This BLOG is for LLNL present and past employees, friends of LLNL and anyone impacted by the privatization of the Lab to express their opinions and expose the waste, wrongdoing and any kind of injustice against employees and taxpayers by LLNS/DOE/NNSA.
The opinions stated are personal opinions. Therefore,
The BLOG author may or may not agree with them before making the decision to post them.
Comments not conforming to BLOG rules are deleted.
Blog author serves as a moderator.
For new topics or suggestions, email jlscoob5@gmail.com
Blog rules
Stay on topic.
No profanity, threatening language, pornography.
NO NAME CALLING.
No political debate.
Posts and comments are posted several times a day.
Monday, July 2, 2012
What has the CIO done at LLNL?
Anonymously contributed:
Can someone tell us what the CIO has accomplished since he arrived a year ago?
What is done more efficiently and intelligently now as compared to a year ago?
What is his agenda?
22 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Absolutely nothing! It has been two years. Go figure. Please bring back K Neves.
I am glad you asked this question. This guy is never attends his own meetings. He is always on travel. What happened to the 500k VDI project that was supposed to be done by June.
A number of things have gone on. Business application servers updated and consolidated to B113. Wireless networks deployed in many more locations. Additional mobil device trials and support. Experiments with social media. More cooperation between at least some stovepipes.
Given they didn't have a "make-over" budget to hand the guy, doesn't seem too bad.
What I hear is there has been significant positive change and progress for a program that was left with a budgetary and programmatic mess. The lab now is beginning to allow and promote and invest in wireless and personal mobile devices at the lab (no small task). There was also a significant restructure in the labs IT Governance, a restructure in the budget process for fy12 included the delivery of projects that were to a broader program base(Data Center Consolidation investment, Visualization growth, external authentication project to enhance collaborations, investments into cyber security with broader partnership with G/S R&D and the "VDI" project will make LLNL into one of the first laboratories to implement a Telepresence capability, plus I understand they received external support to take the lead in external partnerships for DOE in social media and identity management ..just a few things
Wow! Sounds like Parney is being proactive. Unlike other locations, that always seem to be in reactive mode after a flap-up has forced some quick action.
Lessons in leadership 101: better to anticipate the hit coming and move first, rather than scream "ouch" after it catches you solid, standing flat footed.
The labs vdi project needed to be re scoped due to budget issues with steady state support (staffing and capital) and to help the lab balance it's end of year budget. I understand the the CIO Data Center programs folks have brought on assistance in designing and finalizing and Enterprise Architecture and finishing the business requirements for vdi, that will be ready for implementation in FY13 assuming budget availability.
Oh crap, we are behind on the VDI project! Let's re scope it so we don't have to deliver as much technology. I know, let's get a consultant to do it. That way we can blame it on them next year when we can't deliver it again. If only there were some other examples of VDI that we could copy and use here. Oh well, I guess we will have to invent it ourselves.
Here is a novel idea. Why don't we use this as an opportunity to ask the Lab CIO directly what has been accomplished and post it here instead? If we're interested in what has been done, or not, then it would seem more efficient and productive.
Like what was the LLNL CIO Budget and what was done with it? What projects were completed?
The problem is the organizational set-up for IT at LLNL is a complete mess.
The CIO, who has responsibility for IT, reports directly to the Deputy Director for Operations. However, the actual line management for IT is with Information & Communication Services which reports to the AD for Business Directorate who reports to the PAD for Operations & Business who in turn reports to the Deputy Director for Operations.
So you have two separate management lines over the same function (information technology, telecommunication, and enterprise infrastructure). Basically the names of IT managers/staff below the CIO and the AD for Business on their respective organization charts – are the same.
Which begs the question, why do we have or need a CIO?
Just look at the mission statements of the two:
CIO: “The primary responsibility of the CIO is to establish an IT governance and management process that provides the best value for our institutionally funded IT services and systems.”
Business Directorate: “Our Mission is to provide a broad array of essential business and IT services that enable the Laboratory to fulfill its science and national security mission.”
