"December 19, 2005 - Lem Stewart, CIO of the Commonwealth, announced today that Fred Duball has been named the Director of the Service Management Organization (SMO). The SMO is designed to manage the delivery of infrastructure services and is responsible for overseeing and ensuring all aspects of the partnership with Northrop Grumman works effectively and efficiently. "
What I find so charming about all this - aside from the ongoing debate about whether or not half a million dollars a year is needed to pay 26 new employees to save the Commonwealth money - is that the new SMO Director was obviously picked well in advance of the job posting. He was part of the VITA family during the whole PPEA proposal as early as April 2005. It makes blogging about government so much easier when you don't have to learn any new names.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
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6 comments:
is that, like, legal?
Have you noticed that the Technology budget is full of "will come up with that number later" lines? Shouldn't they have known these goals and amounts before they entered the NG deal?
The budgets are on review at Bacon's Rebellion
I wouldn't want that guy's job from under the Christmas tree! It's going to be a rough ride. Can you imagine being responsible for keeping all the agencies, politicians and systems happy? NO WAY!
I wouldn't want that guy's job from under the Christmas tree! It's going to be a rough ride. Can you imagine being responsible for keeping all the agencies, politicians and systems happy? NO WAY!
The agency heads have been digsuted with this whole process from the get-go, they grow only more so now, and VITA could not have cared less. The IT leadership and staff have felt worse than disgusted, and VITA could not care less. If the service we get from NG is crap, we'll just have to live with it, and VITA (in its new abbreviated incarnation as the SMO) will be just as concerned as they are now.
The politicans could not possibly care less, they are all no doubt getting generous support from many sides for encouraging this to go through (so many interested parties to profit from this garbage), and besides they all turn into gushing schoolgirls and throw their panties whenever Mark "Fonzie" Warner or anyone else utters the press-friendly phrase "public/private partnership".
Besides, by the time everyone figures out what a big mistake this was, it will be too huge, ungainly, and enmeshed to undo without costing even more than it's costing to hand NG the keys. So, they can easily say "our hands are tied, you'll have to live with it" even if the legislature ever gets their number.
What makes you think Fred Duball will be responsible for making sure anyone's happy about VITA? There have never been any consequences to their offenses to date. Unless you count being despised, and most VITA heads have no trouble rationalizing that as sour grapes, unfounded resentment, the bile of 'exposed incompetents', etc. Most of the early zealots (Cheryl Clark et al) quite seemed to relish being hated. Newstrom certainly took it as an indication of his own status.
Anyway, Duball will be responsible for little more than collecting a fat check and continuing Euguene's regular glowing progress reports.
Also, we've started to use "well-Huang" around the office as a dubious compliment for someone who has excellent credentials but no apparent sense, or soul.
Ouch.
Ok. VITA doesn't care, the SOTECH doesn't care, and the Governor doesn't care. No one seems to mind that VITA was created to "consolidate" IT in the same way DIT was created to "consolidate" IT, and now IT has been handed over to NG, as if to say the best way to consolidate IT is to spread it out.
Come again?
Anything we can do about this?
a coup? a junta? an eclair? is there anything that can be done when the executive branch and the general assembly don't give a rat's hiney?
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