Farewell Kundra, We Hardly Knew Ya
The announcement last week that Vivek Kundra would leave his post as the nation's first CIO this August to accept a fellowship at Harvard has spurred gratuitous analysis of his all-too-brief tenure. He's being credited by everyone from Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew to Craigslist founder Craig Newmark for bringing a new level of IT efficiency to the federal government and saving the country $3 billion. But Kundra also has his critics. They argue that his main impact was as a communicator and image reformer who worked to repair the reputation of federal IT, but who didn't spend enough time in the trenches working with federal agencies to understand their particular IT challenges. I can't argue with his supporters or detractors--I don't know Kundra, and have only surface knowledge of the IT issues facing federal agency CIOs. But I believe I have enough of a perspective to reach one conclusion: Kundra is leaving his post way too early. It's certainly a safe bet to say that President Barack Obama had a longer stint in mind when he appointed Kundra, and I'm guessing he's probably pretty frustrated at having to find another CIO to lead the nation so soon. It's also safe to say that most of the folks who answered to Kundra are probably feeling a bit deserted at this point--they've had hardly any time to get to know the man and comprehend his big-picture objectives, and now they'll have to start the process all over again. I may be a bit old-fashioned, but when the President asks you to lead the nation's IT into the 21st century, you don't leave for greener pastures two-and-a-half-years later. Instead, you remind yourself that those greener pastures aren't going anywhere, that plum jobs will await you whenever you decide to make a move, but that you've got a bigger job to do first. And Kundra came in with appropriately big plans to slash all the wasteful IT spending that had become part of the federal government's DNA, transition federal agencies to cloud computing, and beef up the nation's cybersecurity. None of that is easy stuff that can be achieved in two-and-a-half years; collectively, it would require years of dedication and tenacity to bring an IT strategy to fruition on such a large scale. Unfortunately, now it will all be inherited by a new CIO, one who may not have the same mindset as Kundra, and who might steer the nation's IT in a different direction. Several names have been floated--names like Veteran Affairs CIO Roger Baker, General Services Administration Associate Administrator Dave McClure, and Homeland Security CIO Richard Spires. My guess is that whoever President Obama chooses to succeed Kundra will be a proven federal IT lifer, someone he can count on to stick around through his second term, should he be re-elected in 2012. It's the least he can expect.
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Comments (9)
Chances are, if the job was working out, he wouldn't have left it; and while his paper last year on moving the federal government to the cloud was a fascinating piece of work, even at the time I thought there was no way it could possibly be well-received by the agencies in question, or by the people who would actually be tasked with making the gargantuan transition happen.
I don't think he dreamed too big, but getting his peers aligned with his vision was likely a frustrating and fruitless process that had to weigh on his decision to leave the post.
Posted by Monica Bower | June 23, 2011 9:39 AM
Monica: I think you're probably right, and I should have pointed out that possibility in my post. But it seems to me that anyone who would accept the post as CIO of the US would have to know such frustrations are to be expected. It's no excuse for bailing out on such a big job so quickly. That's a job that you've got to come into with the assumption that it will take at least 5 years to get anywhere. Of course, it's easy for me to say from my home office working flexible hours and not facing the overwhelming workplace responsibilities he no doubt faced.
Thanks for reading--and commenting!
Tony Kontzer
Posted by Tony Kontzer | June 23, 2011 3:38 PM
He was never the right person to begin with. The job does not require an academic, but someone with scars and leather skin. The right person has turnaround experience and someone who can launch granades, blow it up and rebuild it. They need to come from Industry, NOT Government. Waste is an understatement!!
They should first take a hatchet to the staff and cut 50% and then watch to see what is really critical as many operational staff are redundant and not very efficient at that..
FROM: A CIO and IT PRO who values his Tax Dollars!
Posted by JC | June 23, 2011 7:16 PM
So basically, JC, you're suggesting an IT mercenary. I think I know some of those. Of course, who would want the job at this point?
Posted by Tony Kontzer | June 24, 2011 1:13 AM
Kundra's main virtue to the Obama administration is that he was not white.
When one looks across the landscape of American CIOs clearly Vivek is not someone who comes to mind. There were many many more experienced and capable CIOs.
You Americans (thank God I am not one) were just suckered by Obama political correctness. So the republic sinks through moving away from a meritocracy. The US is no longer viewed as the land of competence, but rather of political expediency. No wonder you are now a global joke.
Posted by Ellen O'Day | June 26, 2011 8:22 AM
Ellen: At the risk of alienating you as a reader, I'm pretty appalled that you would cast Kundra's hiring as a racial decision. Not only is the implication mean-spirited and unfounded, it's also irrelevant to the situation. The story here is that Obama (and many other IT leaders, btw) were taken with a young-ish CIO who impressed them with his vision, but who maybe lacked the necessary seasoning to deal with the real, in-the-trenches issues that come with such ambitious changes to how the nation manages its IT.
If moving beyond the myopic perspectives of racism makes us a global joke, then I'm proud to be the punch line.
Tony Kontzer
Posted by Tony Kontzer | June 27, 2011 3:29 PM
Kundra's legacy may be his impact on the private sector, over what he accomplished (or attempted to accomplish) in government. Cloud's acceptance as an inevitability is due in some small part to Kundra committing Federal IT to a Cloud First program. A Judy Redman blog points to several applications to private IT and the business-sector CIO (through methodology, case studies, etc.). Criticism goes with the job and results in the public sector take time. Kundra's legacy has yet to be determined. --Paul Calento
Posted by Paul Calento | June 29, 2011 5:49 PM
Paul, you make an excellent point that I wish I'd have though of first. And if Kundra's legacy shines brighter over time, I'll be among the first to acknowledge that. But you summed up my point perfectly: "results in the public sector take time." Kundra didn't give himself enough time on the job to accomplish more than effectively nudging the country down the cloud computing path--an important accomplishment, admittedly, but only a small part of what he was hired to do.
Posted by Tony Kontzer | June 29, 2011 8:27 PM
Sounds suspiciously like the hit-and-run type, especially given his short tenure in previous jobs. Adults stay and cope with problems, especially when (as mentioned above) it is a Presidential assignment.
His previous resume always looked a little sketchy to me, so too his conviction for misdemeanor theft, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was out of his depth. His replacement is more impressive - coming in, anyway.
Posted by Skeptic | September 8, 2011 7:54 PM