Federal Manager's Daily Report Wednesday, September 1, 2004 Published by FEDweek, the federal government's largest information resource with now over one million weekly readers to its electronic newsletters.
*********************************************************** Federal Manager's Daily Report is a brand new FREE daily electronic report for all federal managers and supervisors featuring the day's top stories on management and workforce issues. Please pass this information on to your fellow colleagues. You can sign up for this free daily report at http://www.fedweek.com/subscribepopup.htm. *********************************************************** In Today's Issue: 1. GAO: Best Practices and Controls Needed in IT Acquisitions at DoD 2. OPM Promotes Telework, Showcases GSA in Seventh Emergency Prep Forum 3. At Year-End, USA Services Doubles Partners and Logs 230 Million Contacts *********************************************************** 1. GAO: Best Practices and Controls Needed in IT Acquisitions at DoD The Department of Defense's revised systems acquisitions policies and guidance largely incorporate best practices such as requiring that they be justified according to cost, benefit and risk, but they do not incorporate eight best practices pertaining to the acquisition of commercial component-based systems, the Government Accountability Office has said. It said that they do not require an impact assessment when making decisions to modify commercial components, nor do they address the need to prepare users for changes in business processes and job roles and responsibilities that commercial IT products entail. Until DoD incorporates key systems acquisition best practices in its revised policies and guidance, the risk that system investments will not consistently deliver promised capabilities and benefits on time and within budget is greater, according to GAO-04-722. It said DoD's current policies lack enough controls to ensure that components appropriately follow best practices and that while officials intend to expand acquisition guidance they were unable to provide a plan specifying how that would be accomplished. 2. OPM Promotes Telework, Showcases GSA in Seventh Emergency Prep Forum The Office of Personnel Management has held its seventh emergency preparedness forum, this one addressing agency needs identified in its 2004 workplace security survey by outlining steps agencies can take to prepare for disasters. The forum showcased the General Services Administration's emergency preparedness plan and a panel of experts emphasized teleworking as a critical component in preparing, planning and executing agency plans. Attendees were encouraged to incorporate telework into their continuity of operations planning and agency reps were urged to consider the full range of possibilities about how and where their work is accomplished through the use of alternative worksites such as telecenters and employees' homes. Managers implementing a telework program should help employees adapt to the culture change of telework early on by sharing information available through their agencies and OPM, and ensuring employees understand some of the typical challenges and solutions before applying and entering into a written agreement with them, according to telework.gov. It said such an agreement typically includes spelled out expectations, timelines and connectivity needs, and supervisors need to be aware that employees who do not telework may perceive the arrangement as unfair because of the perception that they get stuck with all the new assignment arise during the course of the day. Those working out of the office meanwhile may feel that they are more likely to miss out on promotions and choice assignments, it said. 3. At Year-End, USA Services Doubles Partners and Logs 230 Million Contacts USA Services, managed by the General Services Administration's office of citizen services and communications and designed to provide information to the public, has more than doubled the number of federal partners to 30 and recorded 230 million public contacts, GSA has announced. It said the program shifts focus away from agency needs toward citizen needs by helping agencies respond to inquiries, and that a new contract vehicle is available for agencies that want to set up contact center services through GSA. "This year we'll answer more than 100,000 e-mails -- more than twice the amount received last year. We also expect to have 200 million page views from the public to FirstGov. Such volume speaks well to the interest citizens have in accessing government on their own terms," said M.J. Jameson of GSA's office of citizen services and communications. GSA also said the ".GOV" internet domain registry now charges government entities $125 a year to cover registration and renewal costs and using stringent authentication standards, calling it a full-fledged fee for service program. Published by FEDweek LLC 11551 Nuckols Rd. Suite L Glen Allen, VA 23059 (804) 288-5321 Website: http://www.fedweek.com A 100% Veteran-Owned Business [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are subscribed to federalmanagersdailyreport as [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. 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