Last week, Verizon sponsored a panel discussion at the BMC Federal Exchange in Washington, D.C.
Titled “Next-Generation Managed Services: Unifying and Simplifying Federal IT,” the panel was moderated by Adam Mazmanian, executive editor of Federal Computer Week and featured Randy Hahn, associate director of public sector enterprise architecture, Verizon Enterprise Solutions, and Gary Holland, pre-sales manager for global outsourcers and systems integrators, BMC.
The session highlighted the evolution of managed services, outlined the digital government opportunities presented by next-generation IT management and provided an overview of best practices for aligning IT and mission objectives.
Following are the key themes Hahn and Holland discussed during the panel.
- Develop a framework. A systematic process of managing an agency’s IT infrastructure is critical. Knowing what is connected to the network and where data resides – from routers and switches to cloud and mobile devices – is the first step in adopting a next-generation managed services platform.
- Manage risks. In order to assess potential risks, an agency requires a holistic view of its entire IT environment extending from the network and data centers to applications and data. Next-generation managed services will help enable agency IT staff to gain greater visibility and correlate alarms and service-impacting events to better identify, mitigate and resolve issues.
- Focus on culture. As next-generation approaches to managed services take hold and digital government initiatives gain traction, attention will need to be paid to cultural issues, as well as processes. Whereas previously, different parts of the IT infrastructure were independently managed, next-generation approaches will drive a consolidation of management, both functionally and procedurally. These changes will extend to all levels of an agency’s IT operations, including procurement, governance and compliance.
Successful digital government initiatives require tight integration of an agencies entire IT infrastructure, including network, data centers and cybersecurity, as well as associated platforms and systems for advanced communications, collaboration and content delivery. Next-generation managed services will help government agencies unify and simplify their IT environments, and provide a foundation to implement and manage digital government initiatives to streamline operations, enhance the delivery of citizen services and effectively meet mission requirements.
Visit the Verizon Public Sector Markets website for information on the company’s portfolio and how it can be leveraged to enable digital government initiatives.
