FISCAL YEAR
2023 COMMITTED TO THE POSSIBILITIES
ANNUAL REVIEW
Key Successes and Accomplishments Office of the Chief Information Officer
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Table of CONTENTS In this REVIEW Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Note from the Chief Information Officer .................................................................................................... 4 OCIO Mission ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Our Customers and Assets......................................................................................................................... 5 Using Objectives and Key Results (OKR) to Drive Alignment and Success .................................................. 6 IT Portfolio Management – FY 2023 to FY 2024 ......................................................................................... 7 OCIO Program Model ................................................................................................................................ 7 Technology Advisory Board (TAB) ............................................................................................................. 8 FY 2023 IT Investment Plan and Status................................................................................................... 8 FY 2024 IT Demand ................................................................................................................................ 9 FY 2024 IT Demands by Prioritization ..................................................................................................... 9 FY 2023 Key Successes and Accomplishments ......................................................................................... 10 Program Area: Business Operations .................................................................................................... 11 Program Area: Volunteer Lifecycle ...................................................................................................... 13 Program Area: Cybersecurity ............................................................................................................... 14 Program Area: Technology Services .................................................................................................... 17 Program Area: Workplace Services...................................................................................................... 20 IT Administration and Governance ....................................................................................................... 25 Our Path Forward .................................................................................................................................... 30
Table of FIGURES Figure 1: OCIO Customers and Assets ............................................................................................................. 5 Figure 2: OCIO FY 23 OKRs ............................................................................................................................. 6 Figure 3: OCIO Program Areas and Capabilities ............................................................................................... 7 Figure 4: IT Investment Ranking Criteria ........................................................................................................... 8 Figure 5: FY23 Total IT Investment Plan and Status ......................................................................................... 8 Figure 6: FY 2024 IT Demand ........................................................................................................................... 9 Figure 7: FY 2024 IT Demands by Prioritization ................................................................................................ 9 Figure 8: FY 2023 CIO Domestic Service Desk Ticket Summary .................................................................... 21
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Introduction
Building a Legacy, Embracing the FUTURE Welcome to our FY 2023 Annual Review, a showcase of our achievements, progress, and commitment to excellence throughout the year.
Please refer to the Fiscal Year 2022 Peace Corps OCIO Annual Review 1 for more about the OCIO organization, mission, function, authorities, and governance.
1 Peace Corps Office of the Chief Information Officer, Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Review, Connecting Around the Globe, 1 st
Edition, (March 2023)
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Note from the Chief Information Officer
Leading with Vision, Inspiring SUCCESS As we reflect on the accomplishments of the past year and look forward to the next, I am delighted to present the 2023 Annual Review for the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). This report provides a comprehensive overview of our performance, achievements, and the strides we have made in support of the Peace Corps’ mission. It shares the story of accomplishments achieved through building upon operational excellence, delivery of secure and efficient IT solutions, strategic transformation, and the continual improvement of our governance and IT portfolio management, all with measured performance. Throughout 2023, our dedicated team has demonstrated unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation, and the delivery of top-notch information technology services. Through collaboration and forward-thinking initiatives, we have not only met but exceeded the objectives we set for ourselves. While celebrating our successes, we also recognize the challenges that are inherent in our dynamic field and for the agency at-large. When Peace Corps faced significant
challenges with Volunteer recruiting and within its Human Resources offices, Peace Corps’ leadership called upon OCIO, and we rose to meet those challenges. By leveraging technology as an enabler, we have played a pivotal role in enhancing operational efficiency, collaboration, and ensuring the security and integrity of our information assets. As we move forward, it is essential to carry the momentum of 2023's successes into the future. Our focus on tight alignment with the agency’s mission and strategic objectives will guide us in navigating the evolving landscape of technology and information management. I extend my sincere gratitude to each member of the OCIO team for their dedication and hard work. It is through our collective efforts that we continue to position the Peace Corps as a leader in leveraging technology to achieve its mission. Thank you for your commitment to excellence.
Sincerely,
Michael Terry Michael Terry Chief Information Officer
OCIO Senior Leadership Team Lara Bair, Acting Deputy CIO and Director, Business Services Brad Eggers, Director, Infrastructure Services Eric Griffin, Director, Service Strategy and Governance LaChelle Johnson, Acting Chief Administrative Officer Marcus Simmons, Director, Customer Support Services Helen Walker, Chief information Security Officer and Director, Security and Governance
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
OCIO Mission2
Our MISSION • Provide advice and other assistance to the Peace Corps Director and senior management to ensure that IT is acquired, and information resources are managed in a manner that implements the policies, procedures and the priorities established by the Director. • Develop, maintain, and facilitate the implementation of sound and integrated enterprise architecture. • Develop, implement, and maintain an enterprise-wide IT and non-classified information security program. • Promote the effective, efficient, and compliant design and operation of all agency major information resources management processes, including improvements to work processes. • Monitor and evaluate the performance of all Peace Corps. information technology programs and systems.
Our Customers and Assets The OCIO provides global support across the entire Peace Corps, domestic, and international to include Headquarters, 64 Posts, and remote work locations.