The CIO leads a program and O&B staffs it in a matrix fashion as does Computation. This is common throughout the Lab. The issue you raise is, has the CIO (and the immediate predecessor acting CIO)taken control of the program or abdicated the technical management to the matrix managers. Your call as to which, and as to which is preferred.
It’s not a normal matrix where the “discipline” organization is just providing a technical person to a program organization. In this case, the AD for Business is also the Deputy CIO – so he’s reporting to both the CIO and the PAD for Operations & Business. While the head of Information & Communication Services (ICS), as a unit within the Business Directorate, reports to the AD for Business (aka Deputy CIO) as line management and to the CIO as their program management. Also, the divisions within ICS are “program elements” belonging to the CIO. Multiple layers of overlapping management – all getting paid.
Simple solution; make the AD for Business the CIO, and have one less senior manager.
Sounds like the organizations who support the CIO office have been able to effect change in spite of no leadership from the CIO. Hats off to those organizations!
Beware of giving a CIO any cyber security oversight responsibilities. At LANL in the wake of the Quintana case, this resulted in "JB Weld" epoxy being applied almost overnight to the ports of thousands of secure computing machines and terminals to block any peripherals being attached for any reason. No thought was used, and the result was voided warranties on thousands of new machines due to tampering. Plus, many legitimate uses of peripherals were banned without any input from the users, resulting in thousands of lost hours of productivity. The only worse person to be in charge of cyber security than an ex-cop is a computer-illiterate business manager.
While the JB Weld solution was ridiculed it probably was about the only play available. LANL needed to show NNSA and Congress concrete actions. The sledge hammer approach of the JB weld is something the uneducated at NNSA/Congress could understand. If you stated that the operating system was going to be altered to prevent future problems, they would have stated that it could be undone by another untrusted LANL employee.
Big locks, big fences, big guards, big globs of glue, these are things that little minds can understand. In a knee jerk environment, sophisticated and elegant ideas are usually the first to die.
Don't forget that the whole cause of this response was one employee that removed classified information from the facility. There may be a lesson in here somewhere about cause and effect. She did work for Charlie...
Hi weighing scale is good way to identify your weight its good. great poetry about Weighing scale. currently i am using digital weighing scale which show me accurate result.
22 comments:
Absolutely nothing! It has been two years. Go figure. Please bring back K Neves.
I am glad you asked this question. This guy is never attends his own meetings. He is always on travel. What happened to the 500k VDI project that was supposed to be done by June.
A number of things have gone on. Business application servers updated and consolidated to B113. Wireless networks deployed in many more locations. Additional mobil device trials and support. Experiments with social media. More cooperation between at least some stovepipes.
Given they didn't have a "make-over" budget to hand the guy, doesn't seem too bad.
Apparently he's done nothing since I didn't even know "The CIO" existed. Must be another Bechtel transplant.
What I hear is there has been significant positive change and progress for a program that was left with a budgetary and programmatic mess. The lab now is beginning to allow and promote and invest in wireless and personal mobile devices at the lab (no small task). There was also a significant restructure in the labs IT Governance, a restructure in the budget process for fy12 included the delivery of projects that were to a broader program base(Data Center Consolidation investment, Visualization growth, external authentication project to enhance collaborations, investments into cyber security with broader partnership with G/S R&D and the "VDI" project will make LLNL into one of the first laboratories to implement a Telepresence capability, plus I understand they received external support to take the lead in external partnerships for DOE in social media and identity management ..just a few things
Wow! Sounds like Parney is being proactive.
Unlike other locations, that always seem to be in reactive mode after a flap-up has forced some quick action.
Lessons in leadership 101: better to anticipate the hit coming and move first, rather than scream "ouch" after it catches you solid, standing flat footed.
The labs vdi project needed to be re scoped due to budget issues with steady state support (staffing and capital) and to help the lab balance it's end of year budget. I understand the the CIO Data Center programs folks have brought on assistance in designing and finalizing and Enterprise Architecture and finishing the business requirements for vdi, that will be ready for implementation in FY13 assuming budget availability.
