DHS is making progress integrating IT infrastructure throughout the department while establishing enterprise services and leveraging its size for purchasing power, the department’s CIO told a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee panel recently.
The hearing examined the state of major federal IT projects, as well as the process through which they are solicited and coordinated government-wide, and DHS CIO Luke McCormack noted in his testimony that last year the department completed a multi-year wide-area network consolidation to OneNet, helping to leverage buying power for network services. That combined with a cost recovery model could result in 12 percent savings for operations and maintenance, McCormack estimates.
He said the department has also negotiated over a dozen enterprise license agreements – ELAs, with large hardware and software vendors, saving $125 million a year, that as of March DHS saved about 36 percent off typical GSA license costs, saving $509 million, and that consolidating 18 data centers helped build a foundation for cloud services for email, mobility, virtual desktops and basic computing services.
Committee chair, Tom Carper, D-Del., opened the hearing by stating that the intelligence community became overly reliant on contractors after 9/11 and needs to re-balance and have more capability in-house.
McCormack noted that DHS has been implementing an IT human capital strategy in the past few years that outlines IR career paths and sets out how new workers can progress along a technical or managerial career track. He said the department is also working to leverage developmental, mentoring, and rotational programs, as well as working with the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer on how to better market DHS both for IT and cyber security professionals.
