The good news for federal CIOs: the latest FITARA scorecard shows that, for the most part, the 24 agencies tracked either improved their scores or held steady; only 4 agencies dropped, but no one received an “F” in the overall grading. But the government’s new scoring system has thrown a potential monkey wrench into the works.
In the latest scoring, released June 26, 2019, four agencies earned two grades due to the new metrics, adding confusion to an already complex process. By adding FISMA grades to the scorecard, averages were, in many cases, brought down, as many agencies have not yet met FISMA requirements for cybersecurity. Scorecard 8.0 also added CIO authority enhancements as a metric. These two new requirements impacted several agencies negatively, with 12 agencies receiving a “D” or “F” for FISMA compliance.
Consolidation Essential to FITARA Success
With all this in mind, how can agencies improve their scores? A basic tenet of FITARA is to control IT costs while optimizing agency systems, and a key element of that is consolidation. In fact, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D–Va.), chairman of House Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Government Operations, voiced his concern at the June 26 hearing on FITARA 8.0 that draft guidance for data center consolidation and optimization has made it more difficult to evaluate agencies in this regard, leading to that metric being “greyed out” on the scorecard. However, he also noted that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has now published its final guidance on the topic, which prioritizes closing legacy data centers.
But consolidation and digital transformation means new demands for monitoring and management. A unified monitoring solution is designed to give IT leadership a consolidated view of systems that can save time and resources and help head off issues early, all while supporting moves to cloud or hybrid environments. This “single pane of glass” oversight and automation can help CIOs improve their prioritization and decision-making, which can ultimately help improve FITARA scores.
Webinar: How to Improve Your Agency’s FITARA Score
To learn how consolidated IT tools can improve network management, support consolidation and modernization, and drive lower costs, register now for the webinar “Improving Your FITARA Scorecard,” presented by SolarWinds, Tuesday, July 23, 2019 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EDT.
