VA CIO creating IT demand management office

The Department of Veterans Affairs will launch a new tech office in 2017 to help meet the needs of the department’s health care, benefits and cemetery lines of business.

Ron Thompson, who was the principal deputy assistant secretary and deputy CIO for VA’s Office of Information and Technology, will lead the creation of a new Demand Management Office, CIO LaVerne Council announced in an email to staff this week.

Thompson’s office will “address our need for a more defined process for accepting business partner requirements, prioritizing them throughout the organization, and helping our Account Managers communicate their status,” Council wrote in the email. “DMO is the cornerstone of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) model and will give us the foundation we need to align IT services with business needs to drive improved Veteran-focused outcomes.”

ITIL is a common set of standards for IT service management and aligning tech capabilities with business needs. The model was created by the United Kingdom government’s Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency to give agencies and private contractors a common set of standards for IT management.

Focusing on this model, Council said, “will build on our success and advance toward a new framework of service management to create the best experience for all of our Veterans and business partners across the country.”

The announcement explains the news earlier this week that Rob Thomas had been named to replace Thompson as acting deputy CIO. Bill James, new to VA’s OI&T leadership team, will replace Thomas in his former position as deputy assistant secretary for the Enterprise Program Management Office.

“These changes are exciting, and they represent a commitment to our 2017 goal of continuing transformation through service management,” Council said. “I am exceptionally confident that each of these three leaders will enable our team to create a better VA for every Veteran.”

The new office comes as the department will see a turnover in leadership with the change in administration. As a political appointee, CIO LaVerne Council will resign as the Trump administration takes office.

VA didn’t return FedScoop’s requests for comment prior to publication.