Governments should select the right team when buying technology—and that includes experts who can fight off cyberthreats
Choosing the right people is a key part of technology procurement, says Noel Hara, vice president & chief technology officer, public sector, at NTT DATA Services, a provider of IT and business services including cloud, data and applications that helps clients, including those in the public sector, transform through consulting, industry solutions, business process services, IT modernization and managed services.
“When buying a new technology, government agencies should first define the desired outcome of the new technology and build their tech-buying team around achieving that goal,” he says, explaining that the tech-buying team should include those engaged with the business side of the agency as well as the IT services staff and those on the enterprise architecture team. Hara believes this will help to ensure that everyone is aligned with the overall goals of the agency.
He notes that precise alignment is crucial: “This is important because those without knowledge of the ideal goals of the program may put parameters on what they’re looking for a vendor to produce. As vendors model their solutions to fit the minimum criteria outlined by the tech-buying team, this can unintentionally stifle innovation and prevent the agency from purchasing a more innovative technology that may be better suited to the needs of the mission.”
Hara adds that agencies should keep IT protection staffers in the loop. “Cybersecurity can often be a roadblock as new solutions are deployed. A member of the cybersecurity staff should work alongside the tech-buying team to ensure that newer, innovative technologies can be considered and brought into the fold while also maintaining the security of government data.”
What’s the first step in an agency’s technology buy? “As a starting point, local governments should build an enterprise architecture that anticipates the different technologies needed to provide services to its various agencies,” Hara tells Co-op Solutions. He says the main question is not what to buy. Rather, agency personnel should ask themselves the following key questions:
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