Federal information technology specialists think District of Columbia chief technology officer Vivek Kundra would be a strong successor to Karen Evans in the top IT job at the Office of Management and Budget, but they caution that change comes much harder at the federal level. "I think it's great; Vivek is both creative and practical," said Bruce McConnell, an independent consultant and former chief of information technology and policy at OMB. "His track record as D.C. CTO is amazing in terms of opening up government and making systems work. I think he's taking on a bigger challenge this time, but he's got the tools and experience to be very successful."

Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president and chief knowledge officer for the consulting firm FedSources, agrees. "There are big challenges for anybody taking on that position, but [Kundra] is somebody who seems to have a fresh, dynamic way of approaching IT management . . . and is also very willing to be decisive," he said. Despite having "fairly rigorous" processes in place for managing IT investments, the office of e-government has "probably never had enough decisiveness built into it," Bjorklund said. "There are painful decisions that have to be made," he added, referring to programs that should be either eliminated or consolidated across agency lines.

Read the full story here.