OMB Calls for IT Workforce Reforms

The Office of Management and Budget on Thursday unveiled a 25-point implementation plan for reforming federal information technology. Over the next 18 months, agencies will be required to implement several changes to processes, move to new technology and take new approaches to recruiting, hiring and retaining information technology workers -- all with the goal of creating a more efficient and effective government.

The plan calls on the Office of Personnel Management, working with the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, to take steps to significantly enhance the supply of IT program managers, including creating a career path to attract and reward performers, establishing integrated program teams with key skills before beginning major IT programs, requiring program managers to share best practices at the close of each program, launching a technology fellows program, and encouraging mobility of program managers across government.

"Effectively managing modular IT programs requires a corps of program and project management professionals with extensive experience and robust training," the report states. "Strong program management professionals are essential to effectively steward IT programs from beginning to end, align disparate stakeholders, manage the tension between on-time delivery and additional functionality, and escalate issues for rapid resolution before they become roadblocks."

The blueprint also includes plans to create standardized training and development opportunities to develop a cadre of acquisition professionals with the specialized knowledge and experience required to manage and expedite complex IT acquisitions.

What are your thoughts on the IT blueprint? How will the workforce provisions help remove obstacles and allow agencies to better recruit and retain critical IT workers? And how might the provisions change your job?