OPM Revamping Modernization Efforts
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is launching an attempt to reboot its IT modernization efforts and update its technology. OPM’s Office of the Inspector General released a report that identifies IT modernization as a top priority for the agency. Chief Information Officer Clare Martorana and independent consultants have laid out a plan that would reform OPM’s technology and fix many of its IT issues.
Legacy systems are a continuing issue at OPM despite some strides towards IT modernization. The report states, “While OPM has made significant progress with respect to its technical security environment, consolidation of data centers, data encryption, and multifactor authentication, the agency is still burdened by legacy, mission-critical applications, outdated infrastructure and processes, and an ineffective technology business model.”
The report makes the following suggestions to improve IT efforts at OPM, calling this phase one:
Complete the transition of the legacy background investigations systems to Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.
Recruit the staff needed to implement a successful IT modernization program.
Promote an enterprise-oriented mindset to reduce the complexity of OPM’s IT environment.
Secure the funding necessary to achieve the phase one modernization goals.
These updates are expected to cost more than $200 million but would set a strong foundation for future modernization efforts at OPM.
The report furthers, “The agency’s challenge is to take advantage of this opportunity, seek appropriate funding, and start on its modernization journey. It will also have to minimize the voices of the self-interested naysayers and start to change the agency culture to an enterprise-wide mindset that values the role of the federal chief information officer as a strategic business partner who is critical in reaching organizational goals.”
