It is often the most motivated professionals who create new ways for collaborating and sharing information. In many organizations, employees often take the initiative to leverage nontraditional applications like Google Docs and calendar applications from Yahoo.com. In the private sector, this take-charge initiative is laudable. However, in the government arena, it can create major security challenges that are difficult to fully control.  Read More

Government agencies are facing the perfect storm when it comes to managing big data. The amount of data is growing at a mind-numbing pace, while budgets for leveraging these resources is diminishing at the same rate. With the OMB asking that all agencies reduce their IT budgets by 10 percent – in its FY2014 budget guidance – how will agencies effectively manage the transition to big data? Fortunately, data analytics, a next-generation of technologies and architectures designed to extract value from very large volumes and varieties of data, is an emerging solution.  Read More

In today’s era of highly efficient and mission-focused government IT, there are some astounding statistics when it comes to success rates of technology projects.  Read More

Doug Bourgeois, Vice President, Federal Chief Cloud Executive at VMware, recently authored a blog post where he discussed the idea of using crowdsourcing to cost effectively solve government’s challenges. Bourgeois specifically discussed “the confluence of the ‘Crowd’” and how the Cloud is creating a powerful new software development model for the public sector. In an effort to support this vision, VMware and EMC are currently forming a new organization called the Pivotal Initiative to address this issue. GTSI is assisting this effort by providing a proof of concept in our labs that will be used as a basis for creating a solution for the Pivotal Initiative, which involves many players to bring it to life.  Read More

The benefits of mobile government are tremendous – from being able to better engage with citizens to providing the most cutting-edge devices for enabling government employees to be more productive and effective. So, will 2013 be the year that a mobile government comes to life?  Read More

Telework has become more prevalent within government agencies. The good news is the employees are pleased and satisfied according to studies. From the environment to the budget, the benefits are endless. According to the 2012 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, the teleworkers are more productive, engaged and satisfied as compared to their on-site counterparts. Other benefits according to this report include reduced number of sick days, higher motivation, and greater workforce benefits. As a teleworker myself I completely agree with all of above.  Read More

We are living in an era where the rise of natural disasters, whether in the form of hurricanes, “Derechos,” or epic snow storms that we dub “snowmageddon,” can seriously impact a federal agency’s ability to meet mission goals. With massive power outages and road closings being very common in the aftermath of these types of storms, it is very difficult for government employees to remain productive during these challenging times.  Read More

When looking back on 2012, key topics like big data, cybersecurity and cloud computing all rose to the top of all of our Google news searches. The one area that is of particular interest and will continue to dominate the government IT news cycle into 2013, is the bring your own device (BYOD) trend.  Read More

With 2012 winding down, we are coming into a forward-thinking time where predictions for 2013 are commonplace. And, although we face uncertainty with sequestration looming and the “fiscal cliff” still not being resolved, it is safe to say that government IT will experience a period of transformation as cybersecurity, big data, mobility and cloud solutions will grow in 2013 — according to two recent studies.  Read More

In October, we highlighted how the “Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act,” sponsored by Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), would have tremendous impact on the government IT sector. Since the legislation would condense IT authority under a single agency CIO, who would directly report to the Federal CIO, it aims to consolidate the way that government purchases IT solutions from industry vendors.  Read More