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FCWPerspectives
cially if you’re an executive where you’re signing official documents. I’m constantly logging in through a Citrix connection to access local resources to do digital signing of documents and things like that.” The tension between security and productivity is still there, so “how do you adjust your workflows to accommodate that?”
The group agreed that agencies need a more data- and identity-cen- tric approach to security. “You need to make sure that you have extreme log- ging for all the tools that you’re using,” one official said, “and all your appli- cations should have granular access controls.” (For more on agencies’ zero trust security efforts, see page 39.)
The Cybersecurity and Infrastruc- ture Security Agency is taking steps to help deliver the necessary data, other participants said. A key focus is the Cloud Log Aggregation Warehouse. CISA is “moving its sensors closer to the edge to recognize what’s going on in an agency’s environment — closer to where the agency’s cloud environ- ments are,” one official said. “This is us distributing our systems to help the agencies as they move forward.”
Keeping (and competing for) talent
Overall, the participants said, the networking and other IT issues were manageable. The IT workforce, how- ever, felt like a more significant chal- lenge. Although much of the technol- ogy work can be done from anywhere, many agencies are not prepared to move beyond partial telework — and some employees are now pushing for fully remote, work-from-anywhere arrangements.
“We were 100% in person pre- pandemic,” one participant said, “and I can tell you, I lost quite a bit of talent because of that.”
Another concurred, saying, “I’ve had people hired away for basically the same position at the same pay but loca- tion-agnostic, which people consider
a superior offer.” After a year largely away from the office, that official was worried that the attitude would spread. “I’m a little concerned about how that all works out.”
“There’s also a disconnect between job function and willingness to return,” a third participant said. “I have people in critical roles who say, ‘Not coming in. No way, no,’ and then people with non-critical roles who say, ‘What do you need, boss?’ So I’m trying to recon- ceptualize how we utilize people and afford new opportunities.”
On the flip side, agencies that are willing to move away from location- specific hires can tap talent outside the National Capital Region and other highly competitive job markets. There are onboarding challenges, locality- pay questions and other policy mat- ters to address, the group said, but as one put it, “We’re not likely to go back to the predominantly folks-in-the- office model for at least the next year. And who knows after that? So we’re starting to embrace full-time remote employees who won’t necessarily be in the region.”
Another participant’s organization has virtually onboarded nearly 300 people. “I have team members now I’ve never met in person who have been working for me for six months,” that official said. “It’s working well.”
Managers also recognize that the pandemic has upended employees’ lives outside of work. “We have peo- ple dealing with child-care issues or elderly parents, all sorts of things,” one participant said. “I’ve had requests for people wanting to tele- work from Canada, from Europe, from all over. And unfortunately, I’ve had to say no for IT security reasons. But we’re working on policies that would enable that. It depends on the job, and it depends on the individual’s personal situation.”
Finally, several executives said, many employees prefer this post-
office model, and a satisfied work- force is more productive. “We’ve been doing more work than we ever have, and everybody’s happy,” one said. “So I think that’s going to stay. I’m wrestling with it, and I have the luxury that my leadership has said that I can deter- mine my telework posture as an IT organization.” n
Participants
Michael Anthony
CIO, NationalTransportation Safety Board
Donald Bauer
CTO, GlobalTalent Management, Human Resources Executive Branch, Department of State
Sean Connelly
Trusted Internet Connections Program Manager and Senior Cybersecurity Architect, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
John Coyle
Telecommunications Branch Chief, Defense Information Systems Agency
Edward Dowgiallo
SeniorTechnical Advisor, Department of Transportation
Conrad Jalali
Portfolio Manager, CDM DEFEND, CISA
Robert Leahy
Deputy CIO for Operations, Internal Revenue Service
Patrick MeLampy
Juniper Fellow, Juniper Networks
Howard Spira
CIO, Export-Import Bank of the United States
Don Troshynski
CTO, 128Technology, Juniper Networks
Note: FCW Editor-in-ChiefTroy
K. Schneider led the roundtable discussion.The April 13 gathering was underwritten by Juniper Networks and 128Technology, but both the substance of the discussion and the recap on these pages are strictly editorial products. Neither the sponsor nor any of the roundtable participants had input beyond their April 13 comments.
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