Figure 1: OCIO Customers and Assets
2 Peace Corps Manual, MS 129 Office of the Chief Information Officer: Organization, Mission, and Functions
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Using Objectives and Key Results (OKR) to Drive Alignment and Success
Celebrating Breakthroughs, Inspiring PROGRESS The OCIO established concrete, tangible, and achievable objectives for FY 2023 utilizing the Objective and Key Results (OKR) methodology to support its strategic and tactical goals. The objectives effectively aligned IT to the agency strategic objectives as referenced in the Peace Corps Strategic Plan for FY 2022 -20263: Peace Corps Strategic Objective 1: Reimagine Service Peace Corps Strategic Objective 2: Advance Equity Peace Corps Strategic Objective 3: Deliver Quality The OCIO leadership is committed to fostering agency collaboration through the alignment of individual, team, and organizational goals. The OCIO prioritizes its projects to accomplish the agency’s strategic goals and objectives and to improve customer service to staff, volunteers, and agency stakeholders.
Figure 2: OCIO FY 23 OKRs
3 The Peace Corps’ Strategic Plan Fiscal Year 2022-2026, page 9
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
IT Portfolio Management – FY 2023 to FY 2024
Empowering Partners, Driving RESULTS OCIO Program Model4 The OCIO established six programs to organize work and better manage customer demand. Each program has a portfolio of products and services, each with a budget. Key successes and accomplishments will be highlighted by the program area.
Figure 3: OCIO Program Areas and Capabilities •
Business Operations and Knowledge Program: Represents agency stakeholders involved in supporting business operations and the knowledge necessary to operate and support the agency.
•
Volunteer Lifecycle Program: Represents agency stakeholders involved in the recruitment, placement, and support of Volunteers before, during and after service.
•
Cybersecurity Program: Represents agency stakeholders concerned with protecting the agency’s IT assets and mitigating risks associated
with systems the agency uses. •
Technology Services Program: Represents agency stakeholders who operate and maintain the agency’s IT systems.
•
Workplace Services Program: Represents agency stakeholders who identify business needs for common IT tools used in the office and the field.
•
IT Administration and Governance: Represents OCIO administration, strategy and governance process, and office support.
44 Peace Corps Enterprise Architecture, April 28, 2021, Mark Behuncik, Enterprise Architect, OCIO
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Technology Advisory Board (TAB) 5 The TAB is chartered to provide integrated executive direction and business-centered guidance for the agency’s IT portfolio. The TAB makes decisions on the agency’s IT portfolio by reviewing and evaluating investments and operations and maintenance (O&M) spending and ensuring IT portfolio decisions are consistent by utilizing the following IT Investment Ranking Criteria. Alignment with Strategy
Mission Impact
Readiness
Resource Availability
Risk Profile
Extent to which the demand aligns with agency goals and long-term strategy
Expected impact (scope and breadth) of underlying business process change
Estimated probability of benefits realization (consider technical complexity, cost accuracy, degree of organizational change required to realize value)
Consideration of program/product manager workload, level of experience with similar demands, and level of interdependencies with other demand
Expected impact (positive or negative) on agency operational compliance, financial, or other enterprise risk to the organization)
Figure 4: IT Investment Ranking Criteria
FY 2023 IT Investment Plan and Status The TAB met in August 2022 to discuss and vote on proposed agency-wide IT investment requests for FY 2023. The following chart represents the end of FY 2023 status. At the end of FY 2023, the OCIO executed 100% of the funding planned. Program Area Business Operations Cybersecurity IT Administration and Governance Technology Services Volunteer Lifecycle Workplace Services Total
Approved Investments 4,538,000 5,079,000
Q1 Awarded 0 365,328
Q2 Awarded 0 0
Q3 Awarded 569,602 1,546,003
Q4 Awarded 284,836 1,719,363
Program Area Total 854,438 3,630,694
311,000
0
310,810
0
0
310,810
4,920,000 730,000 1,040,000 16,618,000
38,919 0 0 404,247
0 140,000 0 450,810
3,702,376 28,856 177,131 6,023,968
4,597,039 238,405 658,524 7,498,166
8,338,334 407,261 835,655 14,377,191
Figure 5: FY23 Total IT Investment Plan and Status
5 Peace Corps Technology Advisory Board Charter, March 2022
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
FY 2024 IT Demand The TAB met in August 2023 to discuss the proposed agency-wide IT investment demand for FY 2024. During this time, the agency was under a continuing resolution at last year’s appropriation level. A definitive budget has not been finalized and uncertainty remains around the FY 2024 resources.
Program Area Business Operations Cybersecurity IT Administration and Governance Technology Services Volunteer Lifecycle Workplace Services Total
FY 2024 Investment 3,432,000 5,100,000 1,280,000 14,403,000 2,800,000 3,432,000 27,015,000
Future Annual Operating Expense 793,000 5,520,000 180,000 2,112,000 750,000 793,000 9,355,000
Figure 6: FY 2024 IT Demand
FY 2024 IT Demands by Prioritization The TAB prioritized the following FY 2024 Demands which is pending a definitive FY 2024 budget.
Recommend to Prioritize Business Operations OHR (USDH) – EmpowHR OHR (USDH) - PEEPS HR Lifecycle and Integrations Cybersecurity Tenable License Upgrade ZTA – Palo Alto Prisma Access SOC Recompete and Augmentation Technology Services COLO – NetApp Lifecycle Refresh IPv6 Dev/Test Hardware: Design, Architecture, and Training OCIO Oracle DB Migration PCV365-M365 for Volunteers Volunteer Lifecycle VIDA Site Management Grand Total
Investment Amount 1,540,000 790,000 750,000 3,900,000 100,000 1,300,000 2,500,000 4,010,000 2,300,000 610,000 600,000 500,000 600,000 600,000 10,050,000
Figure 7: FY 2024 IT Demands by Prioritization
The largest proposed investments were: •
Technology for data center refresh.
