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Cloud Computing Thoughts – Part I

The Cloud Computing freight train roars on, if not with a lot of motion, at least with a lot of noise and tumult.

I have been part of a number of panels over the last few months which focused on the subject of Cloud Computing, the current state of the’art’, and as usual what barriers exist that need to be dealt with to make it easier to utilize. There certainly has been much written about it both pro and con and it remains a high-priority focus for the current Administrator and, in particular, Vivek Kundra, the Federal CIO.

For one of the graduate classes I am teaching this semester at the University of Maryland University College, the subject is touched upon as part of a broad look at technology changes and implications. The topic generated much comment by my students.

It seems to me that the subject starts from the wrong side of the discussion, the technology side. When the discussion turns to the impact, it starts at an important but not the most important concern, that of return-on-investment (ROI).

Today and in a number of future blog entries, I will talk about what I think are the current important issues associated with cloud computing. Today I start with what I perceive as a foundational issue, cost, but later in the week will move to what I believe are more important considerations and goals.

Note: I do not plan to rehash what cloud computing is, or is not, there are too many other write-ups that do this. Look at the National Institutes of Standards work on such definitions, I think it is pretty good.Cloud Computing Thoughts – Part I

Management of Change Conference, Dan Heath Author of Switch

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The kickoff to this years Management of Change conference here in Philadelphia was the Presentation of the Honorable John J. Franke Award and then a presentation after dinner by Dan Heath, who wrote Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard.

This years winner of the Franke Award was recently retired from Government service Jim Williams. Independent of his obsessive Red Sox fandom (is there any other kind of Red Sox fandom come to think of it?), Jim is one of the wonderful people. Jim has represented the best qualities of Government service at least to me. He has been consummate professional, dedicated to achieving the highest possible results, and at the same time a good partner to work with for the private community that supports Federal programs.Management of Change Conference, Dan Heath Author of Switch

Webinar on Cybersecurity: Building Secure Federal Systems

I was pleased to be asked to be part of a webinar sponsored by Government Executive this Thursday at 2:00pm EST and even happier when Pat Howard, the CISO from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted an invitation to join me.

The webinar, moderated by Adam Ross, the Managing Editor from the SANS Institute, will focus on some of the challenges faced in creating secure Federal Systems. With the growing movement for speed-to-market and the movement to the cloud, and associated buzz words, and with the increased publicity about cyber-attacks, how we should best deal with such issues is becoming a still greater issue.Webinar on Cybersecurity: Building Secure Federal Systems

Management of Change Conference, May 23-25, Philadelphia, Be There or Be Unchanged

This year I was lucky enough to be allowed to be one of the Workshop Co-Chairs for the Management of Change Conference, sponsored by ACT-IAC; with two wonderful co-chairs Goldy Kamali, the Goddess of FedScoop!, and Valarie Burks, from the Department of Agriculture.

In this entry I wanted to give a Workshop committee update, encouraging readers to either comment here or send me an email, and also talk a little bit about ACT-IAC.

Management of Change Workshops

Each year Government and Industry IT and associated functional leadership get together to discuss key challenges facing the Government usage of IT. This year the conference is being held in Philadelphia, May 23-25, http://www.actgov.org/EVENTS/MANAGEMENTOFCHANGE/MOC%202010/Pages/default.aspx.Management of Change Conference, May 23-25, Philadelphia, Be There or Be Unchanged

Ch-ch-ch Changes, or Why I Decided to Join Powertek Corporation

I recently accepted a position to serve as the Chief Operating Officer at Powertek Corporation (www.powertekcorporation.com). Powertek is an 8(a) woman-owned small business involved with all aspects of information technology, including business engineering and program management. Nancy Scott, President and CEO, and Samar Ghadry, Executive Vice-President, are both talented and delightful leaders I look forward to supporting.  The staff they have put together is bright, hardworking, and creative.

Despite my decision to move, CSC, the company I am leaving, continues to be a  great place to work  with committed and talented employees, many of whom have become friends over the last year. So why did I leave?Ch-ch-ch Changes, or Why I Decided to Join Powertek Corporation

The Big Bang Theory Hearts Firefly

For those who knew me when I was the CIO at the US Department of Transportation, you will know that I held a monthly lunch with a small band of fans of both the TV show Firefly, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series), and the movie Serenity, http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/serenity/.

For references to this, see the end of the interview I gave for the DotGov Buzz, http://www.usa.gov/Federal_Employees/USA_Buzz/Newsletter_0522.html#dotgovspotlight, and the reference from a column in Federal Computer Week, written by then rising star Chris Dorobek, http://fcw.com/Articles/2007/09/16/Circuit_633659049783559373.aspx.

I even ran into Firefly fans when in China this last summer when we went to see a solar eclipse, https://www.ourownlittlecorner.com/2009/07/21/serenity-on-the-yangtze/.The Big Bang Theory Hearts Firefly

Technologies to Watch in 2010

Recently Wyatt Kash, the Editor in Chief for both Government Computer News and Defense Systems, wrote me a note saying that GCN was working on an article about technologies to watch in 2010 and that he wanted my two cents.

Naturally I had more than two cents worth of thoughts about the issue and most likely my take was so orthogonal to what they were working on that it ended up being of marginal utility.

On the other hand, it gave me an excuse to think about the topic and allowed me to fill out another blog post. With Wyatt’s permission, the rest of the entry is what I sent to him in response to his request.Technologies to Watch in 2010

SCADA Conference Presentation

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I am one of two representatives from CSC speaking at a SCADA Conference on Tuesday.

My focus, as usual, will be on the strategic reasons behind the movement to SCADA. Oops, perhaps I should back up. SCADA is an abbreviation for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. It usually is used as a catch-all term dealing with computer controlled equipment or machinery (or plants or smart grids or, well you get the idea).

Many of these systems were controlled individually by locally provised systems and thus security, while relevant, wasn’t the most critical factor when designing such solutions. Now that many of these systems are managed over the Internet and an increasing percentage of what most would consider our/US economic critical infrastructure touches these systems, cyber issue have become a very hot topic.

So my presentation will focus on why this is happening and also touch a bit on some of the issues the Government is facing in this space. The second presenter from CSC is an industry expert in the utility, chemical and natural resource market and will provide some more detailed oversight and advice.SCADA Conference Presentation