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Mary Davie on Fed IT Reform: Finishing More Important than Just Staying on Schedule

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Mary Davie, GSA; Photo: GSA

Six months into the federal IT reform process, the race — marathon is probably a more apt metaphor — has only begun.

But it’s crucial agencies continue to make progress toward the end goal, said Mary Davie, assistant commissioner of the Office of Integrated Technology Services at the General Services Administration.

“How we finish is more important than how we stay on schedule,” she wrote in a post on the GSA blog. “With federal CIO Vivek Kundra moving on, we need to work that much harder.”

Davie took to the blog to share “secrets” that will help agencies continue to make progress, often with GSA solutions.

GSA has what Davie called a “first-mover advantage” in cloud computing. In December, GSA became the first federal agency to move to a cloud-computing email system, successfully fulfilling point 3 of the 25-point IT reform plan, the so-called cloud-first initiative.

“We moved our email to the cloud using our own Alliant GWAC,” Davie said. “We can share our scope of work and lessons learned with your agency.”

GSA also has the solutions to help other agencies get a move on the cloud, Davie said, having created the first contract vehicles specifically for infrastructure-as-a-service and email-as-a-service.

Davie also touted the agency’s innovative methods, such as wikis and discussions boards, to better include industry in the acquisition process,

For example, the BetterBuy Project allows GSA to receive input on RFIs, requirements and acquisition strategy, she said.

“Industry involvement is critical for any IT project, as is communicating early, often, and throughout the process,” Davie wrote.

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