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IT Reform at the Department of Housing and Urban Development
Posted by Jerry E. Williams
HUD’s mission is to “create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all,” and we accomplish that mission through several component organizations, offices, and a widespread network of regional offices and smaller field offices across the country. As CIO, I know that gaining an enterprise-wide perspective at our federated agency, while challenging, is the key to our Department’s future success. With it, we can start to eliminate duplication, lower costs, and directly support our mission by developing strong analytical insights into the housing market. That’s why my staff and I have embraced the 25 Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal IT Management and worked hard over the past six months to execute HUD’s reforms. The IT Reform Plan gives us the tools we need to improve governance, increase transparency, and create a leaner, more efficient Department.
We have already conducted 22 TechStat sessions, an outcome-focused model similar to the HUDStat model already in use at the Department. The sessions have brought improved governance to our seven business transformation initiatives – for example, we now have a dedicated project manager for each investment. The accelerated delivery schedule for each initiative has been split into 6 month increments, with increased executive level ownership to meet these milestones. These accountability efforts, as well as the new energy infused by the TechStat sessions, will help us achieve our goals more efficiently and effectively.
We expect these efforts to lead to faster provisioning of services, ability to rapidly scale services, and more predictable costs. One area where HUD has truly been a leader is in the data center consolidation effort. I am proud to say that we are ahead of the curve – two data centers currently meet all our needs – and I look forward to sharing our lessons learned with the rest of the Federal CIO community as they take on the challenge of identifying and closing down redundant infrastructure.
As we progress through the IT Reform process, I am encouraged by the level of engagement of both HUD’s internal and external stakeholders. My goal is to foster this continual effort of reshaping IT management towards more effectively performing HUD’s mission. I look forward to hearing more great ideas from our stakeholders, and above all, continuing the work in executing the IT Reforms as we reach the six month mark and beyond.
Jerry E. Williams is the Chief Information Officer at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
