“The Senate confirmed James Gfrerer as the Department of Veterans Affairs’ assistant secretary and chief information officer just 17 days ago. Like most political appointees, he likely has been working at VA since he was nominated back in July.”
“But now his real work begins by figuring out how to manage 8,000 IT employees, another 8,000 contractors, hundreds of systems and an IT budget of almost $5 billion…”
“So how can Gfrerer get his arms around the largest civilian agency’s technology projects, infrastructure and personnel?”
Advice from former VA IT executives
“Former VA technology executives say understanding the agency’s projects and programs and prioritizing them requires a whole lot of listening, a bit of research and a dash of humility.”
“As quickly as possible, you have to get an understanding of the current state of technology. What is happening now? What is working and what is not? And he has to be willing to help the team understand sometimes you have to call it when a project is not working…” Read the full article here.
Source: To be successful, new VA CIO must listen, do research and be humble – By Jason Miller, January 21, 2019. Federal News Network.
