Panel to publish guide

The Information Technology Resources Board has developed another guide for government IT managers that shares "lessons learned" gathered over the past several years of reviewing an array of federal IT programs.

ITRB is an interagency group of federal IT officials tasked with assisting agencies in the procurement, development and management of major information systems.

"Practical Strategies for Managing Information Systems," the latest guide produced by the 18-member group, is based on the group's review of nine major agency IT systems and is meant to be a companion piece to "Project Management for Mission Critical Systems," which came out in November.

The new guide, expected to be available by the first week of September, focuses on "hot-button issues encountered with the greatest frequency" in assessments of the nine systems from 1994 through this year, said Virginia "Ginni" Schaeffer, program manager for the ITRB and a General Services Administration employee.

"The idea was not to produce a tome that you would put on a shelf and forget about. It is something you can hold in your hand almost as a checklist," Schaeffer said.

The guide focuses on 10 themes, including IT architectures, the role of the chief information officer, performance measurements and capital planning, all of which run parallel to the issues highlighted in the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, Schaeffer said.

Also, the management guide will be made available at the ITRB World Wide Web site, www.itrb.gov.