Deputy CIO with just one hat
Under a restructuring plan that heavily boosts its clout, the chief information office within the Air Force will add a senior position whose authority will include overseeing the service's multibilliondollar information technology budget and systems.
Under a restructuring plan that heavily boosts its clout, the chief information
office within the Air Force will add a senior position whose authority will
include overseeing the service's multibillion-dollar information technology
budget and systems.
The Air Force plan creates a new principal deputy assistant secretary for
business and information management and deputy chief CIO, the civilian equivalent
of a three-star general, said Lawrence Delaney, the Air Force CIO. That
person, who has yet to be selected, will be largely responsible for fulfilling
the day-to-day CIO duties.
The Air Force needs the new position in part because the service's top two
IT executives wear more than one hat and are unable to fully focus on CIO
responsibilities. Delaney, for example, also is assistant secretary of the
Air Force for acquisition.
His deputy, Lt. Gen. John Woodward, is director of command, control,
communications and computer systems on the Joint Staff but has been reassigned
as director of communications and information for the Air Force and commander
of the Air Force communications and information center.
The principal deputy's CIO functions will include controlling the Air Force's
IT budget, which totals $3.7 billion in fiscal 2001, according to service
figures. The Air Force is also adopting a corporate-style approach to its
information systems acquisition process, requiring CIOs in all major commands
to report acquisitions through the new principal deputy, who will then advise
Air Force leaders whether to continue, modify or terminate programs.
"There's a very important element the new CIO structure brings with
it, and that is that information technology will be represented in the process
as information technology rather than being submerged in each major command's
budget process," Delaney said.
The principal deputy will also be tasked with developing a corporate
mindset and efficient business processes. Besides budget authority, the
new position will focus on establishing and enforcing security standards
for information systems and managing the IT work force.
Delaney said the new structure will accomplish two things, the first of
which is having all unique information systems meet security requirements.
"In doing so, we need to introduce standards for performance, such as an
ability to certify that things are Net-worthy, so we need to have a corporate
set of processes that provide this information assurance," he said.
The Air Force must also take a "corporate point of view" to improve productivity
and focus its personnel resources on the IT area, Delaney said.
The restructuring, set for completion by year's end, frees Delaney and
Woodward to perform their other functions and brings attention to IT, said
one analyst.
"It certainly sounds like a move in the right direction. Information technology
requires a lot of attention since communications is really driving the entire
defense posture," said Ted Smith, president of Top Line Co., a defense market
analysis firm in Falls Church, Va.
Although the restructuring will require an initial investment, Delaney
said, it should lead to significant cost savings in the long term via boosts
in productivity.
In addition, adopting streamlined corporate processes should allow the
Air Force IT community to take greater advantage of "pockets of brilliance,"
according to Delaney.
"If you have a large number of these [pockets of brilliance] going on, and
none of them are truly coordinated, you have the problem of whether they
interoperate. By coming into the corporate Air Force part of it, we will
have standards," Delaney said.By George I. Seffers
Under a restructuring plan that heavily boosts its clout, the chief
information office within the Air Force will add a senior position whose
authority will include overseeing the service's multibillion-dollar information
technology budget and systems.
The Air Force plan creates a new principal deputy assistant secretary for
business and information management and deputy chief CIO, the civilian equivalent
of a three-star general, said Lawrence Delaney, the Air Force CIO. That
person, who has yet to be selected, will be largely responsible for fulfilling
the day-to-day CIO duties.
The Air Force needs the new position in part because the service's top two
IT executives wear more than one hat and are unable to fully focus on CIO
responsibilities. Delaney, for example, also is assistant secretary of the
Air Force for acquisition.
His deputy, Lt. Gen. John Woodward, is director of command, control,
communications and computer systems on the Joint Staff but has been reassigned
as director of communications and information for the Air Force and commander
of the Air Force communications and information center.
The principal deputy's CIO functions will include controlling the Air Force's
IT budget, which totals $3.7 billion in fiscal 2001, according to service
figures. The Air Force is also adopting a corporate-style approach to its
information systems acquisition process, requiring CIOs in all major commands
to report acquisitions through the new principal deputy, who will then advise
Air Force leaders whether to continue, modify or terminate programs.
"There's a very important element the new CIO structure brings with
it, and that is that information technology will be represented in the process
as information technology rather than being submerged in each major command's
budget process," Delaney said.
The principal deputy will also be tasked with developing a corporate
mindset and efficient business processes. Besides budget authority, the
new position will focus on establishing and enforcing security standards
for information systems and managing the IT work force.
Delaney said the new structure will accomplish two things, the first of
which is having all unique information systems meet security requirements.
"In doing so, we need to introduce standards for performance, such as an
ability to certify that things are Net-worthy, so we need to have a corporate
set of processes that provide this information assurance," he said.
The Air Force must also take a "corporate point of view" to improve productivity
and focus its personnel resources on the IT area, Delaney said.
The restructuring, set for completion by year's end, frees Delaney and
Woodward to perform their other functions and brings attention to IT, said
one analyst.
"It certainly sounds like a move in the right direction. Information technology
requires a lot of attention since communications is really driving the entire
defense posture," said Ted Smith, president of Top Line Co., a defense market
analysis firm in Falls Church, Va.
Although the restructuring will require an initial investment, Delaney
said, it should lead to significant cost savings in the long term via boosts
in productivity.
In addition, adopting streamlined corporate processes should allow the
Air Force IT community to take greater advantage of "pockets of brilliance,"
according to Delaney.
"If you have a large number of these [pockets of brilliance] going on, and
none of them are truly coordinated, you have the problem of whether they
interoperate. By coming into the corporate Air Force part of it, we will
have standards," Delaney said.
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