Managing the biggest program of all: acquisition

Jordon Sims is director of organization relations and programs for the Project Management Institute.

Project and program management is a growing hot topic of discussion on the House and Senate floors, with acquisition reform being as the largest part of that focus. Earlier this year, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, introduced H.R. 1597, the Agile Acquisition to Retain Technological Edge Act with the aim of continuing to improve the Department of Defense's acquisition system.

Reps. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Gerry Connolly, D-Va., introduced H.R. 2144, the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act of 2015, to the House on May 1, and Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., introduced an identical companion bill, S. 1550, to the Senate on June 10. The need for standardized processes, accountability and efficiency in the DoD's acquisition program has long been recognized in government circles; now it's rightfully making agendas and headlines.

DoD and federal acquisition overall have had their share of program challenges over the years, as well as challenges with how to cohesively blend the skill sets needed for effective program delivery and outcomes. Unfortunately, acquisition programs often lack a consistent adherence to sound program management (PM) frameworks and instead rely on ad-hoc practices and training measures based on a checklist mindset. To change that way of doing things, there must be a way to adopt a culture that values the fundamentals of PM and allows the acquisition workforce to not only effectively manage each program based on its unique needs, but to actually lead them to success. Under Secretary of Defense Frank Kendall's intent to shift the focus of the acquisition mindset in the DoD from one of simple compliance towards one of effective program management for sound program structures overall remains highly encouraging when looked at with the rare consensus of legislative agreement to codify the effort going forward.

A closer look at the government's acquisition spending shows that standardized program management is not on the radar. The US government spends approximately $530 billion a year on contracting for goods and services overall. Within that $530 billion, according to recent Congressional Research Service data, the DoD spends 45 percent of its share (approximately $154 billion) on tangible goods such as major weapons systems acquisitions. The efforts of the PM cadre associated with this effort are governed by the most mature and robust PM competency framework within the federal government via the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA), which was legislatively driven following the passage of the Clinger-Cohen Act in 1996.

However, an equal proportion (45 percent) of the spending is focused on services outside of tangible goods and weapons systems ranging from seconded staff, to consulting, to IT, down to the janitorial services for facilities globally, leaving 10 percent for R&D on future acquisition programs. With the civilian side of the government even more focused on services at 68 percent services vs. 22 percent focused on goods, the lion's share of vulnerability for dollars at risk due to acquisition program management inefficiency is missing out on the support and direction provided via DAWIA training, Better Buying Power, and other incremental areas of well-intended improvement.

This speaks not only to a mismatch between improvement efforts and the balance of spending but also a lack of investment in the core competency and associated workforce needed to address acquisition system challenges government-wide: namely, the program management workforce.

The signs of struggle within the acquisition process are easy to spot and are happening daily. Old RFPs are dusted off and put back out for bidding without any updates. Contracts don't capture requirements or risk from a program management point of view due to siloed efforts. Input from systems engineers and R&D from a technical perspective remains further isolated. An artificial divide post-acquisition and program delivery prevents a feedback loop that would share invaluable information on operations, sustainability, and retirement of a program further reducing opportunity for strategic impact by the PM workforce on future efforts. The end result of these challenges remaining unchecked by a program management culture shift is the continued presence of numerous acquisition efforts by agencies often considered the most robust in capability on the GAO High Risk List for 2015, along with the new addition of IT Acquisition.

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Improving the acquisition system overall starts with improving requirements definition during the program planning stage. According to PMI's 2014 Pulse of the Profession® study,poor requirements management is a major cause of project failure, second only to changing organization priorities. One in two (53 percent) say they fail in using formal process to validate requirements in an unbiased way.

Improving requirements management and breaking down silos within the organization can be accomplished in part by embracing program management and making it part of the organization's DNA. PMI research shows that when organizations invest in development and training for professional program managers, they achieve superior program performance and execute strategic initiatives more successfully. DAWIA started this process in DoD – but now needs to be updated for the current defense environment. Beyond DoD the entire federal program management workforce needs the same support as their defense counterparts.

