The Defense Information Systems Agency will play a major role in deciding how the Defense Department adopts cloud computing services and products. DISA will serve as the department’s enterprise cloud service broker, which means all DoD components must acquire government or industry-provided cloud services using DISA, according to a June 26 memo from DoD chief information officer Teresa Takai that was released Wednesday. The only exception is to obtain a waiver from a review authority designated by Takai. DISA will work on behalf of the department to manage the use, performance and delivery of cloud services and negotiate contracts between cloud…
Monthly Archives: July, 2012
In the USA Today article, Strategize to leap over summer travel bumps, the author highlights key strategies to avoid travel mishaps, given an increase of travelers during the summer months: U.S. airlines expect to carry an average of 2.2 million travelers a day through August, according to the trade group Airlines for America. During last year’s busiest month, July, U.S. and foreign airlines carried 76.9 million passengers to and from U.S. airports on scheduled flights about – 22 million more than in February… How do federal employees, especially federal frequent flyers, handle the stresses and challenges of air and final destination…
If you read our most recent story about telework then you know the numbers of teleworking feds are increasing. As of September 2011, there were 168,558 employees teleworking out of 684,589 deemed eligible to telework. That represents a 48 percent increase over the 113,946 teleworking employees reported in 2009, the last time the government surveyed its workforce on teleworking habits. But how do federal employees deal with the equipment and technology costs if they are able to telework? Does your agency require you to purchase and pay for all the services you need or is the cost shared? Does the…
One way or another, it looks like a major congressional battle is headed our way over the U.S. Postal Service’s long-sought goal of ending most six-day mail delivery. One possible flash point is the postal overhaul bill (H.R. 2309) sponsored by Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Dennis Ross, R-Fla., which would allow postal officials to begin moving to five-day delivery within six months of the legislation’s being signed into law. The House’s Republican leadership had hoped to bring the Issa measure to the floor this month; earlier this week, the National Association of Letter Carriers said its “most urgent goal is…
The Denver Post today reported that the White House has decided to allow seasonal federal firefighters to purchase the same health insurance as other federal employees, almost a month after one firefighter’s online petition for benefits went viral. Most federal employees get health insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan. But more than 8,000 seasonal federal firefighters aren’t eligible for FEHBP because they usually work less than six months each year. U.S. Forest Service firefighter John Lauer started an online petition in late May after his friend and fellow firefighter’s son was born prematurely. Because Lauer’s friend had no…
The President will nominate the Defense Department’s procurement policy director to lead a board that promotes transparency in government spending, the White House announced last week. Richard Ginman, who became director of defense procurement and acquisition policy (DPAP) last June, will be asked to chair the Government Accountability and Transparency (GAT) Board. The 11-member panel — made up of agency inspectors general, agency chief financial officers and a senior Office of Management and Budget official — is mirrored after a board that oversaw efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse in stimulus spending. The GAT Board is focused on improving transparency and…
The U.S. Postal Service plans to close or consolidate about half of its 461 mail processing facilities during the next two years or so. Judging from a newly released after-action review of one recent downsizing, a bumpy road lies ahead both for postal employees and customers. The review, released today by the Postal Service’s inspector general, examines the consolidation of the Frederick, Md. Processing and Distribution Facility with the Baltimore Processing and Distribution Center between last October and January. Long story short: Service suffered and costs were higher than expected. One big mistake was scheduling the move during the Christmas…
The early numbers are in and it appears that as many as 7,400 postmasters and full-time mail handlers could be headed for the exits under separate buyout/early retirement offers from the U.S. Postal Service. For both groups, the sign-up deadline was Monday. Although applicants can still back out, the Postal Service anticipates that between 3,800 to 4,200 postmasters could resign or retire in response to the $20,000 buyout incentive, USPS spokesman Mark Saunders said today. The Postal Service is offering full-time mail handlers $15,000 to take the money and run; between 2,800 and 3,200 may go, Saunders said. One thing is clear:…
A proposed contracting rule that requires new service contract winners to hire the outgoing firm’s employees is not consistent with other federal rules, a trade association said this week. The Labor Department issued a similar rule in August, which was required by a 2009 executive order that seeks to reduce disruption during contract transitions and retain experienced workers. The rule being proposed by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council would require agencies to add the rule as a clause in contracts. However, the proposed rule does not include some of the requirements in the Labor Department’s rule, the Professional Services Council…
The Office of Personnel Management has cut its backlog of unprocessed pension claims by 21 percent in the five months since it unveiled a new strategy to fix the longstanding problem. According to statistics posted online today, OPM cut the backlog by 1,150 cases in June, bringing the backlog down to 48,323 unprocessed claims. In January, when OPM announced its plan to fix its problematic pension process, the inventory was 61,108. But even though OPM has made progress so far in 2012, the size of the backlog is still far greater than it was in October 2010, when OPM Director…