — such as digital images, video and sensor data — into a unified data lake makes it possible to analyze disparate types of information and derive new business intelligence through cross-correlations and regression analysis. To make sense of all that data, agencies need the ability to scale out (rather than up) quickly. Unlike the appliance model, which involves adding another piece of hardware when the infrastructure hits a certain limit, scale-out solutions feature clusters of nodes, and each node can have compute, networking and storage resources. When an agency needs more capacity, it simply adds more nodes. Such platforms scale quickly and easily, and they typically support both traditional and evolving protocols, such as cloud and

mobile technology. davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

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Taking raw data and transforming it into valuable intelligence goes beyond analytics to encourage creative new ways of looking at data.

and size. To be useful, all that data needs to amounts of data more efficiently with develop new treatments and medicine. be ingested at the rate it’s being generated. the help of supercomputers, which also Taking raw data and transforming it Deriving valuable intelligence requires enable the National Institutes of Health to into valuable intelligence goes beyond reactive solutions that can support the advance the insights gained from genome analytics to encourage creative new ways demand for faster performance. sequencing. of looking at data. It is a paradigm shift 4. Artificial intelligence. AI, machine In addition, the Department of that is fueling agencies’ progress on learning and deep learning rely on Veterans Affairs’ Million Veteran Program modernization. high-performance, scalable solutions. will result in one of the largest databases For example, the Energy Department’s of medical information. Researchers will Ed Krejcik is manager of Isilon national labs are analyzing massive use it to study diseases and ultimately systems engineers at Dell EMC.

Dell EMC Isilon Industry’s #1 family of scale-out network-attached storage systems

Simplify Scale Manage Protect davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

SPONSORED CONTENT 11 IT Modernization

Keeping pace with complexity The mission rides on the network, so agencies must be ready Robert Carey Vice President and General Manager, for the tectonic shifts happening in technology Global Public Sector Solutions, RSA

HE GOVERNMENT’S proposition. Therefore, agencies must understand the consequences of clicking on MUCH-NEEDED prioritize the mission outcomes they’re a malicious link in an email message. T commitment to modernizing and trying to achieve and the IT that supports becoming more efficient and effective can those outcomes. Then they can more Building resilient networks add complexity to agency networks. That easily quantify what new technology — for Most organizations use a complicated complexity, in turn, can make facets of the instance, 5G or cloud — can do for them. legacy set of tools to manage network IT infrastructure vulnerable to attack, thus In addition, the IT team needs to security and perform digital risk requiring a sound digital risk management determine how to invest in the right management. However, the future requires strategy. Meanwhile, the threshold technologies to ensure the security and a simplified, more coherent approach for hackers to have a big impact on an resiliency of the network so that it supports that incorporates automation and allows organization’s network is low, which means the agency’s ability to conduct business. technology to perform certain activities. more capable threats are on the horizon. And the organization as a whole must Automating responses to security Once agencies understand that success invest in cyber hygiene and make identity incidents, for example, is crucial. If an is tied to the uptime of their networks, it management and other cybersecurity tools analyst in a security operations center is becomes easier to address risk management as transparent as possible. For example, seeing something, more than likely it has and make appropriate investments in the use of phishing exercises can help already happened. State-of-the-art tools and modernization. employees know what to look for and appropriate cybersecurity metrics can help Both government and industry need to closely examine the intersection between business processes and networks so they can make decisions that address today’s reality while also accounting for the technology “tectonic plate” shifts of the next several years. Advances in cloud, mobile and 5G technology for ubiquitous wireless networking can be expensive to adopt but will have huge benefits. These advances will also require a cybersecurity review.

Prioritizing mission outcomes and cybersecurity A key obstacle to IT modernization is the appetite of the organization to invest in becoming more effective and efficient. It’s a simple equation: How much am I willing to spend, and what’s the business outcome I will derive from that investment? Modernizing legacy systems currently

running in government is an expensive davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

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Advances in cloud, mobile and 5G technology for ubiquitous wireless networking can be expensive to adopt but will have huge benefits.

the IT team understand whether the network technologies, enhances the capabilities for hardened target means that attackers spend is resilient and performing appropriately. both attackers and defenders. Dashboards time and resources to attempt to get in. These metrics, if captured in near-real time, support SOC decision agility, which is a When government networks are modern help organizations prevent successful attacks key to defense. and resilient, attackers may move on and and ensure mission success. The goal is for network defenders to agencies can focus their energy on Automation informed by artificial stymie attackers and make them expend conducting their missions. intelligence engines can help agencies energy and resources to succeed. modernize to operate in an increasingly Developing and implementing a digital risk Robert Carey is vice president and complex world. AI, along with management strategy that links the network general manager of Global Public quantum computing and other evolving to mission success is crucial. Becoming a Sector Solutions at RSA.

