Managing the Flood of Information

n our survey of federal executives on technology issues, we asked an open-ended question: What is the single most important information management issue facing your agency? Not surprisingly, the largest group of responses related to how information is stored, retrieved and distributed within the agency and to outsiders.

We grouped these responses together under the rubric of "knowledge management." The replies were wide-ranging and sometimes startlingly candid. A Navy program manager said his agency's biggest information management problem is this: "Upper management increasingly asking for more and more detailed information on programs that they don't need. They abuse it. Sometimes it's information just to collect information."

A more typical response: "Volume of information. Distinguishing important information from unnecessary information. Seeing information gets to the right people." These kinds of issues are increasingly important to federal managers, the survey shows. Managers are concerned about getting systems that will enable them to distinguish among types of information and route different pieces to different people, with little human intervention.

The sheer quantity and the variety of incoming information seems to have overwhelmed some agencies' tracking and routing systems. "Lack of guidelines and clearly established procedures for management of information from different sources (i.e., mail, e-mail, fax, telephone)" was how one Senior Executive Service member described the biggest information management problem facing her agency. Another SESer described it as "seeking to winnow the valuable from masses of useless data." An Army manager mentioned "paralysis by analysis" as a consequence of having "too many systems generating too much data."

In most of the responses to our 16 survey questions, there was little to differentiate those who identified themselves as IT managers from those with other specialties. But issues of data access, integrity and distribution of information clearly were more important to non-IT executives. It's evident that non-IT professionals are the primary users of systems and their output, and non-IT executives are making many decisions about data, if not the technology that handles the data.

Many who responded to the survey mentioned the need for information that is current as well as relevant. One such respondent said his or her agency is trying to generate "online, accurate, timely accounting data" but is fighting an uphill battle to install a commercial software package. Although programming from scratch "takes too long, and it's too expensive," this GM-15 said, the agency's implementation of packaged client-server software from a well-known company is more than a year behind schedule.

Other responses mentioned the need for better management information, too. One SES member noted the need for tracking progress on the agency's operating plan. Others zeroed in on the need to communicate with large numbers of employees. Still others said their agencies needed to get information out to the public. A Bureau of Transportation Statistics manager identified his agency's major issue as "dissemination of information via multiple media (print, CD-ROM and the Internet) to a national audience."

Just making the right information available on today's networks is quite a challenge, the survey responses indicate. But several of those who listed knowledge management as their agencies' top issue added reminders of how tricky it can be to navigate the federal information shoals. They said they needed systems that would distribute information as needed while meeting the requirements of the Electronic Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, records retention rulings and other laws.

While these systems need to be sophisticated in their capabilities and dependable too, affordability is an important characteristic. Many of the managers mentioned the difficulty of deciding when an information system is good enough to get the job done. "Determining what information we really need and securing support throughout the agency to provide that information" is how one GS-15 described the top problem at her agency.

G. Edward DeSeve, the Office of Management and Budget controller and chairman of the governmentwide Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council, says federal executives' demands for information drive the use of systems to manage data. DeSeve, whose nomination to become deputy OMB director for management was expected at press time, said in an interview that, in general, the information and the technology for storing and retrieving it are available to agencies. "But if your boss or your boss's boss isn't continuously trying to get that information," he says, "then it's really hard to justify the effort to create a system to get it for them."

Money shortages also merited mentions-although only a dozen of the 228 respondents cited budgets as the top information management issue. The tenor of many responses suggested that questions about return on investment and strategic alignment of information systems with agency missions have become more important in agency decision-making than the size of appropriations, although shrinking budgets continue to be a fact of life.

The People Problem

It was no surprise to find knowledge management was the top issue in the survey, but we did not anticipate the degree of federal managers' concern about human resources issues. "How to obtain the right people for the rapidly changing information technology field" was the biggest information management issue in the eyes of one GM-14 program manager whose specialty is not IT. He or she is not alone.

Downsizing and retirements are sapping the expertise from their staffs, managers said. "Erosion of in-house technical skills" was the most important information management issue cited by one manager of scientific and technical programs. "Brain drain," said another. "Inability to pay IT personnel competitive salaries to attract and retain them," wrote an SES member with a non-IT job. The same manager said training employees is the biggest problem area when it comes to implementing new systems.

Contracting out of IT work, which is very widespread in the federal government, worries some respondents. One listed "over-reliance on contractor staff" as a major problem adding, "Federal staff [is] unwilling or incapable of doing basic technical IT work." Use of contractors is not always the solution to human resources problems, another agreed. "Getting and retaining competent people-both employees and contractors" is the biggest information management problem, in this manager's view.

