Letters to the Editor -- FCW

Letters to the Editor

Mar 09, 2003

Following are responses to an FCW.com poll question that asked: "Is the Bush administration on the right track with the concept of consolidating IT projects?"

NO. History is replete with failures in large, consolidated, "cure-all/end-all" information technology programs and projects in the government. They NEVER work as intended, and they ALWAYS cost more than intended.

Smaller, integrated, incremental projects have the record of success. Awareness and integration is the key — not consolidation.

Name withheld by request

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It seems to me if you put all your eggs in one basket — consolidation — that the vulnerabilities would increase rather than decrease.

I am not a techie — I'm an administrator of the Information Security Program in Houston — so I really can't tell you the technical reasons for my gut feeling. Every time we centralize a program, it becomes problematic and it is decentralized.

Ken Medway

VA Medical Center

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