Virtually There: The Federal View of Virtualization, Present and Future

Federal IT managers are under greater pressure than ever before to control costs while increasing energy efficiency and maintaining security. Under the leadership of Federal CIO Vivek Kundra, federal agencies have been tasked with complying with the recent OMB Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative, including the adoption of cloud computing and virtualized IT environments. Are agencies following through with these necessary upgrades, or are they falling behind the times? Tune into this panel to hear experts from GTSI, Oracle, and the Government Business Council (GBC), the research division of Government Executive Media Group, discuss the results of a recent in-depth study into the transformation of IT environments at federal agencies including:

• How federal managers view virtualization at their agency
• What resources are needed to successfully implement virtualization and other IT upgrades
• How virtualization is perceived on issues of security, budget, and agency operations
• What current obstacles are preventing virtualization in the federal government
• Industry best practices to getting to virtualization

Panelists:
Bryan Klopack – Director of Research, Government Business Council
Jim Sweeney – Manager, Virtualization Consulting Practice, GTSI
Harry J. Foxwell – Ph.D., Principal Consultant, Oracle Corporation

Moderator: Tom Temin

About the Panel:

Bryan Klopack
Director of Research
Government Business Council

Bryan Klopack is the Director of Research for the Government Business Council. In this capacity, he is responsible for the development and execution of all custom thought leadership and market research engagements, drafting and implementing the yearly syndicated research agenda, and developing strategic plans for the future of the organization. As the Director of Research, he also manages the GBC team of talented research analysts and coordinates with the Government Executive Events Group in the distribution of research findings to the federal community.

As Government Executive Media Group’s research intelligence division, the Government Business Council (GBC) is dedicated to advancing the business of government through analysis, insight and analytical independence. As an extension of Government Executive’s 40 years of exemplary editorial standards and a commitment to the highest ethical values, the GBC studies influential decision-makers from across the federal government to produce intelligence-based research and analysis.

After graduating from Drake University’s College of Business, Bryan worked for Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) in Washington, D.C. before completing the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. After Coro, he spent two years at the Council for Excellence in Government in Washington, D.C., before joining the staff of Government Executive in 2008 to lead its research division.

Jim Sweeney
Manager
Virtualization Consulting Practice
GTSI

Jim Sweeney has more than 30 years of experience in the development and integration of enterprise IT applications and technologies. He has held various roles in his career including technical, sales, and marketing positions. For the last five years, Mr. Sweeney has served as a Senior Enterprise Solutions Consultant working with different federal agencies on a variety of technical solutions primarily focused in the area of server and storage consolidation and virtualization.

Mr. Sweeney holds multiple architect-level IT certifications and his qualifications are widely recognized by the leading virtualization developers and manufacturers. He has been a featured commentator for many articles on virtualization in various publications, including Federal Computer Week and Government Computer News. He has also been a featured speaker at seminars focused on virtualization and Green IT.

Harry J. Foxwell, Ph.D.
Principal Consultant
Virtualization Consulting Practice
Oracle Corporation

Harry Foxwell is a Principal Consultant for Oracle Corporation’s Public Sector organization in the Washington, DC area. He is responsible for solutions consulting and customer education on cloud computing, virtualization, operating systems including Solaris, Linux, and OpenSolaris, and open source technologies. Harry has worked for Sun Microsystems (acquired by Oracle in 2010) since 1995. Prior to that he worked for 6 years as a UNIX and Internet specialist for Digital Equipment Corporation; he has worked with UNIX systems since 1979. He also authors Oracle/Sun’s internal website of Linux technical information and has been a Linux user since 1995.

Harry has been influential in developing and promoting open source strategies and messages. He is coauthor of the book Pro OpenSolaris (Apress, April 2009) and two Sun BluePrints: Slicing and Dicing Servers: A Guide to Virtualization and Containment Technologies, Sun BluePrints Online, October 2005, and The Sun BluePrints Guide to Solaris Containers: Virtualization in the Solaris Operating System, Sun BluePrints Online, October 2006.

He earned his doctorate in Information Technology in 2003 from George Mason University (Fairfax, VA), and has since taught graduate courses at GMU in Operating Systems Security, Computer Architecture,and Electronic Commerce. Harry is also a Vietnam veteran; he served as a platoon sergeant in the US Army’s 1st Infantry Division in 1968-1969; (awarded Air Medal, and Bronze Star).

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