•
Integrate recruitment platform with talent acquisition platform.
•
Sustain cybersecurity momentum.
•
Modernized data storage architecture in conjunction to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) systems moving to cloud, and to better support future analytics projects.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
FY 2023 Key Successes and Accomplishments
Uniting Talents, Fueling INNOVATION The OCIO drove key successes and accomplishments that focused on securing the enterprise, driving business innovation, developing, and refining business strategies, and implementing new systems and architecture that affected all six program areas: Business Operations and Knowledge, Volunteer Lifecycle, Cybersecurity, Technology Services, Workplace Services, and IT Administration and Governance.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Program Area: Business Operations
Launch of Workspace In collaboration with the Director’s Office, the OCIO launched a brand-new intranet - Workspace. This new Workspace is the front door to the agency’s online resources. Working closely with all Peace Corps offices, the OCIO team was able to clean up and migrate information onto a new site resulting in a modern and collaborative experience for users. Microsoft 365 (M365) Teams Rollout To continue the efforts in providing a modern and collaborative experience for users, M365 Teams was implemented across the agency. The OCIO provided governance, training, and ongoing support to encourage the use of this dynamic tool by agency staff. Enterprise Data and Analytics Sharing Data Across the Agency through the Power Business Intelligence (BI) Platform In a joint effort to drive improved capacity to better leverage data assets for decisionmaking, the Office of the Strategic Information, Research, and Planning (OSIRP); the OCIO - Service Strategy and Governance (SSG), Infrastructure Services (IS), and Business Services (BS); the Volunteer Delivery System (VDS); and the Volunteer Recruitment and Selection (VRS); in partnership with the Enterprise Data Governance Council, launched the agency’s Microsoft Power BI Platform. The Power BI Platform enables the sharing of data across the entire agency by providing a common platform for data analytics and visualization. This allows data to be gathered from various systems and combined, vetted, and analyzed in a shared environment. Data analysts, report builders, and analytics for consumers can now view and consume the same vetted information and source of truth. Key Accomplishments: •
Implemented the initial governance of the Power BI Platform by defining the process for requesting data and the technical implementation of data sets, reports, and workspaces in the Power BI product.
•
Implemented Power BI workspaces to share data sets and reports across the entire agency.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
•
Worked with OSIRP to acquire Power BI Premium Capacity, the basis of the Power BI Platform, allowing Peace Corps end users to consume data reporting produced in Power BI without the need for additional licensing.
•
Hired a dedicated Enterprise Data Analyst to work in building data pipelines from agency data assets to the Power BI Premium Capacity workspace, improving data ETL (“extract, transform and load”), making building reports easier, and allowing for automated data refreshes for those reports.
•
New capabilities allowed OSIRP to begin transitioning their standard administrative data reporting related to Volunteer Service to Power BI.
•
New capabilities will pave the way for the agency to begin looking at fresh data more holistically, in areas such as the Volunteer Life Cycle (beginning with recruitment and selection, and gradually expanding the scope to cover more stages of the cycle).
•
OCIO is leveraging the new capabilities to: o
Disseminate Power BI dashboards that track OCIO operational performance metrics (IT Customer Support, Project Portfolio) to a greater audience.
o
Leverage more robust and dynamic data visualization capabilities in building new Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and OKR scorecards.
OCIO’s next steps are to expand OCIO performance measurement in Power BI to more OCIO functions, and automated refresh of reporting and scorecards. Peace Corps Enterprise Data Governance Council (EDGC) Working Groups OCIO staff served on several Peace Corps Enterprise Data Governance Council (EDGC) Working Groups and were instrumental through their subject-matter expertise and thought leadership in driving EDGC accomplishments: •
Development of the Peace Corps Policy
MS 326 Data Governance and Management which was passed by the Senior Policy Committee (SPC) and effective December 7, 2023. •
Development of Peace Corps-curated “LinkedIn Learning Paths for Data Analysis” to foster data literacy among agency staff.
•
Progress on building business glossaries and data cataloging capabilities.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Program Area: Volunteer Lifecycle
Data and Analytics through Shared Data Sets Across the Agency Centralizing the extraction of data from source systems, vetting the resulting data, and presenting the data for use in the Power BI tool reduces the risk of different offices presenting false or invalid data. •
In a joint effort with the OCIO SSG and VDS, established a process to extract Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) pipeline data from FY 2018 to the present from the DOVE system. This data is now accessible across the agency and provides data at both an application and applicant level, including major pipeline milestones as well as analytics such as duration between “Application Complete”, “Entry on Duty (EOD)”, and the average number of applicants that moved through the pipeline on a given day. This data can be used across the agency to build visualizations for different program office needs.
•
In a joint effort with the OCIO SSG and OSIRP, established a process to extract Volunteer information from the Peace Corps Volunteer Database Management System (PCVDBMS), including the Volunteer’s college of record for the current fiscal year. This data can be used across the agency to build visualizations for different office needs.
