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A CIO on the Clock
With the clock ticking on his own appointment from the moment he arrived at the Peace Corps, Anderson had to move fast to get things done. He didn't even have five years to play with: Like all Peace Corps employees, he signed on for a tour of 30 months, which can be renewed at the pleasure of his director. A few agency staff deemed indispensable can renew their contract for a third tour and, rarely, for additional stints of one year at a time. Anderson is due to leave in October 2008.
Before Anderson's arrival at the Peace Corps in fall 2003, the agency had gone through five CIOs in seven years. Many of Anderson's predecessors focused on a few important projects. Certainly, these projects were crucial. Anderson's immediate predecessor, for instance, put in systems that allowed the Peace Corps to formally close its books for the first time in three decades.
But as the agency's short-stay CIOs focused on specific tasks, overall IT strategy suffered. When Anderson arrived, Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez told Anderson his dream was to have one "integrated" Peace Corps.
That was a tall order: The Corps had 70 field offices, which could communicate with headquarters -- some more easily than others, depending on local infrastructure -- but not one another. "No one had ever envisioned them talking to each other," Anderson says. Of course, they could send email and attachments over the public Internet; but they had no secure network for sharing sensitive information, such as medical information about volunteers or safety and security policies.
Another challenge: On arrival, Anderson counted 93 IT projects under way. Some were four years old, some four days old. Many had been ordered up by staff who had since quit, and it was no longer clear why these projects were important. Anderson was appalled. "There were no start dates, no end dates and no business champions," he says.
So he made the rounds of the agency, inquiring about who wanted which projects and why. After analyzing the answers he received, he whacked the list down to 20 items. Then he set up a system for prioritizing projects.
Before, "there were no processes for IT," Anderson says. "It was really an order-taker mentality." Now a review committee considers every proposed project in light of its cost and impact and the agency's goals. If the project is approved, the IT team recommends the best technical solution.
Anderson also pushed for small but important changes like insisting that everyone use an alphanumeric naming system for shared files; now it's easier for authorized staff to find information in agency databases. He expects that his investment in processes will lay the foundation that future hires can build on. "This is a marathon, not a sprint," Anderson says. "We have to build solutions that outlive us all."
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