Page 68 - GCN, June/July 2018

IT TRANSFORMATION
EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT
A Conversation with
C. MELONIE PARKER
C. MELONIE PARKER
Division Chief, Enterprise Operations Center, State Department
C. Melonie Parker shares
her insights into modernizing data centers
How has the State Department modernized and optimized its data centers?
We, Bureau of Information Resource Management, are a service provider for the Department of State’s IT community. To be successful, it’s imperative that we know where customers are forecasting their next generation of IT services and needs. In most cases, we’ve cultivated
an environment where we are at the table with the business owner from
the planning stage all the way through development and ultimately the operations and maintenance stage, when possible.
It’s even more important that we stay in lockstep with high-profile service
of State to first evaluate new hardware purchase requests prior to release, thus reducing the level of duplication and exercising enterprise-level offerings. Even in the most unique circumstances, oftentimes we are able to determine an appropriate in-house solution or provide a foundational starting point. Given an opportunity to present best-fit service offerings based on the customer’s
need usually results in a win-win
for the department. If done properly, modernization can influence cost savings, standardization, streamlined processes and have other positive impacts.
However, if I say something can be virtualized based on our evaluation, and the bureau comes back and says, “We
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We’ve leveraged governmentwide mandates, such as the Data Center Optimization Initiative, as an incentive and opportunity for all of us to work together to achieve the goal.
customers, like the Bureau of Consular Affairs and other organizations that offer
services to the external community. We’ve leveraged governmentwide
mandates, such as the Data Center Optimization Initiative, as an incentive and opportunity for all of us to work together to achieve the goal.
We’ve had a “Virtualization First” policy in place for many years. We work together with our acquisitions office and other offices at the Department
want to keep our physical device,” the service request is presented to our deputy CIO for final weigh-in and decision.
We are in the process of introducing a “Cloud First” policy, which will enhance
and further expand our service offerings.
What new tools and strategies is the State Department considering with regard to data centers?
I won’t say “new” because we started on this journey in 2015. We released our