Connecting Volunteer Incidents to Post Sites In support of the agency’s priority to ensure Volunteer safety, the OCIO completed the effort to connect Volunteer incidents with Post sites within SIMS (used to track Volunteer incidents) and VIDA (used to track information about Volunteers including sites.). Linking this information between the two systems will provide better data about historical Volunteer incidents at Post sites. Pipeline for Recruits Peace Corps is now utilizing Handshake and LinkedIn Recruiter as two new recruiting resources to assist VRS with increasing Volunteer applicants. OCIO assisted VRS in procuring, securing, and implementing these two tools in support of finding innovative ways to reach more pools of qualified future Volunteers. This has resulted in an increase in the number of applicants.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Program Area: Cybersecurity
OCIO teams worked together to fulfill dozens of cybersecurity requirements mandated in the Presidential Executive Order 14028: Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. Per the August 15, 2023, Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor Memorandum, Peace Corps submitted its implementation status for meeting high-impact cybersecurity practices activities by end of calendar Year (CY) 2023. By end of FY 2023, OCIO was able to report that we met 100% of the implementation requirements for the Encryption Data at Rest (DAR), Encryption Data in Transit (DIT), and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR); and 98% for implementation of Multi Factor Authentication (MFA).
High-Impact Cyber Practice Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) Encryption – Data at Rest (DAR) Encryption – Data in Transit (DIT) Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
Expected Agency end of CY23 Implementation %
CY23 Achievement Target
98 percent 100 percent 100 percent
90 percent 90 percent 90 percent
100 percent
90 percent
•
OCIO actively deployed MFA to meet the Presidential Executive Order 14028: Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. The Executive Order mandates federal agencies to improve security for access to sensitive data and protected systems. To address the gap of MFA compliance for our Personnel Service Contractors (PSC), in FY 2022 and FY 2023, the Peace Corps invested in Federal Identity Credentialing and Access Management (FICAM), compliant commercial technology, and support services. This solution was successfully deployed to our PSCs with elevated/privileged accounts in FY 2022. The remaining standard user accounts received MFA tokens and were required to use the MFA tokens prior to December 2023. For the first time in agency history, the agency is 98% MFA enforced both domestic and international.
•
OCIO developed the Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) plan and initiated procurement actions for the required ZTA tools to meet the Presidential Executive Order 14028: Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. The Executive Order mandates federal agencies to implement a security framework that requires all users, whether in or outside the organization’s network, to be continuously authenticated, authorized, and validated before being granted access to network applications and data.
•
The Peace Corps has implemented several management, technical, and operational security controls to further reduce the cybersecurity risk for the agency. This includes improved network access controls, better endpoint security, and increased ability to respond and manage cybersecurity incidents.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
The Security and Governance team launched numerous activities to mature and secure the agency from cyber threats. Endpoint Detection Solution Platform At a primary level, the EDR agent records the activities and events taking place on endpoints (our workstations and servers) and provides our Security Operations Center (SOC) team with the visibility they need to uncover incidents that would otherwise remain invisible. Without EDR, the agency is vulnerable to any threats that manage to bypass our existing defenses which may lead to "silent failure" — the state of being breached without knowing it. By implementing and maturing the endpoint detection solution platform, we can now proactively and continuously search for threats, rather than passively waiting for detections. Urgent Incident Response (IR) Retainer An IR retainer was established to augment the SOC team with additional resources to improve the agency’s speed in responding to cyber incidents. Through this outsourced IR service provider and with a guaranteed Service Level Agreement (SLA), OCIO has access to on call experts to assist with responding to cyber incidents. Secure Information A new Tenable organization was created to provide a more accurate scanning framework. The previous Tenable configuration had been built on top of previous iterations. Creating this new organization provided an opportunity to develop new policies, credential groups, agent groups, and define scans. This new instance now allows for more accurate scans, resulting in a more accurate assessment of vulnerabilities that include: • Corrected/updated credentials in Tenable for accurate scans. • Instructed Information System Security Officers (ISSO) in creating and reviewing Tenable scans. • Shortened turnaround times for scanning requests.
Reporting of Incidents (Posts) The Post reporting of tickets to the SOC team is more efficient, effective, and complete. This improvement is a result of the training provided at the FY 2023 CIE Conference. Now tickets contain all the necessary forms and required elements (like Police Report and containment actions) when government furnished equipment (GFE) devices are lost or stolen. In addition, ticket reporting the Sanitization of Data provides the respective artifacts that confirm data at rest has been completely erased or destroyed. Updated Agency-Wide Security Policies and Procedures •
Updated CIO-SEC-REC-01, V 1.2 Information Security Program Requirements (policy) to codify Management commitment and update security requirements to current laws, regulations, and mandates.
•
Created CIO-SEC-PLN-09, V1.0 Data Loss Prevention policy that outlines the requirements for identifying and classifying sensitive data, implementing security controls and safeguards,
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
monitoring, and auditing data activity, and responding to data loss incidents. •
Updated CIO-SEC-PLN-06, V8.0 Vulnerability Management Plan to timelines for remediation of Critical, High, Moderate and Low that reflect the current Peace Corps threat environment.
•
Created CIO-SEC-PRC-16 Zero-Day Standard Operating Procedure to define the Zero-Day Standard Operating Procedure used to maintain the security for systems and applications using network resources.
•
•
Updated the Control Tailoring Workbook with Organizational Defined values and determined Common Control applicability between ISP and PCGSS. Created CIO-SEC-PRC-15 v1.0 Supply Chain Risk Management that provides the policies and security control implementation guidance for Peace Corps Supply Chain Risk Management Program for information systems.
