by Angela Guess
Amber Corrin reports, “A Defense Department advisory board has issued a report making recommendations for DOD’s move to cloud computing and data center consolidation, among them suggestions to strengthen governance, to coordinate strategies better across the department and to act decisively. The Defense Business Board’s report, dated Jan. 19, was presented in a recent meeting, during which board members advised that DOD improve its cloud efforts by making the DOD CIO ‘a strategic partner, not back-office support provider.’”
Corrin continues, “The DBB found several instances of excessive spending on the department’s IT, including overspending that stems from long acquisition cycles; the maintenance of duplicative systems, networks and infrastructure; inefficient utilization of staff and servers; and untracked purchasing. Pursuing IT efficiencies could save DOD between 25 and 50 percent on annual expenditures, while also improving mission effectiveness and achieving return on investment even ahead of schedule, according to the DBB. But before that can happen, the department has to refine its approach, including by strengthening leadership and governance, clarifying and integrating strategies and clearing legal and policy barriers.”
photo credit: Department of Defense
