Obama's IT reforms saved about one per cent of spending

In 2010 the US federal government decided it needed a data centre consolidation initiative and a “25-point implementation plan to reform federal information technology management ((PDF) to save dough and improve efficiency, but a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit suggests neither outcome has been achieved. The …

[James Micallef]

not to be sniffed at

When the default for government departments is to at least maintain but ideally increase their budgets every year, even a 1% saving is a good start

[Purple-Stater]

Re: not to be sniffed at

Indeed. Not that it makes much of a difference, but you need to factor inflation into those numbers as well, so the savings do increase a wee bit.

[Anonymous Coward]

Simply clueless

Obama has done more to damage the U.S. than any president in history and it's all documented. That being said we live in an evolving world and the U.S. certainly has all sorts of IT and spending problems. The politicians and POTUS are good at spending money on "pork" projects but are unable to find funding for basic human needs. It's quite a disgrace but unlikely to change any time soon.

[Purple-Stater]

Re: Simply clueless

You are correct, but only if you don't look back more than six years.

[JWG]

Security of IT

Amateurs! Of that's been the whole problem with the O Admin.

Everyone in the federal IT system, from lowly hell desk dweebs to gigantodreeb managers are the largest concentration of idiots imaginable. They barely know to turn on a machine, let alone fix one, and their network is even worse (should I bring up HealthCare.gov?). They need to find a techocrat bigwig (currently on early retirement at 35), consolidate all IT activities under Cabinet Level Secretary. Then let him find the best geeks they can buy (with free rides on Military transports). Of course there would have to security vetting (previous work with hacktavists like Anonymous should not be a bar, rather encourage them to target Russia, China, Iran, and anyone else we're hacked off with (or who've been hacking us with impunity). You want the best, right? But don't farm it out to contractors (Snowden comes to mind) and by making them government employees it easier to lock them up. The only problem with my plan is all the current contractors and their huge donations to political campaigns (can we say payola?). It doesn't help that no one in Congress, the White House, or SCOTUS that have an inkling of a hint of a vague unsettled hunch about any more technical than flipping on a light switch (even with a 200 page manual with crayon coloring pages).

Oh, well, just a passing moment of sanity. Won't try that again.