Assessment and Authorization • Completed 10 full scope security assessments of OCIO’s Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) reportable systems resulting in an overall reduction of unknown risk across the enterprise and within 10 months of award of Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) contract. •
Validated 1,432 closed Plan of Action and Milestones (POAM) resolving numerous information security and privacy weaknesses and further reduced unknown Information systems’ risk by over 61% across the enterprise in the last 12 months.
Security Awareness and Training Conducted Cyber Workforce analysis to determine how well Peace Corps had utilized past Cyber Workforce assessment results and developed an action plan to loop the gaps identified.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Program Area: Technology Services
The Infrastructure Services (IS) team accomplished numerous projects in FY 2023. These include but are not limited to several server upgrades, network upgrades, new tools, and new applications. Major Software Upgrades The IS provided the agency with new features and enhancements, improved functionality, and greater efficiencies through the following software upgrades.
Major Hardware Upgrades The IS continued providing improvements to the agency with more storage, enhanced performance, and a better experience for our customers. Enterprise Disk Storage Completed enterprise disk storage upgrade (200TB).
Seamless File Transmission Completed setting up a new connection to ensure seamless file transmission to prevent any disruptions for the Chief Financial Officer and Travel Office operations.
The following projects were successfully implemented and provided global impact to the agency. Office 365 OneDrive for Domestic and International
System Services Re-Organization
This was an all OCIO collaborative, multi-year project that resulted in the full migration to OneDrive accomplished in FY 2023. As a result, all user U drives, both domestic and international, were migrated to Office 365 OneDrive. Currently, all agency user drives, office collaboration (MS Teams), and our email are completely in the M365 cloud.
Over a period of three to six months, this team was reorganized and is now back to full strength with all vacancies filled. The Systems Services Manager is on board full time and the Customer Support Services Deployment Team was merged with the Systems Services Team.
This project was accomplished seamlessly, with great communication, limited to no outages, and no data loss.
As an outcome of this reorganization, there have been positive and impactful results such as the reduction in outstanding and problematic vulnerabilities by 60-70%.
GRID NET 5.0 MFA Tokens GRID NET is the refresh of equipment at Posts. This was an all OCIO collaborative, multi-year, and multimillion-dollar project that now provides the Posts with the following: • • • •
Post network design change / UC upgrade with a new licensing model. Datacenter main firewall upgrade. Firewall upgrade. Guest Wi-Fi deployment.
This project included the planning, engineering, testing, procurement, configuration, piloting, and deployment of the latest technology. This project also improved network performance and architecture, performed network modernization with new technology, and enhanced network security.
In support of the requirement to meet the
Presidential Executive Order 14028: Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity to fully enable and enforce MFA across the agency, the IS Engineering Team found and tested what became the government approved and secure method for remote users to connect to agency resources. This was a collaborative project including support and technical expertise from the International Support Team, IT Specialists, and Regional IT Specialists. This intense project required new, cutting-edge technology that had to be learned, engineered, tested, and piloted. To support the worldwide management and distribution of thousands of MFA tokens sent to all our Post staff, new support servers and systems were set up to manage them. As a result, the team met their deliverable dates and timelines and the agency, for the first time in agency history, was at 98% MFA enforced both domestic and international.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
The IS provided the following key infrastructure support as it relates to security: •
Completed the encryption and authentication upgrade of the 2012 Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Infrastructure to the 2019 version.
•
Completed configuration of the Credential Management System which is used to automate YubiKey issuance, maintenance, and retirement.
•
Completed MFA enforcement of all elevated access accounts.
•
Completed the full implementation of Device Management- Endpoint Automation and Management application suite. o o
Currently capturing all agency electronic inventory. Met Zero Trust requirement for connected device management.
•
Implemented, configured, and deployed the agency’s Endpoint Detection and Response tool. This critical functionality meets the Executive Order on Zero Trust requirements under the device pillar.
•
The Mobility Team, with the assistance of Engineering, successfully implemented an enhanced security feature known as (Conditional Access) to block Outlook Mobile and other corporate resources on devices not managed by the agency or Bring Your Own Device program (BYOD).
•
The Windows Server Team has successfully implemented a new security automation tool called which will enhance the automation process of deactivating user accounts older than 32 days since the last login.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Program Area: Workplace Services
Satellite Phone (SAT) Business Process Revamp SAT phones are used by Posts to ensure communication is available in remote areas where local terrestrial communication infrastructures, such as landline and cellular networks, are not available. The business process to provide support to satellite phone access was revamped to accomplish: 1. Quicker response time for equipment repair/support. 2. Ensure devices are working in the event of an emergency. 3. Enable staff to get answers to questions. Key Accomplishments: • Completed worldwide inventory of all SAT phones in the field (approximately 425 phones at 60 Posts). • Required testing to find phones and Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards that were no longer working (10% of the SIMs were not working). • Replaced non-working phones and SIMs. • Moved process to Operations and support using Track-It!. • Established a resource center to provide training, troubleshooting, relevant user guides. • For more information, see the Resource Center: Satellite Phones (sharepoint.com)
Continuing IT Education (CIE) Conference OCIO hosted 26 Information Technology Specialists (ITS) and 16 IT Assistants (ITA) from 26 Posts across all 3 Peace Corps regions to participate in the CIE Conference held at Peace Corps Headquarters. The conference focused on learning and collaboration and was designed to strengthen OCIO support of our Posts and Volunteers. OCIO hosted an additional CIE Conference in Costa Rica for 11 Inter-Americas and the Pacific Region (IAP) Region ITS.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Domestic Support Services CIO Domestic Service Desk - Track-It! The Track-IT! is an IT help desk software that is used by the Peace Corps for helpdesk, ticketing, problem resolution, and knowledge management.
