Information and technology (IT) governance
Recent auditor reports at both the provincial (Ontario) and federal levels have dealt with failures of project management for large IT projects.
Many organizations are responding by implementing a stronger project management methodology, based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), says Wiseman.
Project management is about doing projects right. But this leaves out the more fundamental question of whether we are doing the right projects, he says.
This is the domain of portfolio management and IT governance. "If we accept there are no IT projects -- there are only business projects with a greater or lesser IT component -- then IT governance cannot be separated from corporate governance."
If an organization can devise a sound process for identifying, evaluating, selecting and funding the key corporate change initiatives, then it won't need a separate process for the subset of initiatives with an IT component, as long as the IT capacity can support the initiative.
IT performance management and benchmarking
Regardless of one's view on Nicholas Carr's now famous discussion on whether IT matters any more, we must recognize that a large percentage of IT costs and resources provide a "utility service" to the organization, says Wiseman.
"If IT now represents between one per cent and three per cent of a government's costs, and if perhaps 70 per cent of our IT expenditures are just utility (keeping the lights on), then IT will be increasingly challenged to show it is delivering this service in the most cost-effective manner."
This means benchmarking both results and costs, he says.
Virtualization
Virtualization techniques are increasingly being used or studied in government data centres in Ottawa, says e-Government consultant Turner.
Virtualization allows organizations to load various applications running on different operating systems to run on large machines -- even mainframes - that support one standardized operating system.
This "virtualization layer" effectively consolidates IT equipment and moves applications to the latest-generation OS without the necessity of redeveloping complex "legacy" applications, explains Turner.
"Obviously this is a technique that lots of large commercial companies are using but it is certainly applicable to large government IT organizations as well."
Security
Surveys reveal there are still a number of federal departments that aren't meeting the minimum standards laid down in the MITS (Management of IT Security) standards, says Turner.
However, CIO Branch officials report that efforts over the past year to ensure that departments with "sensitive information holdings" meet appropriate minimum standards have been largely successful, he adds.
Over the next 12 to 18 months the CIO Branch expects to initiate further work on upgrading the MITS standards focusing more on an outcomes-based approach in lieu of the growing list of "musts" and "shalls" characterizing the present version of MITS.
Planning is also under way for a secret-level network infrastructure, says Turner, to meet the requirements of departments such as Canadian Border Services, Canada Revenue Agency, Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness (PSEPC), the RCMP and Transport Canada.
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