Since assuming the position of federal Chief Information Officer one year ago, Steven VanRoekel has already saved the government $300 million and plans to expand those savings to $2.5 billion by 2015. His PortfolioStat program includes a multifaceted approach beginning with an examination of how federal agencies utilize IT commodities. The program is designed to later consolidate and improve the efficiency of data centers and in doing so empower agency-level CIOs. A new plan put forth by VanRoekel and acting Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Jeffrey Zients highlights the need to lower the costs and power footprints of federal agencies. By determining the agencies’ IT needs and not solely focusing on closing ‘non-core data centers’, the program can substantially improve the efficiency of IT services consumed by federal agencies.
The memo issued by the OMB instructs agencies to further empower CIOs to reduce inaccuracies and superfluous use of IT products. Though the push for greater CIO responsibility appears moderately unorthodox, the program implemented by VanRoekel has already shown a great record of success and its future agenda plans for exponentially lower expense costs for federal government use of IT products. In a post sequestration period with public pressure for a balanced approach to reduce federal deficits, implementing a program in the IT sector such as PortfolioStat is essential for responsible governmental use of unregulated services.