Figure 8: FY 2023 CIO Domestic Service Desk Ticket Summary
Key Accomplishments: • • • •
•
•
• •
• •
Closed nearly 90% of all Service Desk tickets. Reduced misrouted tickets by 95%, from an average of 40 plus tickets per week to only 3 tickets per week. Addressed more than 90% of old aged tickets (from 2021 and 2022). Track-it! (Re)adoption Initiative Project was initiated to engage all Track-it! stakeholders for collaboration on a proposed new ticket categorization schema that will improve reporting, dashboarding, and queue management across OCIO (and all other stakeholder groups). Collaborated with IS counterparts to identify process gaps with international ticket escalation workflows and improved upon response times and troubleshooting documentation within tickets. On boarded additional resources: o Track-IT! Administrator which stabilized the Track-IT! ticketing system backend functionality. o Ticket Workflow Manager which contributed to a significant reduction in past-due and misrouted tickets. Maintained 17 Service Level Agreement (SLA) Tier 1 and Tier 2 around responsiveness, customer satisfaction, closure, etc. Provided agency laptop support: o Ordered, tested, and prepared new DELL 5440s for deployment. o Procured, imaged, tested, and deployed twenty-two 7680 and 7650 Dell Precision high performance laptops for Office of Staff Learning and Development (OSLD) and OCIO. Completed Security's USAccess software/hardware migration project. Provided agency headquarters (HQ) support: o Improved/repaired conference room projectors, computers, handheld tablets, and other audio/video equipment. o Improved and updated user documentation for all HQ conference rooms. o Updated processes for digital signage in elevators.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
o o
• •
• •
•
Added presentation abilities to the Peace Corps Cafe. Provided event support and logistics for HQ and offsite events hosted by the PC and other government agencies. Participation and presentations during both Washington D.C. and Cost Rica CIEs, and the Regional ITS (RITS) conference in Morocco. Worked with Facilities to complete FY 2022 Inventory Campaign successfully. Updates to the Service Desk asset management process to allow for improved tracking of assets, procurement traceability within Trackit! and access control review/update for IT storage rooms. Provided on-call after hours support to very important person (VIP) users during their various temporary duty travel (TDY) which included Costa Rica, Vietnam, and other islands. Reconstructed and rebranded a Knowledge Base repository to add standardization and decrease knowledge gaps within OCIO. A knowledge management gap analysis was performed to gauge missing SOPs and those in need of update and implemented a project to complete all SOPs in FY 2024 Quarter 2. Collaborated with SSG to identify opportunities and improve execution for agency wide technical communications. This includes the streamlining of multiple SharePoint sites into a single site that incorporated OCIO Communications templates, brands, and style guides.
International Support Services International Support and Operations (ISO) Maturation Plan An International Support and Operations (ISO) Maturation Plan was developed to specifically address the growth and value of Regional Information Technology Specialist (RITS) at Posts. The RITS team growth and value activities aim to justify the need for additional RITS in each region and the enhancement measures being taken to strengthen the program’s value at Post. Key Accomplishments: • • • • • • • •
Creation and planned 2024 execution of a Post scorecard to gauge the complexity of supporting each Post using a comprehensive set of inputs ranging from technical to process standard. Aligned RITS and Post IT staff with ITIL ticket management best practices and queue ownership. Accomplished 70% Post adoption of RITS feedback in Post IT performance evals and ITS/IT Assistant (ITA) backfill/interview collaboration. Visited Posts (Cameroon and Indonesia) to gain experience and visibility to help drive improvements and become a strong leader for the team. Backfilled West Africa RITS position. Established relationships with the regional Chief Administrative Office (CAO) to aide in collaboration between Post and ISO support and requirements. Supported and provided inputs into the RITS-hosted PowerApps workshop model and future session topics. Matured RITS communication model with Post IT and Leadership to incorporate dedicated Teams channels and regular cadence of monthly Post/RITS meetings.
Specific actions were defined to increase the value the RITS provide in terms of promoting and executing OCIO’s strategic vision for IT support and collaboration at Post. The Post IT maturation activities are designed to enhance the skills and capabilities of IT Specialists and IT Assistants through focused learning and professional development initiatives aligned with RITS feedback into the annual ITS performance evaluation
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
cycle(s) and collaboration with Post leadership. Developed a draft Post support complexity scorecard to aide in load balancing Post support amongst the RITS team, justify increase of RITS staff and obtain inputs/metrics improve OCIO’s international support services. • 100% migration of international user mailboxes to the Cloud. • Conducted a RITS workshop (at Post Morocco) focused on continual improvement of the team’s technical capabilities, quality of services, and efficiency of remote technical support. • Continual revision and refinement of the ITS Handbook, New Country Entry budget and guidelines. • Created IT Security-related content appendices for the ITS Handbook. • Obtained 100% encryption compliance on international workstations. • Piloted Post printer baselining procedures. • Conducted a Power Apps and soft skills workshop for ITS/ITAs from 10 Africa Region Posts. • RITS visited 18 Posts. • RITS members attended the AF and IAP Director of Management and Operations (DMO) conference(s). • Starlink assessment is ongoing for potential use at Posts. • Created a DMO IT Continuity of Operations Plan (CooP).
