Tag Archives: DISA

Agile Becomes a Core Competency of Government

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Agile is not a technology but rather an approach. As such, the barriers to adoption are not technical, they are cultural. Moving to Agile requires a complete shift in thinking from waterfall development. No longer is it feasible to set requirements at the beginning of the project and then design to those specifications, not launching until the whole system is complete. Rather, Agile works more in line with the pace of today, emphasizing constant communication to introduce change into the development process and encouraging small elements of the end solution to be released throughout the project lifecycle. Use of Agile in government has come a long way, but there is still room for improvement in how agencies meet digital goals and expectations. Continue reading →

Zero Trust in Government Accelerates 0-60

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Zero Trust is a logical evolution of security in a world where remote access to networks and applications is more common than being on-site with an organization's data center. From cloud applications to the explosion of remote work, the traditional "castle and moat approach" simply does not scale or protect networks that are constantly being accessed by outside users.

The Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity (Cyber EO) has a strong emphasis on moving government toward a Zero Trust approach for security. It laid out deadlines for agencies to submit plans for implementing Zero Trust architectures, holding organizations accountable for changing how they allow users to access their systems. Continue reading →

The Telework Genie is Free. Now What?

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In regards to remote working, the general consensus seems to be, "you can't put the genie back in the bottle."

A good portion of the government workforce has been working from home for the past year, and the world has continued turning. In fact, some agencies report productivity is up since teleworking became the norm. While people will return to the office, it will look different with many alternating office days with days they work from home. The past year has shown us that working arrangements do not necessarily need to be confined to an office. And, when we also remove the stress of students learning from home, caring for homebound elderly parents, and a pandemic in general, employees may realize a new level of balance and job satisfaction.

To support the continued success of remote work, agencies need to shore up the IT that was put in place to simply keep the trains running on time. Some technology was implemented quickly to meet the immediate need, and now is the time to take a hard look at all of those solutions to see if they will scale to meet the long-term reality of a dispersed workforce.

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DISA Industry Day: Times have changed

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Originally posted by ChrisScott on FedCyber.com

I joined 400 of my favorite colleagues last week to hear DISA's annual Forecast to Industry. I have attended this forum at Tampa, Disneyworld, Grand ole' Opry (almost, it flooded out), Disneyland and other exotic locations. This year we congregated in the conference room at the DISA Headquarters on Fort Meade. Have times changed!! Despite the fact that the event was streamed live over the Internet to anyone who signed up, we were separated from our electronic devices and spent the day in blissful isolation, reviewing the small list of upcoming opportunities for industry. We have posted a copy of their slides here: Forecast-Brief-9Aug

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Defense Intelligence Worldwide Cancelled: Government Events Down, But Budget Savings Up

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Orginally posted by by  on FedConnects

According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last week, efforts to reduce travel and increase oversight in travel and conference spending have saved the federal government roughly $2 billion from fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2012.

Earlier this year, a Market Connections poll showed 38% of government employees plan to attend fewer educational and trade events in FY2013 than last fiscal year.  The majority of poll respondents said budgetary and agency travel restrictions are the cause, and just over one-third of respondents reported that management would not allow them to attend events in 2013.

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