As Dilbert chided last week, the job of a CIO is to impede access to information.
Do you guys have effective project management software yet?
Oh crap, we are behind on the VDI project! Let's re scope it so we don't have to deliver as much technology. I know, let's get a consultant to do it. That way we can blame it on them next year when we can't deliver it again. If only there were some other examples of VDI that we could copy and use here. Oh well, I guess we will have to invent it ourselves.
What has the CIO done at LLNL? He's doubled the productivity of the previous CIO. Two times zip is still nada.
You didn't know we had a CIO? Well I guess you probably didn't know that we also have two Deputy CIO's!
Here is a novel idea. Why don't we use this as an opportunity to ask the Lab CIO directly what has been accomplished and post it here instead? If we're interested in what has been done, or not, then it would seem more efficient and productive.
Like what was the LLNL CIO Budget and what was done with it? What projects were completed?
The problem is the organizational set-up for IT at LLNL is a complete mess.
The CIO, who has responsibility for IT, reports directly to the Deputy Director for Operations. However, the actual line management for IT is with Information & Communication Services which reports to the AD for Business Directorate who reports to the PAD for Operations & Business who in turn reports to the Deputy Director for Operations.
So you have two separate management lines over the same function (information technology, telecommunication, and enterprise infrastructure). Basically the names of IT managers/staff below the CIO and the AD for Business on their respective organization charts – are the same.
Which begs the question, why do we have or need a CIO?
Just look at the mission statements of the two:
CIO: “The primary responsibility of the CIO is to establish an IT governance and management process that provides the best value for our institutionally funded IT services and systems.”
Business Directorate: “Our Mission is to provide a broad array of essential business and IT services that enable the Laboratory to fulfill its science and national security mission.”
The CIO leads a program and O&B staffs it in a matrix fashion as does Computation. This is common throughout the Lab. The issue you raise is, has the CIO (and the immediate predecessor acting CIO)taken control of the program or abdicated the technical management to the matrix managers. Your call as to which, and as to which is preferred.
It’s not a normal matrix where the “discipline” organization is just providing a technical person to a program organization. In this case, the AD for Business is also the Deputy CIO – so he’s reporting to both the CIO and the PAD for Operations & Business. While the head of Information & Communication Services (ICS), as a unit within the Business Directorate, reports to the AD for Business (aka Deputy CIO) as line management and to the CIO as their program management. Also, the divisions within ICS are “program elements” belonging to the CIO. Multiple layers of overlapping management – all getting paid.
Simple solution; make the AD for Business the CIO, and have one less senior manager.
Sounds like the organizations who support the CIO office have been able to effect change in spite of no leadership from the CIO. Hats off to those organizations!
Beware of giving a CIO any cyber security oversight responsibilities. At LANL in the wake of the Quintana case, this resulted in "JB Weld" epoxy being applied almost overnight to the ports of thousands of secure computing machines and terminals to block any peripherals being attached for any reason. No thought was used, and the result was voided warranties on thousands of new machines due to tampering. Plus, many legitimate uses of peripherals were banned without any input from the users, resulting in thousands of lost hours of productivity. The only worse person to be in charge of cyber security than an ex-cop is a computer-illiterate business manager.
While the JB Weld solution was ridiculed it probably was about the only play available. LANL needed to show NNSA and Congress concrete actions. The sledge hammer approach of the JB weld is something the uneducated at NNSA/Congress could understand. If you stated that the operating system was going to be altered to prevent future problems, they would have stated that it could be undone by another untrusted LANL employee.
Big locks, big fences, big guards, big globs of glue, these are things that little minds can understand. In a knee jerk environment, sophisticated and elegant ideas are usually the first to die.
Don't forget that the whole cause of this response was one employee that removed classified information from the facility. There may be a lesson in here somewhere about cause and effect. She did work for Charlie...
Thank you for posting this. Great list Thanks for sharing with us.
CIO consulting services
Hi weighing scale is good way to identify your weight its good.
great poetry about Weighing scale.
currently i am using digital weighing scale which show me accurate result.
Post a Comment