Product Adoption and Training Strategy A hybrid CIE 2-year model was developed to incorporate the legacy CIE agenda and hands-on focused workshops (i.e., Power Apps, Customer Service training) to provide more value to attending ITS/ITAs to bring back to Posts for immediate use and their business processes. The Customer Support Services team provided guidance and leadership support for the new 2024/2025 CIE and IT workshop model which accounts for geographic hosting considerations to both decrease costs and increase productivity and training content with focus on Power Apps and other emerging technology/process to enable Post IT for success. Three CIE events held during FY 2023 provided the 76 attendees with 40 hours of live IT training on new and existing systems and platforms to include Microsoft 365, MFA tokens, and many others. The following chart highlights the frequency and successful participation of the product and adoption training provided to over 500 attendees through training held in person or virtually.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Month October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023
September 2023
October 2023
In Person or Virtual Events CIE in HQ DC 2022 Microsoft Training x8 Microsoft Training x8 Microsoft Training x8 Evolve 365 led Training x8 Evolve 365 led Training x8 MOP Squad Custom Training Evolve 365 led Training x8 Evolve 365 led Training x8 BHO Staff Custom Training MOP Squad Custom Training CIE in Costa Rica Evolve 365 led Training x8 Evolve 365 led Training x8 Mop Squad Custom Training Evolve 365 led Training x8 CIE in HQ DC Evolve 365 led Training x8 Custom 365 Apps Training for Director’s Office Power Apps Workshop in Mozambique Evolve 365 led Training x8 PEEPS Champions Kickoff Evolve 365 led Training x8 PEEPS Champions
Product Adoption Support Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365 and OneDrive Testing Microsoft 365, MFA Token, OneDrive Testing, Microsoft 365 PEEPS, Microsoft 365 PEEPS, Microsoft 365, OneDrive PEEPS, Microsoft 365, OneDrive PEEPS, Microsoft 365, MFA Token PEEPS, Microsoft 365, MFA Token
Adobe Sign, PEEPS, Microsoft 365
Adobe Sign, PEEPS, Microsoft 365
IT Administration and Governance
OCIO Administrative Services The following efforts contributed to the successful management and support to execute the FY 2023 IT investment and operating plan portfolio, and provide overall administrative support to the OCIO: •
• •
Committed 100% of the FY 2023 OCIO approved IT investments (Operations and Investment Plan Budgets) by the end of Quarter 4, FY 2023 - $48 Million (with only 1.8% sliding into FY24 for 3 actions). Executed 223 total contract actions, 48 of which were new investment awards or recompetes. OCIO represents 35% of the $131M acquisition dollars awarded in FY 2023.
These efforts required collaboration between the OCIO CORs/TPOCs/PMs, and SMEs and the ACM. In addition, the Administrative Services team: • Completed approximately 50 travel vouchers. • Approved over 20 training requests. • Made over 150 IT procurement purchases (purchase card). • Accounted for more than 3,000 physical IT assets as part of the annual inventory campaign. • Onboarded 12 new federal staff. • Onboarded several new contractor staff. • Sent over 50 shipments to Posts.
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Change Management for the Change Control Board (CCB): A New Tool – Change IT! The CCB provides coordinated and systematic review and control of all Peace Corps managed systems and devices as described in the Peace Corps Configuration Management Plan (CMP). In a joint effort with OCIO teams, SSG, IS, and Security, the Change IT! tool was built to replace the Change Request (CR) portal and back-end Change Management (CM) system. Using tools and technology already available to the agency, including the Power BI Platform and SharePoint Online, the team was able to build a simplified tool and management platform that allows CR Submitters and Administrators to track CRs from initial submission, through implementation, and to completion. • • • • • • •
Moved from IS to SSG/Enterprise Architect. Developed and deployed the new CM tool to replace the outdated and out-of-support tool. Created an OCIO_IT Change Management Teams channel. Moved the weekly CCB meeting to Teams (not Zoom). Moved documentation (Charters, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), Agendas, Meeting Notes, User/Administrative Guides, etc.) to Teams. Revised Charters and SOPs. Moved the Technical Review Board (TRB) to IS and revamped its goals to avoid duplication.
As a result of this effort, there is now a clear understanding of where a CR is in the process and who is working on the change in the environment. A tool like Change-IT! is important to the agency because it demonstrates the ability for powerful tools to be built inside of our environment without the need to request outside resources or contracts. It also validates that multiple offices and teams can work seamlessly together to produce a usable tool in an agile process. OCIO Acquisition Strategy • •
Created an Acquisition Strategy SOP with template and supplement “Other Acquisition Strategy Considerations.” Incorporated the Acquisition Strategy touch point into Phase II – Initiation of the Solutions Delivery Framework.
Council of Program Managers (PM) • •
Reimplemented the Council of PM’s monthly meetings. Created a Teams page for OCIO Council of PMs with document library. Page 26 of 30 2ndt EDITION (January 2024)
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
•
Solicited feedback via a survey from PMs to create effective and interesting future PM meetings. Suggestions are/will be incorporated into the planning of four Council of PM’s meetings.
