U.S. CIO Steven VanRoekel told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that centralization and more coordination is essential to imporving federal IT, according to a story on CIO.com. It's estimated as much of a third of the $80 billion the federal government spends on IT is wasted.

Considering the constant bashing that the role of the CIO recieves, the attached may serve as a reminder for some home truths (http://www.siliconrepublic.com/strategy/item/32966-opinion-embracing-the/).

Yesterday, I got to sit in on a customer advisory meeting prior to the opening of HP Discover. The participants worked in businesses as diverse as oil and gas, consumer goods, insurance and consultancies. We asked them about problems they were having with IT financial management.

I'm really looking forward to listening to IT executives from Spectrum Health, based in Michigan, present at HP Discover today (12 noon Pacific). Spectrum Health, an award-winning, not-for-profit care health organization and largest employer in West Michigan with 19,100 employees, is deploying HP’s modular Flexible Data Center (HP Flexible DC) at its Grand Rapids, MI headquarters.