Overview of the State of Information Technology at the Goddard Space Flight Center

Guest Unified Enterprise Services and Technology (GUEST) Pre-Solicitation Conference

Linda Y. Cureton

Chief Information Officer, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Monday, June 23, 2008

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Agenda• Mission of NASA and Goddard Space Flight Center

• State of the IT Union at NASA and Goddard Space Flight Center

• Current strategic framework

• Closing thoughts

Today’s objective is to provide information to all potential offerors on the current state of IT at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

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Safely return the Space Shuttle to flight

Complete the International Space Station and retire Space Shuttle by 2010

Begin robotic missions to the moon by 2008 and return people there by 2020

Continue robotic exploration of Mars and the Solar System

Develop a Crew Exploration Vehicle and other technologies required to send people beyond low Earth orbit

The NASA Mission

NASA's mission is to NASA's mission is to pioneer the future in pioneer the future in space exploration, space exploration, scientific discovery, and scientific discovery, and aeronautics research. aeronautics research.

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The Goddard Mission

The mission of the Goddard Space Flight Center is to expand knowledge of the Earth and its environment, the solar system and the universe through observations from space.

To assure that our nation maintains leadership in this endeavor, we are committed to excellence in scientific investigation, in the development and operation of space systems and in the advancement of essential technologies.

Goddard currently manages a total of 77 flight projects, from formulation through operations

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GSFC Facilities

GSFCWSTF

GISSIV&V

WFF

• Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland

• Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia

• IV&V Facility, West Virginia

• Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York

• White Sands Ground Station, New Mexico

• Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland

• Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia

• IV&V Facility, West Virginia

• Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York

• White Sands Ground Station, New Mexico

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Goddard Space Flight Center

Total Civil Servants: 3,457Total Contractors: 5,047

Total Workforce: 8,504

GSFC FY07 Budget Request

• $2.75 B Total Annual Budget• Includes $329M in reimbursables

Clerical5.5%

Professional/Administrative

28.5%

Scientists &Engineers

60.1%

Technicians4.9%

Wage Grade1.0%

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The State of IT at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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• GSFC culture optimizes IT at the program/project level, resulting in sub-optimization at the Center level

• Fragmented infrastructure (servers, desktops, data centers, websites, etc.)

• Inconsistent information security posture

• Center IT governance process is not fully imbedded into IT investment decision-making processes across the Center

• Center EA technology roadmap is not yet completed

State of IT at Goddard

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Strengths and Weaknesses• Strengths

– Commitment from a diverse Center-wide IT Transition Team and workforce to develop the plans that will lead to transformation of Goddard’s Information Management

– Experienced leadership team with a broad background of technical and management experiences

• Weaknesses

– Workforce lacks knowledge and experience to apply CIO practices

– Existing systems and processes are inefficient and not representative of recognized best practices

– Fragmented nature of IT Infrastructure handicaps ability to compete

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CIO Vision: The Future State• The 21st Century Space Flight Center

– Building and launching satellites and delivering instruments that exceed scientists’ expectations and are within cost, schedule, and performance parameters

– Advancing purposeful scientific knowledge

• The 21st Century Chief Information Officer (CIO)

– Educator and Utility Provider

– Information Steward and Integrator

– Strategist and Leader

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CIO Vision: The Future State• The 21st Century IT Organization

– 7 x 24 x 365 Support

– No security problems

– More cost-effective IT to strengthen our competitiveness

– Networks that don’t rely on a single power cord

• The 21st Century Workforce

– Creative, Leading, Thinking

– Connected and communicating in new ways

– Customer focused

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CIO Priorities• Deliver results through effective project and program management

• Ensure the Center maintains a highly capable and effective IT workforce

• Support continuing and emerging mission requirements

• Improve operational efficiency and effectiveness

• Transform Center IT Management

• Improve security

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IT Initiatives

• Desktop Management Strategy

• NOMAD

• IT Transformation

• Sourcing Strategy

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Security at GSFC

• GSFC has been involved in nearly all of NASA’s multi-Center or intra-Agency incidents

– We typically have the most affected systems

– We have incurred $Millions in direct impact from loss of work and remediation

– Both science and operational spacecraft have suffered direct impacts

– GSFC has been, and continues to be, targeted for industrial espionage

– NASA Federal Credit Union and day-care center

– GSFC incidents have been linked to nation-state espionage

– GSFC has a multi-decade history of poor information security

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Framework for Change• Communicate in terms your audience will understand

• Provide an emotional and compelling need for change

• Plan, manage, and implement the change as you would any major project

• Paint a picture of the future state

• Repeat as often as necessary

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What is a CIO?

Organization’s Competitive Advantage

Future-State CIO Competencies Report, www.cio.com.

CIO

Ro

le a

nd

Co

mp

eten

cies

We are here

Our direction is here

How we achieve science goals

Stakeholder focus

Market for science products and outcomes of flight

projects

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What Is Sound IT Management?• 60's - growth of mainframe computing

• 70's - growth of minicomputers

• 80's - growth of microcomputers

• 90's - growth of network and web

• 00's - application maturity

Kobayashi Maru

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What Is Federated Governance?• Thirteen colonies• Culturally averse to monarchy• Principles grounded in freedom, liberty, and pursuit of happiness• Threatened by external entities• Colonies had insufficient resources to expand and protect• Needed to unite in order to have a sustainable future• Needed a government to ensure that principles would endure

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The Goddard Federated IT Governance Model• An Information Management Council (IMC) dedicated to the general IT welfare

of the Center

• Promote common solutions

• Establish common infrastructure

• Committed to maximize benefits for the enterprise at large while retaining mission focus in directorates

• Provide for information security defense

• Ensure fairness and justice in decisions effecting the entire organization irrespective of funding source or ability to pay

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IT Transition: Management Structure Deputy Center Director

Executive Sponsor

Chief Information OfficerLinda Cureton

Chief Information OfficerLinda Cureton

IT Transition Team

Facilities Business Service DeliveryTechnicalPeople

Communications & Change Management

CIOTACCIO700 Integration TeamKey GSFC Stakeholder Communities:

Projects, Science, WFF, GISS, IV&V, Contractors, etc.

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IT Transition: Structure

• Phases

√ Transition Team Formation: Appointment of transition Manager, recruitment of Team and sub-teams, realignment of IT personnel, formulation of communication strategy

√ Discovery: Analysis of GSFC IT requirements, assessment of existing IT organizational roles, skill sets/gaps, resources

– Consolidation & Evolution: Recommend/implement initial organization and management structure changes, plan subsequent changes focused on evolving Center needs and Agency direction

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Closing Thoughts: A Framework for Managing Change

• Plan and implement the change with discipline• Listen to and empathize with the volume and tempo of change• Learn and understand

“I feel like they have opened my chest and ripped out my heart” – GSFC employee about moving their desktop under enterprise seat management