It is also necessary to have program managers who are able to leverage these crucial skills for BOTH goods and services. The PMI Talent Triangle demonstrates the mix of skills that a successful program manager now needs to overcome obstacles, navigate hindrances and lead teams to successful outcomes.

Any initiative that is aimed at helping the government get a clearer look at its spending and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its acquisition efforts is a worthwhile endeavor, especially if it affords the opportunity to leverage lessons learned government-wide. But until government acquisition is approached via standardized program management frameworks across both goods and services, the risks of high costs and uncertainty will see the same long shelf life as numerous GAO High Risk list programs.

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Why We Need In-depth SAP Security Training

SAP and Oracle are releasing tons of patches every month, but are enterprises up to this complex task? I have my doubts.

One of the biggest cybersecurity surprises of note is the large number of breaches announced this year that, according to fact-finding at The Onapsis Research Labs, were exposed through SAP and other enterprise ERP systems.

A month ago, new evidence came to light about a high profile two-year-old breach at US Investigations Services (USIS), a contractor in charge of conducting federal background checks. The USIS breach made headlines because it was the first public proof that an SAP vulnerability was the origin of an attack leading to the theft of personal information about federal employees and contractors with access to classified intelligence.

Weeks later we heard about a new breach, this time directly against the Office of Personnel Management, compromising 4 million current and former federal employees’ personal information. Subsequent reports disclosed that the exposed information could be even more widespread. In a letter to OPM Director J. David Cox, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) claimed “Based on the sketchy information OPM has provided, we believe that the Central Personnel of Data File [CPDF] was the targeted database, and that the hackers are now in possession of all personnel data for every federal employee, every federal retiree, and up to one million former federal employees.”

These are not isolated cases. And while I cannot confirm which kind of system OPM is using for the CPDF database, taking into account public information, most likely OPM is using an ERP-based system to hold and report federal employment statistics.

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More concerning, the last weeks have shown that business-critical applications are rapidly becoming one of the most valuable targets for cybercriminals and cyberespionage. SAP and Oracle are releasing tons of patches every month, but are enterprises up to the task? As these enterprises contain complex infrastructures and patching and configuration are complex tasks, I have my doubts.

In order to properly secure these enterprise applications against these and other threats, many things need to happen within a company, among them:

a strict patch management process security and configurations change management processes, and  a security threats monitoring program. There are also many actors within the SAP security landscape, all of whom need to understand the latest cybersecurity risks affecting SAP systems. 

Four key issues for key players include:

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Mahindra vehicles will soon get Android Auto

NEW DELHI: 

   Mahindra & Mahindra, India's top-selling utility vehicle maker, plans to offer Google's Android Auto technology in its vehicles, a top company executive has said in a statement.

The technology, which links smartphones and tablets with an in-vehicle infotainment system, will be available in Mahindra's sports utility vehicles XUV 500 and Scorpio as well as future platforms, said Pravin Shah, president and CEO, automotive unit.

Shah said it would be made available after "successful integration," without committing to a timeline.

Android Auto, an extension of Google's smartphone operating system, is expected to make driving safer and easier by allowing drivers to access applications like maps through voice command or by using controls on the steering wheel.

The company, part of the $17 billion Mahindra Group, also said it has become a member of the Open Automotive Alliance (OAA), a global group of automakers and technology companies working to bringing the Android platform to cars.

Automakers such as Ford Motor, Honda Motor, Renault and Volkswagen are part of the alliance which also includes Google, Delphi and LG among others.

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New big data platform helps with security analytics and forensics

Cyber attacks are becoming more covert which helps them to consistently evade detection and means they can take weeks to uncover.

Cyber security startup Niara is unveiling its Security Intelligence Solution, combining advanced security analytics and forensics to help security teams quickly find sophisticated cyber threats within their organization.

Based on big data architecture, the Niara Security Intelligence Solution analyzes security data from disparate sources to ensure that security teams can identify and respond to sophisticated, multistage attacks that can be missed by existing monitoring and response solutions.