Mission-Driven Security Achieving Successful Cyber Outcomes

RSA delivers Mission-Driven Security so organizations across the Public Sector can take command of their evolving security posture.

Learn more at Carahsoft.com/IIG-IT-Transformation/RSA davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

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Modernization and the cloud conundrum Moving mission-critical applications to the cloud starts with Michelle Rudnicki Vice President, Public Sector, understanding some potential roadblocks Virtustream

N SEPTEMBER 2018, the challenging is finding a technology partner As a result, agencies considering their White House released its Cloud Smart that can meet the non-negotiable demands IT transformational journeys and the I Strategy, which sets the stage for of government agencies and can handle opportunity to migrate mission-critical agencies to accelerate their quest to reduce the biggest and most complex challenges workloads to the cloud should start with costs and transform their IT environments — starting with their mission-critical a few critical questions to help navigate by finding secure ways to migrate mission- applications. the overarching cloud conundrum and critical applications to the cloud and Adding to the hurdles is the fact that accelerate their time to value. improve the constituent experience. expectations for IT modernization are rising • Can you safely move mission-critical Numerous cloud options exist today, as while significant portions of agency budgets applications to the cloud? While the push do barriers and the potential for pitfalls. remain devoted to maintaining existing for IT transformation allows agencies Clearly understanding the barriers is investments. For example, approximately to strengthen technology’s role as an instrumental in helping decision-makers 70 percent of the $95.7 billion U.S. federal enabler of their mission, agency officials evaluate and define the right cloud IT budget in 2018 was aligned to operating are often hesitant to move mission-critical strategy for their agency’s needs. Equally and maintaining existing IT investments. applications to a cloud environment. Most agencies are not equipped to re-platform existing mission-critical applications, plus the supporting services tied to those applications, to public cloud architectures in a realistic timeframe. But experts in this space can help with the entire migration. • Do you have the right data protection? One of the key benefits of using cloud computing is that there is a heightened focus on security. Security policies and procedures are spread across multiple entities. The underlying infrastructure security management is handled by the cloud service provider while the application security management is handled by the federal agency or is outsourced to a third-party provider. This division of responsibility enables each party to focus on the security components they specialize in, thus ensuring the best possible defense. • Can you keep your operating costs predictable in the cloud? Operating within budget is non-negotiable for government agencies. Therefore, keeping costs predictable — including in cloud

environments — is critical. Understanding davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

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Understanding the potential roadblocks for mission-critical workloads, data protection and predictable costs should be at the top of your list as you modernize your IT and define your approach to a cloud strategy.

these costs requires a comprehensive look required application-level performance. evaluation, planning, migration and beyond the cost of a virtual machine or Exploring cloud providers that can provide ongoing operations. But understanding the a gigabyte of storage; it requires building application-level service agreements and potential roadblocks for mission-critical acquisition strategies that account for those that provide predictable costs for workloads, data protection and predictable the cost of delivering performance to the the amount of resources that are used can costs should be at the top of your list as applications. This includes the costs of the reduce inefficiencies and create significant you modernize your IT and define your staff or contractors to build and manage cost savings. approach to a cloud strategy. the environment as well as sufficient There are many other criteria to resources — compute, memory, network, consider in developing a cloud strategy, Michelle Rudnicki is vice president of storage and input/output — to achieve the from acquisition to personnel to the public sector at Virtustream.

Leveraging Cyber Security to Safeguard Your Mission-Critical Data As government agencies work with unprecedented amounts of data, it is becoming increasingly difficult to protect the landscape. Leverage Virtustream’s cloud infrastructure to ensure your data is not only protected, but adheres to the appropriate security certifications to comply with federal and state regulations.

