IRS picks CIO, top deputy

The Internal Revenue Service gained a new chief information officer and deputy commissioner this week as IRS Commissioner Mark Everson announced changes that will impact business systems modernization at the agency.

Everson named Todd Grams as CIO; Grams will move over June 1 from his position as chief financial officer at the agency.

Grams started at the IRS in 2001 after working for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Office of Management and Budget. He replaces John Reece, who in February announced his departure and return to industry.

"Todd's current position of CFO has afforded him a unique understanding of the challenges facing the IRS in the modernization area," Everson said in a statement. "He has the leadership skills and the energy to direct this important effort."

Everson repeatedly has cited information technology modernization efforts as one of his top priorities for improving the IRS. "Its success is critical to establishing a more efficient and effective IRS, and one which is more accessible to taxpayers," he testified earlier this week before the annual joint congressional review stemming from the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998.

Everson also has created a new position at the highest levels of the agency: deputy commissioner for operations support, a slot to be filled by John Dalrymple on June 1.

Dalrymple will oversee the CIO, the CFO, the chief human capital officer, agencywide shared services, and cyber and physical security operations. He will be accountable for the modernization program and for increasing productivity across the agency.

He currently serves as commissioner of the Wage and Investment Division at IRS. He has been with IRS since 1975, and has also served as chief and deputy chief operations officer.