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March 2008
March 28, 2008
Letter: FOIA helps balance secrecy and openness
A reader says it’s not easy for the military to keep track of what information still needs to be secret, which is where FOIA comes in.
Letter: Still trying to get an interview
A reader says, “I’m now at an executive level in industry, but what I really wanted was to be at an executive level within government.”
March 27, 2008
Letter: Other agencies must rely on GSA for purchasing
[The Office of Management and Budget] needs to get GSA back into the streamlined acquisition business. DOD does not need it's own acquisition offices for purchasing the same things that the rest of the government is purchasing.
Letter: In retaining workforce, reach out to employees
I'm confused by the initiatives lately that are seeking ways to retain (and continue to recruit) a decent federal government contracting workforce. Why are these initiatives not reaching out to the employees themselves?
Letter: Jobs posted publicly are for existing favored employees
[The] information I have uncovered through discussions with government FTE' is that most of those positions are reserved to internal selected candidates. The process must be advertised as "public," but the hiring process has wording in "favor" of the internal candidate.
March 26, 2008
Letter: Krieger is leading the charge for SOA
A reader says he hopes Michael Krieger’s efforts to promote service-oriented architecture will continue into the next administration.
Letter: Private sector should protect public infrastructure
A reader says industry should have to follow the government’s security guidelines for the three-quarters of the public infrastructure that it controls.
March 25, 2008
Letter: Add variety of experience to acquisition workforce
It is interesting that the DOD IG is actively seeking acquisition employees. I suggest he check the existing roster for certified acquisition types that are literally in the wrong jobs.
Letter: Know what the IG wants to get a good grade
Anyone who has been through the FISMA reporting cycle more than once has figured out that the key to a good "grade" is to figure out what the IG is going to use to measure compliance and work like hell on that.
March 24, 2008
Letter: Upper managers are blocking telework
A reader says Army employees have been waiting for a telework policy for far too long.
Letter: OPM is wasting money on automated retirement systems
A reader says the retirement process for government employees is too complicated for an off-the-shelf program.
Letter: TSP isn’t meant for day trading
A reader says the Thrift Savings Plan is for long-term retirement savings — and not for people who want to try to game the market.
Letter: A fee-per-trade system would distribute costs more equitably
A reader says it’s only fair for frequent traders in the Thrift Savings Plan to pay additional costs.
Letter: Fees could deter random trades
A reader says Thrift Savings Plan members should pay for exceeding a certain amount of trades, which might make them realize the cost of following the markets’ fluctuations.
Letter: Time to privatize TSP?
A reader says contributors to the Thrift Savings Plan shouldn’t have their rights curtailed, but they should have to pay fees for frequent trading.
Letter: Frequent traders should pay the costs
A reader says feds shouldn’t have to subsidize the day traders in the Thrift Savings Plan.
Letter: One background check should be enough for fed fliers
A reader argues that federal employees with high-level security clearances should be enrolled in the Clear program without paying for another background check.
March 21, 2008
Letter: Day trading under Thrift Savings Plan could distract employees
Does anyone have stats on how many of these "day traders" are using government machines during work hours to do their trading?
Letter: Thrift Savings Plan management should charge accounts in excess of limit
I don't see why I should have to pay for the day traders to try to time the market; why can't TSP charge their accounts for the fees in excess of the two per month?
Letter: Thrift Savings Plan management should charge accounts in excess
I don't see why I should have to pay for the day traders to try to time the market; why can't TSP charge their accounts for the fees in excess of the two per month?
Letter: Thrift Savings Plan participants going over the limit should pay
What concerns me -- and I want stopped -- is everyone else losing money because of these 3,000 people going overboard.
Letter: Thrift Savings Plan is not a day-trading fund
I understand why some people want to "play" the market with their TSP funds and if the management costs can be more directly passed to them then they should be able to.
Letter: Limiting trading in Thrift Savings Plan is the right choice
By increasing costs, unlimited trading decreases the value of the funds.
Letter: Thrift Savings Plan should cap number of traders per month
Some restriction is fair. However, it should be based on a year not a month.
Letter: Thrift Savings Plan is not a stock market account
The people that are protesting forget that TSP is a savings account, not a stock market account. If they want to play the stocks, by all means, they can take their money and go there.
Letter: Employees wishing to trade frequenty under Thrifty Savings Plan should pay
I think that those employees who want to trade frequently should be allowed to do so only if they agree to bear both the additional expense to the TSP of their trades and the cost of reprogramming TSP to bill them for those trades.
March 20, 2008
Letter: Mobile pharmacies aren’t enough
A reader who managed logistics for an emergency pharmacy response system after Hurricane Katrina says the government needs to do more to prepare for future disasters.