Make informed IT decisions that align to your mission needs with the tools and people provided by Virtustream solutions available through Carahsoft. Learn more at Carahsoft.com/IIG-IT-Transformation/virtustream

www.virtustream.com davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff

SPONSORED CONTENT 15 IT Modernization

Executive Viewpoint A Conversation with DAVID BAO

How is the U.S. Digital Service website. With the previous site, veterans helping the Department of Veterans had to figure out how to navigate VA’s Affairs modernize the way it bureaucracy to accomplish any task. With provides services to veterans? the new VA.gov, if you want to refill a The U.S. Digital Service is a technology prescription or apply for education benefits startup at the White House. We attract top or health care, all those activities are just a tech talent from across the country to come single click from the home screen. to D.C. and serve tours-of-duty tackling the One of the major priorities of the toughest technology problems facing the secretary of VA is to improve the customer American people. experience for veterans. The redesign of USDS has several teams deployed VA.gov and the addition of more veteran- to various agencies, including the facing tools help VA get one step closer Department of Veterans Affairs, the to achieving that goal. The website has Department of Defense, the Department proven to be an immense success. But it’s of Homeland Security, and the just the first step. There’s more work for us

DAVID BAO Deputy Executive Director, U.S. Digital Service at Veterans Affairs Digital service teams encounter similar problems across government, so there’s a lot of cross-agency learning that can take place. A USDS leader discusses how Department of Health and Human to do to continue to improve the veteran Services. This structure allows us to experience. VA’s focus on modernization directly help agencies navigate major We’ve also been deeply involved with is translating into better challenges while maintaining the the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. The services for veterans flexibility to address critical situations at a Appeals Modernization Act of 2017 sought moment’s notice. to establish new pathways for veterans to At VA, the USDS team has been appeal their disability ratings. In the past, involved in two major projects. First, that process could take well over two years, we relaunched VA.gov last November. and a lot of it had to do with internal Launching the new site was the systems and processes that were extremely culmination of several efforts over the last old and not optimized for making sure few years to rethink and reimagine how those appeals could go through as quickly veterans want to engage with VA from a as possible. digital perspective. We worked alongside the board to We spoke with over 2,000 veterans and develop a new piece of software called got a lot of insightful feedback about what Caseflow, and we’re particularly proud of they want to do when they come to VA’s the approach we took. Instead of trying to

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Executive Viewpoint

At VA, being able to serve the veterans who have served this country is an incredible mission to rally behind.

do a big-bang release of the entirety of the process of iterating and improving and Second, when our headquarters team software, we took an agile and iterative iterating and improving. receives requests for help from agencies, approach. We broke down Caseflow into In the end, if we’re taking a DevOps, we do what we call discovery sprints. We a number of much smaller pieces, and we iterative approach to development of gather a few experts and insert them at didn’t just complete each piece and demo these tools, it results in a better customer those agencies for two to four weeks so it to the teams. We actually put it directly experience for our veterans. they can dig into the problem with a fresh in their hands and got it into production. set of eyes. We can help an agency identify Because of those incremental wins, How can the VA’s work serve as a some core problems and solutions they when the Appeals Modernization Act model for other agencies? may be unable to see because they’ve been went into effect this past February, we The types of problems we run into at staring at them for so long. were able to support it from a technology VA are not unique. Digital service teams perspective. We were able to launch encounter similar problems across How can agencies improve the way VA.gov on Veterans Day last year because government, so there’s a lot of cross-agency they recruit and retain top digital of the different approaches we took — learning that can take place. talent? using iterative and agile approaches, We have found that the partnership By highlighting the mission and the conducting usability testing with within the agency is extremely important impact folks can have. People get into the users, and incorporating user feedback to the success of any one of these projects. technology field because they want to make throughout the iterative process. The two major projects I talked about did the world a better place. They see how not happen just within the digital service important technology is to everybody’s What are the implications of team. They were done in partnership with lives, and they want to contribute to that. taking a more agile approach to stakeholders across VA. The federal government has a very development? The impact of the redesigned VA.gov strong ability to amplify that desire for In the more traditional IT mindset, one and of Caseflow is twofold. First, we’re mission and impact. At VA, being able to team is given a project to build out, and proving to other agencies that iterative serve the veterans who have served this when they are “done,” they send it to another and agile development can work. Being country is an incredible mission to rally team to do the sustainment and bug fixes focused on user-centered design can behind. There’s incredible impact to be and whatever else the product needs. work. Other agencies can compare their had by improving the way that millions of We take a product management- own websites against the new VA.gov and veterans receive the benefits they deserve. oriented approach. We’re constantly brainstorm how they can take a similar Emphasizing the mission and potential monitoring the tools we’ve built and approach. Also, many of our strongest impact software developers or designers getting feedback, whether it’s conducting materials are public. The Digital Services can have by joining the government has user research sessions or listening Playbook is available online, and we share been incredibly powerful for USDS. We carefully to the issues that come in it with colleagues when they express an firmly believe agencies across the federal through call centers and support lines. interest in taking a more user-centered government can attract top tech talent by For us, it’s a continuum and a continuous design approach for their digital products. taking a similar approach.

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