Buzz Factor

The most-read stories on FCW.com in the past two weeks

• By Michael Hardy
• Nov 05, 2010

Federal vs. private pay: The latest take on who makes more
Summary: A survey showed feds get paid less than private-sector counterparts in similar jobs.
Outlook: Federal salaries ranked an average of 2.1 percent less than private firms in this study, but other stories (see below) found different results.

Federal vs. corporate pay scales: A cartoonist tries to sort it all out
Summary: FCW cartoonist and blogger John Klossner takes a stab at figuring out who gets paid more.
Outlook: Readers say Klossner captured perfectly the difficulty of answering the question with any certainty.

Air Force lab finds a simple way to support telework
Summary: The Air Force discovers that an existing tool, Lightweight Portable Security (LPS), can create the trusted endpoints needed to allow telework.
Outlook: As telework becomes more common, the military and other agencies will encounter situations in which security is a sticking point. LPS might provide a solution in some cases.

Multitaskers: How 5 busy CIOs get through their day
Summary: Successful IT executives share tips on juggling multiple tasks.
Outlook: Time management skills never go out of style, especially as budgets tighten and workloads expand.

Big telework savings trump butts in the seats
Summary: At a recent conference, government leaders said telework needs to spread rapidly.
Outlook: The Office of Personnel Management says managers are starting to get with the program. Will they move faster now?

The next big contracting scandal
Summary: A set-aside program for businesses owned by service-disabled veterans is ripe for abuse.
Outlook: Based on reader comments, the story struck a nerve. Some said we were unfairly stigmatizing veterans, while others opposed the whole concept of set-asides.

Feds paid at least $1B to dead people
Summary: A Republican lawmaker published a study purporting to show a pattern of fraud and carelessness in payments from government benefits programs.
Outlook: The Obama administration has pledged to eliminate billions of dollars in improper payments in two years.

Google sues Interior over cloud RFQ
Summary: After months of unsuccessfully trying to persuade the Interior Department to allow it to compete on a contract, Google has taken the agency to court.
Outlook: If Google wins, it could be more difficult for agencies to limit competition in the future.