As reported in Federal Computer Week, a January 19 report from the Defense Business Board (DBB) states that “pursuing IT efficiencies could save DoD between 25 and 50 percent on annual expenditures, while also improving mission effectiveness and achieving return on investment even ahead of schedule.”

The report outlines a four-step approach of “normalizing, standardizing and rationalizing applications; rationalizing and consolidating data centers; rationalizing data and security; and then migrating appropriate components to the cloud.” The DBB urged the department to act decisively in these areas, warning that the consequences could otherwise be disastrous.

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Tags: , BPM for Government, BPM in the Cloud, Business Process Management and Government, Cloud Computing, defense business board, Government 2.0

BPM software is key to how federal departments and agencies are going to cope with the unrelenting pressures to increase agility, transparency, accountability, cost reduction and constituent service.  If you work in the public sector and have a focus on process improvement, you can’t afford to miss Appian World 2012. The conference (April 15-17 at the Reston Hyatt outside Washington, D.C.) is free, and in addition to great content and networking, it is the only place you can hear Kenneth Percell, former CIO of the U.S. Air Force Material Command, deliver his “Confessions of a Federal CIO.”

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Tags: , Appian World 2012, BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM for Government, Business Process Management and Government, Kenneth Percell, Process Improvement for Government

I couldn’t end this series on the primary themes discussed at the recent National Contract Management Association’s (NCMA) Government Contract Management Conference without including budget concerns. Budget cutbacks and their effects on the acquisition community were an inescapable topic throughout the event.

Appian’s BPM software platform and Acquisition Business Management (ABM) solution can’t increase a contracting organization’s budget or magically produce more 1102s. It can, however, help make existing resources more effective while allowing an organization to start small and incrementally tackle their acquisition system issues.

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Tags: , BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM for Government, Business Process Management, government contract management conference, national contract management association

In continuing my review of the hot topics at the recent National Contract Management Association’s (NCMA) Government Contract Management Conference, next up is the issue of Data Quality & Standardization.

This has become a key initiative inside the DoD acquisition community.  It was very interesting to hear Nancy Gunderson’s (HHS) comments regarding the subject from the civilian agency side.  One of her comments was that we’re only as credible as our data, and that the demand for data and transparency will only increase.

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Tags: , BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM for Government, Business Process Management, government contract management conference, national contract management association

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the annual National Contract Management Association’s (NCMA) Government Contract Management Conference in Bethesda, MD.  Appian was again a sponsor and exhibitor at the event.  It was great talking to so many acquisition professionals and catching up with people – some of whom I hadn’t seen in years.

As always, the conference provided excellent speakers, panel discussions, and breakout sessions.  Of note, I thoroughly enjoyed GSA Administrator Martha Johnson’s keynote, the insights from Nick Nayak and Nancy Gunderson on a panel discussion regarding “the Future of Acquisition Policy,” and the Joanie Newhart-led panel on “Building Tomorrow’s Contracting Management Workforce Today.”  Common themes were presented throughout both days of the conference, and in particular, I was struck by the speakers’ focus on change, data quality/standardization, and budget concerns.

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Tags: , BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM for Government, Business Process Management, government contract management conference, national contract management association

Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel is pushing a “single door” policy for contractors doing business with U.S. federal agencies through the creation of vendor management organizations (VMOs). Federal acquisition/procurement is something we think about all the time at Appian, for a number of reasons.

First, like the rest of the country, we are concerned about federal fiscal policy and wringing out wasteful spending. Second, we believe BPM software provides a new opportunity to transform agency acquisition practices. Our Acquisition Business Management (ABM) solution allows federal purchasing organizations to increase the efficiency, visibility and mission-alignment of all pre-award, award, and post-award activities within the acquisition lifecycle.

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Tags: , Appian 6, BPM for Federal Acquisitions, BPM for Government, Business Process Management, Government 2.0, steven vanroekel

This morning we announced the under-budget and ahead-of-schedule deployment of our BPM software at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).  The solution was designed and rolled out in six weeks, with full agency deployment in under four months. NOAA is using Appian across its National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). NESDIS collects global environmental data from satellites and other sources and provides information services regarding Earth system monitoring and official assessments of the environment.

Appian is now instrumental in supporting NESDIS’ mission to be “the world’s most comprehensive source and recognized authority for satellite products, environmental information, and official assessments of the environment in support of societal and economic decisions.

This is a very cool use case for BPM, and it made me start thinking about the ever-widening types of applications for which our on-premise and Cloud BPM, Mobile BPM and Social BPM is being used.

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Tags: , Appian 6, BPM for Energy, BPM for Financial Services, BPM for Government, BPM for Healthcare, BPM in the Cloud, mobile BPM, NOAA, Social BPM

New Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel has pledged to continue the policies of his predecessor, Vivek Kundra – and to extend them even further in driving innovation in government IT. In Silicon Valley for his first public speech earlier this week, VanRoekel outlined a vision that includes continuation of Kundra’s “Cloud First” policy, while also emphasizing utilization of the latest innovations in mobile devices and collaboration tools to create what he called a “Future First” agenda. This is precisely the agenda that Appian has been advocating to our government (and commercial) customers through our Cloud BPM, Mobile BPM and Social BPM.

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Tags: , BPM for Government, BPM in the Cloud, Government 2.0, mobile BPM, Social BPM, steven vanroekel

Today, government IT pros have a great opportunity for a crash-course on best practices in building secure, on-demand clouds for their federal agencies. InformationWeek is hosting the GovCloud 2011 event at the Reagan Pavilion in Washington, D.C. Appian is an event sponsor, in keeping with our strong commitment to Cloud BPM for the federal market.

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Tags: , BPM for Government, BPM in the Cloud, Cloud Computing, Government 2.0, Informationweek

There has been some recent discussion in the media about the status of the Army Knowledge Online (AKO) program. Certain organizations are trying to diminish one of the most successful knowledge and process management systems ever launched in the federal government; one that has saved the U.S. Army more than $500M per year according to congressional reports.

There is no question that the AKO criticism is coming from parties that stand to gain financially if the Army spends hundreds of millions of dollars to substitute this system with inferior technology. The fighting men and women in the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, and state-side service personnel, have too much hanging in the balance to be subjected to these sorts of self-interested machinations.

For what it’s worth, the truth is this: the AKO discussion is an issue regarding a program for enterprise email for the Army and DoD. It is not an issue related to AKO’s other functions, or Appian’s BPM software. More »

Tags: , Appian, Army Knowledge Online, BPM for Government