Uncle Sam Slow on IT Reform

The Obama administration's push to overhaul how the federal government spends its $80 billion a year annual technology budget is off to a bumpy start.

Changes already are being made to an eight-month old government website that's supposed to make it easier for federal agencies to save money by purchasing cheaper "cloud computing" services, which allow customers to run software or store information at remote data centers. The site was attracting mostly window shoppers. "This is not an overnight process," said Vivek Kundra, the federal government's first Chief Information Officer. Kundra unveiled Apps.gov in September, touting it as "an innovation that not only can change how IT operates, but also save taxpayer dollars." The site is an online technology supermarket for federal agencies. It allows agencies to bypass the normal bidding process and quickly buy government-approved software and online services with credit cards. But concerns about compliance with security requirements and terms of service have prompted many agencies to bypass the site.