"The threat landscape is continuously evolving and enterprises need a way to discover and investigate advanced threats inside their network faster and more efficiently," says Sriram Ramachandran, CEO of Niara. "Niara's Security Intelligence Solution is designed from the ground up to leverage analytics and forensics from disparate data sources, providing unprecedented views into an organization’s network. This fundamentally elevates their threat discovery, incident investigation and breach response capabilities, reducing risk and helping them stay out of the headlines".

It can operate on a mix of data sources including logs, flows, packets, alerts and threat feeds to flag up threats and risky behaviors that remain undetected by log-based analytics alone. It builds an overview of an organization's threats by monitoring not only users, but also devices and applications to collect and discover threat information. Combined with Niara's ability to profile entity behaviors by linking together disparate events to uncover them as a multistage attack, it means teams have a complete view of an organization's risk posture

Security Intelligence Solution provides one-click access to a comprehensive forensic trail and analytics in the same solution to simplify and accelerate threat discovery and incident investigation. It can make use of existing data stores too without the need to recreate or duplicate data.

The Niara Intelligence Security Solution is available now and can be delivered for cloud, on-premise and hybrid deployment. More information is available on the Niara website.

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Now is the right time for Indian telcos to adopt Hadoop

These are exciting times in the Indian telecom sector. There is optimism in the air, thanks to an enabling environment and a surge in data adoption by consumers. In fact, in the past couple of years, the rise in data services has outsmarted voice services, and this is where the big opportunity for telecom operators lies. The ambitious bids (well over Rs 1 lakh crores) that we saw for 1800 MHz spectrum prove that companies are bullish on 4G services, and they have their reasons. As PwC’s predictions for Indian Telecom points out, “Indian subscribers will adopt 4G wholeheartedly to satiate their need for mobile data. We expect 4G LTE subscribers to reach 10 million to 15 million by December 2015 driven by competitive pricing, superior network experience and affordable Smartphone’s.”

In addition to the surge in mobile data use, the government is also getting involved in the form of the Digital India initiative, which provides public WiFi in 25 cities. This increase in public WiFi enables users in these cities to do much more with their mobile devices. Smartphone’s are also making significant inroads in non-conventional customer segments such as rural customers and senior citizens. Smartphone’s are now becoming synonymous with convenience—convenience to explore, learn, share and transact. The government has also announced its plans to link 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats (self-government village offices) and build broadband highways over a three-year period.

The surge in data use, along with improved WiFi/broadband infrastructure, translates to a huge opportunity for the telecom sector. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, the telecom industry needs to be armed with the right technologies to analyse, understand and act on insights from mobile data—and this means exploring the power of big data analytics.

Evolved Customer, Informed Choices

There is no doubt that consumers today are more informed than ever before, and demand more bang for the buck. They have come to expect uninterrupted connectivity, data security, ease of transactions and above all, and round-the-clock responsive customer service. As their usage increases, so do their expectations and they expect customer service operators to intuitively understand their needs and particular requirements?

Since exit barriers are low, given MNP (mobile number portability) and easy access to pre-paid services, customer service professionals face serious customer retention challenges. Churn rates can reach 59% in the prepaid mobile segment, with slightly lesser churn rates in the post-paid mobile market. Mobile operators also have to spend more money on new customer acquisition in order to thrive in such a competitive environment.

In this era of evolved and sophisticated customers, it’s important that telecom service providers learn to exploit big data in order to increase revenue and proactively manage customer experience and churn.

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Analyse, Understand, Act, Win

The terabytes and petabytes of customer data that are generated every minute is wasted if not analysed at the right time. By using a big data and analytics platform, telecom operators are able to capture, manage, process and analyse this mountain of data. The main benefit is that they are much better equipped to analyse subscriber usage and digital behaviour. This enables telecom operators to personalise customers’ experiences, resulting in reduced churn, increased customer loyalty and an increase in overall marketing efficiency.

