Page 42 - FCW, October 2017

Dawn M. Bare
Product Management Specialist/Army ESI Lead, Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions, Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems
Department of the Army
Dawn Bare is an influential chess master, but she doesn’t spend
much time thinking about rooks
and pawns. Instead, her strategic expertise centers on offering commercial IT hardware, software and services for her Army customers through the Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions program.
The no-fee CHESS vehicle, which falls under the Army’s Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems, ensures flexibility for its customers by relying on indefinite-delivery/indefinite- quantity contracts.
Bare manages three enterprise licensing agreements, two enterprise software initiatives and nine vendor contracts that have a combined value of $802 million and support almost 20,000 customers.
Her colleagues said she was
also instrumental in awarding
the $2.8 million Minitab blanket purchase agreement, which helps the Army’s weapons and service buyers get software licenses through subscriptions.
In short, Bare knows her CHESS moves and strategies inside and out.
“Dawn’s influence extends far beyond the walls of the CHESS
building on Fort Belvoir,” CHESS Product Lead Douglas Haskin said.
“Her daily actions directly impact the entire Army and \[Defense Department\], saving customers tens of millions of dollars on mission- critical software without them even knowing it,” Haskin added. “She
is a...tough negotiator on behalf
of the government. I know I can always count on Dawn to get the best deal for the Army and DOD while ensuring that terms and conditions are tweaked to comply with the Army’s complex operating environment.”
— Mark Rockwell
contractors every week.
When officials needed someone to
launch a new information assurance office, they naturally turned to Croall. As part of that effort, she reviewed the authorities to operate for more than 175 software systems attheVA—andshediditinthree months.
Bill James, deputy assistant secretary at VA’s Enterprise Program Management Office, said Croall’s work building and maturing the department’s information assurance initiatives has had as much of an impact as her work on transitioning IT operations to an agile process, if not more so.
Authorities to operate “are by their very nature hard,” he added. “There’s a lot of detail, a lot of guidelines, and Ruchika’s insights into the complexity of the system really came through.”
Croall said creating a new office in an organization as large and complex as VA comes with its own unique set of challenges. Chief among them is finding a way to improve existing business processes to add value
but not red tape. It also comes with unique benefits.
“To me, it’s fun standing up a new office because I get to set the standard, and then everyone can be measured against my standard instead of me being measured against theirs,” she said.
— Derek B. Johnson
Ruchika C. Croall
Acting Director, Enterprise Program Management Office, Information Assurance
Department of Veterans Affairs
Using technology to help improve the lives of veterans is personal
for Ruchika Croall. A former Army logistics officer, the 37-year-old now spends her days as acting director of the Enterprise Program Management Office at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she works to keep IT systems and data safe.
“When I help another veteran, I’m helping myself,” Croall said.
VA officials credit her with helping the department move from a waterfall-like iterative project management style to an agile process with three-month IT sprints and builds. She also provides IT project management training to over 400 agency employees and
22 October 2017 FCW.COM