Issues associated with training arose throughout the survey responses, as managers expressed qualms about keeping up with new technologies and getting full value from new systems. "We need more up-to-date programs and training," one respondent said. "The lack of training is the agencies' biggest failure when it comes to IT." Although most of these comments seemed to refer to training non-IT employees who are system users, at least one mentioned the need to update the skills of systems professionals. The biggest problem in his eyes: "Insufficient funds to train IS [information systems] staff to support and deploy current client-server technologies."

The shortage of technically proficient employees is a national problem, one that affects the private sector as well as the public sector. Recent research indicates about 346,000 programmer and system analyst jobs nationwide are going unfilled. "There's just not enough people out there," says Gary Hobbs, president of external information systems and technical services in Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Data Services and Systems Division. Agencies are getting smarter about what work they do in-house and what they contract for, Hobbs says, but the push for still more automation means the workforce shortage can't be ignored.

In January, Vice President Gore announced federal IT job training and education initiatives in concert with local schools, training providers and industry. But these programs will have no direct effect on federal agencies' hiring and retention problems. The Chief Information Officers Council, an interagency organization, is examining the options open to agencies in this area.

Other human resources-related responses to the survey mentioned the dangers of buying into the notion that systems can replace most of the people. The continuing pressure to reduce head-counts may have gone too far in certain agencies, these responses suggest. "Too many decision makers believe information technology can reduce personnel costs," one Defense Department GS-15 wrote.

A Department of Veterans Affairs field office director had this to say: "To fund technology improvements, we have consistently told Congress we could save FTEs [full-time equivalent employees]. While this was once true, we are now at a crisis point. . . . Personnel are more critical than new technology. Service is suffering."

The Pace of Change

One reason that agencies have trouble meeting their employees' needs for training and retraining is the pace of change. Staying abreast of changing technologies, legal and regulatory environments and other kinds of change turned out to be the third most commonly cited issue among the survey responses.

Because we were asking them about information management, those responding to the Government Executive survey tended to mention the speed of changes in technology. In one typical response, a GS-15 in a Defense Department agency said his organization's most important information management issue is "having the best technology when it is needed, not three years later." This manager also commented that good IT planning often is thwarted by the budget and political processes.

Other respondents, too, complained that system modernization projects were not occurring quickly enough. "The pace of business has increased the need for customized information," one said, adding that his agency's slow transition to a client-server computing environment was making it difficult to obtain such information.

Another said her agency's most important information management problem is "convincing industrial-age managers to move into the information age." Still another supplied a quotation from an AT&T executive: "When the pace of change outside an organization becomes greater than the pace of change inside the organization, the end is near."

But for every complaint about delayed upgrades and laggard decisions, there was another about the difficulties that arise once the modernization finally gets under way. "Constant upgrading and tweaking software is very disruptive. It always brings bugs," was how one respondent described his agency's most important information management problem. "There must be a way to make these changes more neutral or 'seamless' to users."

OMB's DeSeve agrees there are trade-offs. "There is a cost to change, as well as an opportunity cost" when agencies fail to modernize, he says. Recalling his own upgrade from a 486-based PC at home to a Pentium with a new generation of software and high-speed Internet connectivity, DeSeve says the changeover was so frustrating that "I almost cried to have my 486 back."

In the case of agencies, however, DeSeve says change can be even more painful because previous generations of inflexible technology "are embedded in their work processes and much more difficult to change than newer generations of systems." The older systems are reliable, so it's tempting to stick with them and avoid changing the work processes. And modernization is not always the best choice, he concedes.

"It's a frustration we all have. We know there are technical solutions out there that are better than the technology we have. But we also know that when we prioritize the acquisition of the new technology against some other things we need to do in administrative management or program management, we often say what we have is good enough," DeSeve says.

In an era of constant change, finding the right balance among technology, people and processes is a management challenge. "Technology is being thrown at problems and failing," a Defense Intelligence Agency manager wrote on his questionnaire. "The problem is human behavior-not structural."

Integrating Information

Stovepipe systems and processes are out, our survey showed. Integrating information into a seamless web is in. This thrust constitutes the fourth largest set of responses to our question about important information management issues.

