Page 40 - FCW, November/December 2020
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Public Sector Innovations
Modernization through SD-WAN
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration wants to make sure agencies understand and have ready access to a technology that will transform their networks. A software- defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) is a virtual architecture that can encompass all manner of telecommunications transport services. It also enables tighter security and can help agencies modernize their internal and external applications.
Consequently, GSA has been injecting SD-WAN capabilities into key contracting vehicles and providing guidance on how to use the technology. Most notably, the agency recently added SD-WAN services to its 15-year, $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) telecom contract. It was the first post-award service added to EIS.
Because the adoption of secure cloud technology is essential for using SD-WAN effectively, GSA has also been working with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on developing Trusted Internet Connections 3.0, which will strengthen protections for cloud-based network applications.
Additionally, GSA officials developed guides for pricing, services and implementation and a template for agencies to use when adding SD-WAN to their EIS solicitations. It issued a use case for EIS and SD-WAN and an analysis of potential savings compared with traditional networks that are based on Multiprotocol
Label Switching. The effort is bearing fruit: Officials said more than 20 agencies have included SD-WAN in their EIS solicitations to date.
MyPerformance
Kentucky Division of Technology Services
This is the first year since 1981 that Kentucky government employees aren’t completing their annual performance evaluations on paper forms and using the red pens required for signatures. As a result, an estimated 1.1 million pieces of paper will be saved annually and state officials will gain deeper insights into employee performance.
Now the over 300 managers who participate in the executive branch’s performance management program
can sign and store those documents electronically via MyPerformance, a new feature within the state’s on-demand, portal-based talent management platform called MyPurpose.
Employees can use MyPerformance to set goals that include weights and deadlines, track their progress and complete self-reviews. Managers can more easily identify performance that
is worthy of special recognition, create observation checklists and identify employees’ skills gaps. Managers can also automate recording and reporting of performance evaluations.
From a business and human resources perspective, the digitization of performance evaluations provides the access to real-time data and feedback
that paper forms didn’t. Because of MyPerformance, officials can now run reports and monitor compliance.
“When you have a technical solution, it can really make processes more efficient,” said Alaina Myers, deputy commissioner in Kentucky’s Department of Human Resources Administration.
The MyPurpose portal has already transformed applicant tracking and learning management and will eventually add onboarding. “When you look at recruitment, onboarding and, after they’re onboarded, learning and performance, it truly will be a one-enterprise solution,” said Robbie Perkins, director of Kentucky’s Division of Technology Services.
NewPay Payroll, Time and Attendance Modernization
General Services Administration
Payroll is arguably the original shared service for federal agencies, but that doesn’t mean the multiple services used across the government play nicely with one another. NewPay — the General Services Administration’s initiative to modernize this essential function — could change that.
The standards-based software-as-a- service (SaaS) platform aims to create a cloud-based payroll, scheduling and leave system that improves interoperability across agencies.
GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said a group of payroll providers, working
with representatives of the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of
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