Federal Government

As recent events have shown, federal agencies can suddenly face mammoth challenges; challenges that strain resources and test - sometimes to and beyond the breaking point - policies, practices, and underlying systems. Most of these are, in one way or another, IT dependent.

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As well as dealing with these unexpected disasters and their aftermath, the federal IT specialist has to deal, on an ongoing basis, with a raft of issues, ranging from business process to legislative requirements.

Compliance: Federal regulations require storing data for years in addition to disaster recovery (DR) processes

• 5015.2-STD standard for record management will result in growth of compliant records of 78% CAGR in next three years (ESG 5/03)

Data Access 24x7: Agencies require immediate access to data to run their businesses and respond to public expectations

Planned Downtime: Downtime "windows" are shrinking as IT becomes 24x7x365

• Routine maintenance must be scheduled for adds and changes to server or storage configurations

System Security: Agency operations require enhanced 24x7 resilience and ensured operations

• 911 emergency plan coordination and data sharing
• DR plans ensuring access to critical operational data across agencies

Exponential Data Growth: Keeping IT technology current is expensive and time consuming

• Complexity drives high management cost and need for staff training
• Data growth demands scalability of processing and storage
• Server and site consolidation is complex and difficult

E-government Services: Public demand for simple, reliable Web access

• Citizens want easy access to do business through the web and email

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