"Integrated systems, rather than piecemeal applications" is the biggest issue for the Customs Service, a field office manager from that agency said. "Multiplicity of systems, software, hardware and needs for incompatible encryption" was the comparable response from another GS-15. Some respondents said they needed desktop integration or a more unified office automation system. A handful cited the importance of robust and secure communications links, Internet connections and electronic mail systems.

Others mentioned the need to store more information in electronic form and integrate data from disparate sources. A senior Navy manager said that service's most important information management issue is giving 60,000 people access to integrated databases.

In some agencies, managers said, operating units need to be integrated-or at least coordinated. "Our IT efforts are not centralized and not integrated. It's every office out for themselves," one policy and planning executive wrote. The top issue for another respondent is "getting disparate groups to work in the same direction."

Attempts to remedy fragmentation are not always greeted with open arms. One SES member described the situation in her agency: "Effort to centralize data processing control at department level has brought most progress to a complete halt."

DeSeve says he expects to see progress over the next year or two in integrating and standardizing federal systems as agencies begin to employ a new generation of off-the-shelf software for core applications such as financial management and human resources management.

Until now, DeSeve points out, agencies wanting integrated management information systems had to go through a lengthy and expensive process of designing and building a set of custom software modules. With the new software products, DeSeve says, "if you're willing to modify your own process to buy the commercially available process [embedded in the software], then you can achieve integration in a much more cost-effective way."

Strategy and Policy Development

The volume of responses that singled out the issue of developing and articulating effective information technology policies and strategies qualified it as the fifth most important issue to the federal managers we surveyed.

For example, a Securities and Exchange Commission executive said the most important information management issue at the SEC is "determining the impact and value of IT projects to the business goals of the agency." Other responses included "determining what information we really need and securing support throughout the agency to provide that information" and "the agency does not realize the advantages associated with enterprisewide policies and plans."

As these remarks suggest, evaluating the true costs and benefits of data and systems is the heart of the problem. "We are always building the Cadillac when the Chevy will do!" one GS-15 wrote, adding, "IT projects get into trouble when there is a poor job of distinguishing needs vs. wants. Program offices need business managers with IT backgrounds to enable them to drive the bus instead of just riding."

One recurring theme among these responses is the difficulty of foreseeing the future and discriminating among competing products, all of them promising to be just what your agency needs this year and in years to come. For example, a federal court administrator in South Dakota said his agency's most important information management issue is "how best to make informed choices among the plethora of hardware, software and communications products available."

Some responded with criticism of the political process. "U.S. Customs recognizes IT is vital to its ability to address the growth in [international] trade," one said. "Unfortunately, Congress does not." But a larger number offered comments like this one on their own organizations' policy-making capabilities: "We would be better served if we had better processes for establishing priorities and eliminating or consolidating redundant efforts."

The organizational divide between IT professionals and their in-house customers in other agency offices seems to be diminishing, but it still surfaced in some of our responses. A DoD manager, for example, said the most important information management issue is "setting accountable roles and compatible roles for the CIO and business-area executives." A civilian commented on "the gap in understanding between technical leaders and general agency management."

An anonymous civilian IT manager cited "rapid changes in technology, increased business requirements and unrealistic expectations." Another anonymous policy executive criticized his agency's CIO for failing to integrate systems "to deliver the corporate information necessary for management by fact."

The Year 2000

Almost equal numbers of IT managers and non-IT managers cited the year 2000 problem as their agencies' most important information management issue. Unlike those responding with other issues, this group had few comments about the problem. The typical response said simply "Y2K." Perhaps they believe the information systems problems associated with the millennium changeover have been discussed to excess.

One who thinks this issue may be somewhat overblown is Northrop Grumman's Hobbs. "Sometimes I wonder how good a feel we have for the Y2K issue," he says. "Maybe we're making it out to be a bigger issue than it really may be."

But James J. Flyzik, Treasury's deputy assistant secretary for information systems and the new vice chairman of the Chief Information Officers Council, listed it as the government's top IT priority in his year-end remarks at a meeting of the Association for Federal Information Resources Management.

Among the survey respondents, one executive at the Western Area Power Administration in Colorado said his agency is replacing its financial management system with a client-server system that is year 2000-ready. Another respondent mentioned OMB's tight schedule for completing system repairs.

Among the many issues that our 228 responses mentioned, two deserve special mention even though their numbers didn't place them in the top 10, or even the top 20. These managers, one from a defense agency and one from a civilian agency, expressed different views of the utility of IT. But they both offered the same one-word answer when asked about their agencies' most important information management issue: "survival."