IT Reform: OMB Open Sources IT Dashboard and TechStat Toolkit
On March 31, the Federal Government publicly released two key tools for evaluating IT investments: the IT Dashboard source code, and the TechStat Toolkit. Sharing these resources will help organizations around the world implement TechStat, the Federal Government’s model for addressing troubled IT projects. TechStats are data-driven meetings that focus on making decisions about a poorly performing investment using the indicators tracked by the IT Dashboard (cost, schedule, and CIO rating), among other data sources.
In a White House blog post, U.S. CIO Vivek Kundra mentioned that he had been approached by country, state, and city leaders about implementing the TechStat model in their own organizations. Open sourcing the Dashboard will also enable the government to “tap into the collective talents and ingenuity of the American people, to enhance functionality, improve the code and address existing challenges,” he wrote.
The Toolkit was initially launched in February 2011 as a step-by-step resource for Federal CIO Council agencies, who are standing up the TechStat model at the agency-level (23 have held their first TechStat session to date). The decision to go public with the Toolkit was also driven by its positive reception among the agencies, who have noted how it has helped them plan and move forward with the TechStat process.