Globally, analytics adoption is increasing at a steady pace, with Gartner predicting a 65%increase in investment in analytics services and technologies. Indian companies, especially Telco’s, cannot afford to stay behind. Opportunities abound for telecom operators who are able to deploy big data solutions in order to gain business-impacting insights.

As I mentioned earlier, the Indian consumer is a value seeker; he will quickly change his mind if he finds that his current service provider is even slightly falling short of his burgeoning expectations. The trick is not to give him the headroom to manoeuvre, but to be one step ahead of him; to be able to use big data analytics to understand his moods and behaviours and be cognitive of his preferences.

Big Data Analytics Can Deliver Big Results

Currently, many enterprises understand and appreciate the need to invest in big data analytics technology. However, many companies in India hesitate to do so, as they fear high software and training costs.

Fortunately, Apache Hadoop is a tailor-made solution that delivers on both counts, by turning big data insights into actionable business enhancements for long-term success. In order to provide data-driven intelligence across the enterprise, the big data solution must enable interactive, self-service ways of working with historical and near real-time data. Hadoop has already solved many of the fundamental (legacy) Big Data access and availability problems, and with the addition of standalone query engine Apache Drill, data analysts finally can follow their data queries easily across multiple data sources, on demand.

Hadoop gives telcos the advantage of being able to analyse large sets of both structured and unstructured data, and will drive insights that will help them learn the key triggers for certain actions among their customer base. Armed with these insights, telcos can proactively track the tipping point and take corrective actions to retain customers that are in danger of switching to a different operator. By having the right insights at the right time, telcos can build loyalty by rewarding the customers and creating moments that matter. The stronger the connection is with the customer, the more likely you can win his trust and build a strong, long-term relationship.

Many telecom enterprises globally have already adopted Hadoop and are reaping huge dividends. In the changing dynamics of the telecom sector in India, it becomes imperative for the serious players to invest in the right big data technologies. Hadoop is their best bet, as it can be easily customized and adapted to the unique requirements of the telecom industry.

Secure Azure as Microsoft meets NZ Govt cloud computing criteria

Tech giant demonstrates Microsoft Azure’s ability to provide secure cloud computing to Kiwi companies.

Microsoft New Zealand has demonstrated Microsoft Azure’s ability to provide secure cloud computing to Kiwi companies after meeting requirements set out in the 105-question New Zealand Government framework.

Based within the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs, the New Zealand Government Chief Information Officer (GCIO) has responsibility for providing guidance on how Kiwi Government organisations should adopt cloud computing via a framework called Requirements for Cloud Computing.

As part of this effort, the GCIO published a document entitled ‘NZ Government Cloud Computing: Security and Privacy Considerations’, which comprises 105 questions focused on security and privacy aspects of cloud services that are fundamentally related to data sovereignty.

Consequently, organisations that fall under the scope of the GCIO’s mandate for providing Ministers with government ICT System Assurance must apply this framework when they are deciding on the use of a cloud service.

Furthermore, other New Zealand State sector organisations are encouraged to use this framework as a good practice guidance.

To assist its New Zealand government organisations in meeting these requirements and expectations, Microsoft New Zealand has provided information showing how Microsoft Azure meets the requirements set out in the 105-question government framework.

“This is a great step forward for us in being able to show both public and private sector customers how Microsoft addresses important security, privacy and sovereignty issues,” says Jaron Burbidge, Business Development Manager - Enterprise Cloud Solutions, Microsoft New Zealand.


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Big data can be a great HR tool

As CEOs across the globe grapple with issues from talent acquisition and retention to the need for greater employee productivity, a study by KPMG shows that HR has a massive opportunity to drive significant business value. They can do this efficiently by using big data & technology. The global survey reached out to 375 executives, with C-suite executives comprising more than half of them. "A lot of cos in India are showing greater interest in evidence-based HR (data-driven HR) and putting the nuts and bolts in place to have a lot more information which is critical from a talent standpoint," says Nishchae Suri, partner and head of people and change advisory at KPMG in India. There is a greater interest in the use of data and analysis in HR function on the part of companies in the IT and BFSI space, he adds. 

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