Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August, 2010

Will the Obama Administration Take on Contractor Corruption?

Now is the perfect time for the Obama administration to tackle the problem of government contractor corruption. Local government agencies are strapped for cash and small businesses are suffering in all sectors, making fraud and waste politically intolerable. Anti-corruption actions would bolster support for the administration among business owners and improve confidence in government among all citizens, even those on the far right such as libertarians and Tea Party members. An initiative to eliminate programs and contracting approaches that have proven vulnerable to abuse would fit well with the Obama initiatives to reinvent government and to create openness and transparency. Obama's core constituency would be hard pressed to argue against such reform. To be successful, the initiative would have to target corruption in both large and small companies. The large contractors already seem to be the focus of audits and investigations. They are most likely to play the revolving door game

Cloud Computing -- How High Should Government Fly?

The information technology industry has fallen head over heels when it comes to cloud computing. Many analysts have weighed in on the inevitability of shutting down your outdated server room and shifting to services that are hosted on the Internet at a remote data center. It's hard to argue against the cloud computing trend, especially since most of us who are active in IT are using cloud services ourselves, whether it may be email, cloud storage, online collaboration, and many more. Government agencies are also enraptured with cloud computing, as it conjures up visions of faster projects not to mention the perennial prospect of giant cost savings. The Obama administration is promoting cloud computing and agencies are embarking on an unprecedented push from government owned and controlled computing to using commercial capabilities. So far, no major missteps or tragedies have marred the cloud love affair. But not so fast. Government needs are different than either our individual con