OCIO Communications
Accomplishment Relaunched the OCIO newsletter, including design and format, and introduced “special edition” for the 25th issue. Created a tracker for content management, a submission form for content suggestions, and archive for past issues. Updated OCIO Comms site to include updated resources for OCIO staff (note this site is currently being updated to include streamlined comms procedures with CSS). Collaborated to create a YubiKey Resource Center on Workspace. Ongoing project to be updated as additional resources are created. Worked with Hosting Services to create a flexible comms plan for distributing information about YubiKeys to targeted groups. This project is still ongoing and currently involves approval from OGO before each comms can be sent. Collaborated to create a PEEPS
Value Share quick updates on the work of OCIO as well as events, IT resources, and other opportunities available for government employees.
• • •
•
Metrics 30 issues since launch 86 topics posted 21 content recommendations received from readers 19 tips received from readers
Site provides OCIO staff with information, templates, tools, and SOPs for effectively and efficiently disseminating Peace Corps IT communications. Site provides resources, FAQs, enrollment guides, and video tutorial for staff to access as they transition to using YubiKeys. Keep respective Post staff updated on information, deadlines, resources, etc. for transitioning to using YubiKeys and the YubiKey Portal to sign into VPN.
Sent to targeted distribution lists (ITS, RITS, Posts, etc.)
Site provides the why, what,
•
47 views Page 27 of 30 2ndt EDITION (January 2024)
FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Accomplishment Resource Center. Ongoing project to be updated as additional resources are created.
Worked with the Change Management team to create a flexible comms plan for distributing information to both PEEPS Champions and general users. Ongoing project that will involve partnering with other offices (HR, OSLD, etc.) to train and communicate resources as go-live date nears in 2024. Collaborated to create a guidance hub to house OCIO SOPs, workflows, and various documentations including software, technical, process and best practices.
Collaborated to create a FAQs site and submission form.
Value and who for transitioning from PTS to PEEPS HCM. Services a resource hub for PEEPS HCM and houses FAQs, meeting recordings, presentations, contact info, etc. Currently only shared with PEEPS Champions and will be shared with general users as go-live nears in 2024. Keep designated PEEPS Champions and staff updated on available resources, meeting invites, deadlines, trainings, etc. they can use to share with their staff to prepare for transitioning to using PEEPS HCM. Site serves as hub for staff to easily find relevant OCIO guidance in one location as opposed to searching through the Workspace and SharePoint sites. This site serves as a repository covering some of the most frequently asked questions about IT services, OCIO applications, and the Microsoft 365 platform.
•
Metrics Currently only targeting PEEPS Champions (staff in Post HR-designated roles and domestic HR liaisons)
Currently only targeting PEEPS Champions (staff in Post HR-designated roles and domestic HR liaisons)
29 questions and answers provided.
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FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
OCIO Portfolio Management Center of Excellence One of OCIO’s FY 2023 Objectives was for the OCIO team to become the Portfolio Management Center of Excellence within the Peace Corps. This was a very achievable goal given that many of the OCIO project, program, and portfolio managers are seasoned, experienced, trained, and in many cases, certified. To increase our team’s skills and capabilities, and to help accomplish our center of excellence in portfolio management within the Peace Corps goal, the OCIO management team required all project, program, and portfolio managers to take one of the Project Management tracks listed below or three relevant LinkedIn Learning courses from the full list of over 19,000 courses by September 1st, 2023. This training is free and readily accessible while teleworking. Project Management Tracks – Take One Track • • •
Project Management – Beginner (10 courses): Project Management - Beginner (linkedin.com) Project Management – Beginner/Intermediate (9 courses): Project Management Beginner/Intermediate (linkedin.com) Project Management – Intermediate (7 courses): Project Management - Intermediate (linkedin.com)
Or Full list of over 19,000 LinkedIn Learning project management related courses – Take Three: •
Project management: Online Courses, Training and Tutorials on LinkedIn Learning
By the end of FY 2023, 98% of OCIO project, program, and portfolio managers completed this requirement.
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FY 2023 Annual Review - Committed to the Possibilities
Our Path Forward
Gratitude, Collaboration, and Continued SUCCESS The entire OCIO, with the support of agency leadership, played a significant role in the FY 2023 accomplishments and made meaningful and impactful strides in improving the results of our core business. The OCIO leadership remains committed to continuing these efforts and working together as “One OCIO Team” in support of the Peace Corps mission. As the OCIO moves into FY 2024, continued efforts will be made to do the following: •
Continue improvements to the agency’s security posture and information security program.
•
Ensure the accessibility of information and communication technology (software, hardware, electronic content, support documentation, and services) through compliance with the Executive Order to Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal Workforce.
•
Expand the use of the tools provided on the Microsoft 365 platform.
•
Implementation of an information discovery tool that will assist the Office of General Counsel, Freedom of Information Action, and Records Management to search for documents across different platforms.
•
Continue improving data maturity and governance.
•
Migrate the agency’s financial system to the cloud.
•
Improvements to and migration of legacy data to the new learning management system.
•
Upgrade the agency’s asset management system.
•
Establish a Women in Information Technology group.
•
Continue implementing the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) process and framework to enhance our service management capabilities.
•
Provide access to key training opportunities for enhanced professional development: •
ITIL Training
•
Project Management Training
Page 30 of 30 2ndt EDITION (January 2024)