| | September 20156Commercial Tools Institutionalizing BusinessBy Donna Seymour, CIO, Office of Personnel ManagementIn December 2013, I received a phone call offering me the position of CIO at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). It was a dream come true--a CIO position at an agency with a mission that literally spans the entire Federal government. I began with OPM on day fifty four of a hundred-day goal to deliver a strategic information technology (IT) plan to Director Katherine Archuleta. Working with a team of business and IT professionals from throughout the agency, we released, in February (and on time), a Strategic Information Technology (IT) Plan that ensures our IT goals and technology resources align optimally with the agency's strategic plan, specifically to "manage information technology systems efficiently and effectively in support of OPM's mission."And then the fun began. Ultimately, the Federal government will adopt and implement a suite of modern, integrated Human Resources (HR) IT standards and capabilities that will span the HR lifecycle (strategy to separation) found in the Human Resources Line of Business. This framework is critical to driving a federal-wide HR capability that breaks down silos and drives information exchange based ona set of standards.For example, in the strategy phase, an agency assesses its staffing needs and develops position descriptions. In the acquire phase, job announcements are posted on USAJOBS, which must integrate seamlessly with USA Staffing and other talent acquisition systems that agencies use to recruit, assess, certify, and onboard qualified candidates. Throughout an employee's tenure (the sustain phase) and afterwards (the separation phase), the data submitted in the acquire phase will be available and usable for various HR functions, including skills tracking and benefits. All of this data exchange and use will only be possible through clear standards for OPM and our partners that are both robust and flexible.In our Strategic IT Plan, we identify some successful practices and initiatives that we have organized into three categories: enabling, enterprise and business initiatives. The enabling initiatives will ensure we adopt repeatable processes for all our IT programs.· IT leadership: IT leadership is a responsibility at every level within the organization, not just a CIO responsibility--and the CIO must have the necessary authority and be held accountable.· IT governance: IT governance must be inclusive and CIO INSIGHT
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