When I first arrived stateside, I couldn’t tell the temperature in Fahrenheit. Don’t sweat - this cup isn’t more cloud metaphor. It’s focused on last week’s Senate subcommittee hearing that pitted Fed IT’s two weathermen pointer to pointer. OMB’s VanRoekel vs. GAO’s Powner.

 

First up, OMB. Leave your umbrella at home - sunshine, low humidity.

 

The “Egg McMuffin” of Data Centers

Data Center Consolidation’s all blue skies. Though OMB keeps changing the amount we’ll save by 2015 – started at $3 billion under Vivek, VanRoekel kicked it up to $5 billion, now he’s downgraded to $3 billion again - OMB says it’s the “Egg McMuffin” of beach days for FDCCI.

 

Apparently Uncle Sam’s shuttered 267 data centers to date - and plans to close 429 more this year. Couple questions - were we starting from the 1,100 or the 2,800 data centers? Oh, and what’s the definition of a data center? And, of course, the really big question - how close are we to the $3 billion in savings, I mean $5 billion in savings, sorry $3 billion in savings?

 

OMB talked about the CapEx/OpEx inflection front. Keep an eye out for a new MeriTalk study “The Color of Money” that provides insight on Feds’ progress on the shift. It’ll tip onto the street on June 25.

 

Cloudy with a Chance of FedRAMP

Next up, VanRoekel referenced cloud and FedRAMP - do once/use many cloud security program to help agencies accelerate to the cloud. No new details. According to a recent study MeriTalk fielded at the Cloud Computing Exchange meeting with Senators Brown and Carper, FedRAMP has some significant challenges - keep an eye out for the study in the coming weeks. A quote from a frustrated Federal CIO - “For all the talk of ‘Cloud First,’ I can’t find any IAAS providers that have been blessed by GSA. It’s like a bad joke.”

 

Billions for the Taxpayer

The big close from OMB - Feds have saved $4 billion with 300 TechStats. Not $3 billion or $5 billion, right down the middle. And, focused at the agency vs. program level, new PortfolioStats will kick it up a level - how many more billions? Curious to see how Americans take TechStat and PortfolioStat savings to the bank. Are we giving money back to the tax payer? Is this largess being reinvested in IT? Does every tax payer get their own data center - and if so, how many square feet is each data center?

 

Change in the Weather

Next up, GAO’s Powner gestures with his pointer across a very different weather map. It’s not a monsoon, but nobody’d plan a picnic listening to GAO’s forecast. Net it out, GAO says OMB has prematurely claimed victory on 10 items in the IT Reform Plan. Interesting nobody calls it the 25-Point Plan anymore - you heard it here first that there were too many points of light.  Even the almighty got it down to 10 commandments...

 

So, is it raining or not? According to GAO, in December 2011, OMB’s 25-Point Plan - I mean IT Reform Plan - progress report said that it had completed “the 10 action items” in the plan - back to the commandments. Seven were complete and three partially complete. GAO thinks OMB has the math upside down - three complete, seven works in progress.

 

Anybody else find this disagreement puzzling in what is supposed to be a binary world?

 

But, here’s the magic math. OMB says that the 25-Point Plan “served its purpose by acting as a catalyst for a set of broader initiatives.” Wow - no funding to support change and no accountability - why ever do Americans question why we bother to go to the polls? So, if it feels like it’s raining, think catalyst and broader initiatives and you won’t get wet…

 

How do we get such different weather reports in the same time zone? Perhaps OMB and GAO are confused, as I was, about the difference between Fahrenheit and Centigrade?

 

Why Are You So Obsessed with Fed Data Centers?

Good question. Guess it’s the tangibility and intangibility of these IT power plants that intrigues me - now you see them, now you don’t. They’re critical, sad, and comic. If you’re interested in hearing the straight forecast on FDCCI, attend the MeriTalk Data Center Exchange Brainstorm on June 19.