March 17, 2008
Letter: Government must protect patient information
The founder of Patient Privacy Rights says data security should go hand-in-hand with individuals’ legal control over their personal health information.
Letter: GPO’s printing facility is vulnerable
A reader says the government shouldn’t locate backup facilities in areas prone to natural disasters.
Letter: Vendors will block Navy’s open-standards plan
A reader points to Massachusetts’ attempt to mandate open-source applications and predicts that vendors will lobby Congress to stop the Navy from trying the same approach.
Letter: Military should bring development back in-house
A reader says it isn’t a question of open- or closed-source software because the military services will always need applications tailored to their business needs.
Letter: Army should tackle wasteful practices at home
A reader says: “If the Army wants to eliminate waste, start over here, not overseas.”
March 14, 2008
Letter: Transitioning to project management difficult
t's not surprising [that] IT project management is not growing. The entrance criteria are pretty onerous, and those in charge seem to want to keep the club pure.
March 13, 2008
Letter: Some managers resist telework
[Management] at top levels say they are for it, however, they deny it at almost every opportunity except at the highest levels -- GS-11 and above -- because the rules say it [requires] their approval.
Letter: FISMA standards lack clarity, waste time
FISMA is one of the biggest boondoggles I've seen in a long time — and a waste of time, money and effort.
Letter: Telework programs need leaders with vision
Many are put in positions because they were next in line and/or with little or no management and leadership experience/education.
March 12, 2008
Letter: Collaboration in architecture programs helps to focus on outcomes
It is good to see the focus on execution. Many architecture programs have focused on the mechanics of EA and not on the outcomes.
Letter: Performance monitoring is critical for efficient government teleworking programs
In the private sector, if employees don't produce, they are canned. If the workforce doesn't produce, management gets canned or the company goes under. With feds there is no such accountability.
Letter: Engage managers, big vendors as much as CXOs in architecture programs
The last thing you need are Peter-Principled techies driving the train. It's all about the mission, the business, and processes. Ultimately, it's about data requirements and standardization.
Letter: What are some telework guidelines?
My agency is using the excuse of positions not being "appropriate" for teleworking.
Letter: Outsourcing is not always better or cheaper
It is a fallacy to think if you throw in 100 cheap(er) workers who have no subject-matter expertise against a new or legacy redeployed business application, they will be remotely successful in its creation.
Letter: Educating agency staff better than limiting award fees
The solution is to educate the agency staff on how to write an award fee determination plan, how to develop meaningful metrics, how to set performance standards and how to do the required monitoring.
Letter: Government is going over the line
Many recent government actions have stretched the limits on government as outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
March 7, 2008
Letter: Contract should remain bundled, but keep small businesses involved, too
The answer isn't to unbundle contracts; it is to insure that the bundled contracts specify small-business participation in a measurable and enforceable way.
Letter: Managers use Lean Six Sigma to justify staff cuts
A reader says some organizations use the methodology to trim the workforce until there aren’t enough employees to do the work.
Letter: Ignoring small-biz goals should have consequences
A reader says agencies shouldn’t be able to get away with not achieving small-business contracting goals.
Letter: Consolidation will provide efficiency in government
I am convinced that the savings through consolidation will count in the tens of billions annually. And we will have a much more effective government, too.
Letter: Feds spend more time training than working
I swear that between training, conferences, meeting and their generous vacation, federal employees are present for their actual jobs about 50 percent of the year max.
March 6, 2008
Letter: Classified information can include just about anything
The protection of classified information is understandable. However, at one time it was determined that just too many irrelevant things were being classified for reasons that have long since become irrelevant.
March 5, 2008
Letter: FISMA's focus should be information security
Here's an idea: Rewrite FISMA to require information security, not computer security compliance paperwork!
Letter: Source in Lean Six Sigma story has no experience
You should have used sources that knew what they were talking about because most of your facts and nomenclature are way off reality.
Letter: Vendors can't solve all vulnerabilities, so use multiple assessment tools
Vulnerability assessment tools such as the Real Secure Internet Security Scanner, Nessus, and The Harris STAT scanner are excellent tools which could be used to evaluate and assess software systems.
March 4, 2008
Letter: FISMA improvements right on target
A reader says officials who don’t comply with FISMA requirements should face serious consequences.
Letter: How could the stolen laptop flash the VA insignia?
A reader argues that encryption should have kept thieves from booting up a stolen government PC.
March 3, 2008
Letter: Reader pinpoints contractors' position in management
Even when management is well-intentioned, it can't seem to get out of its own way, and becomes its own worst enemy.
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