IT Leadership: Recognizing IT Innovators in the
Public Sector
Each quarter, we recognize IT leaders from federal government, state and local government, K–12, and higher education. These
innovators helped to transform service delivery or reduce costs by adopting advanced networking, data center, collaboration, and
mobility technologies.
Rick Mahlie, Navy and Marine Corps Command Centers Integrated Products Team (IPT) Lead
for SPAWAR: Cut Government Costs through Innovative IT Contracting
Accountable for more than $100 million in federal government funding, Rick Mahlie is responsible for procuring, designing,
deploying, and maintaining the advanced IT systems that equip Navy and Marine warfighters with C4ISR (Command, Control,
Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) capabilities critical to mission success and national
security.
A former Navy submarine force weapons systems technician, Mahlie has made it his mission to save the government as much
money as possible. The countless hours he spends researching procurements have led him to understand which contracting
partnerships will provide the best products and services at the lowest cost. Mahlie volunteers for some of the most complex
projects both because he has the technical expertise and he knows he can save the government at least 20 percent on essential
project equipment and technology. Part of his approach is to execute work through multiple-award contracts.
Currently, Mahlie is leading an initiative to overhaul the Sixth Fleet Command’s IT infrastructure. As part of the project, he
designed and deployed a cutting-edge power system essential to the command’s mission-critical IT network connectivity. This
power system eliminates the need for electrical engineers to be onsite each time the command adds new equipment to the
racks, and will save the government millions of dollars on future upgrades, reconfiguration, and labor costs on an existing $18
million project.
Jim Peterson, Chief Technology Officer for IlliniCloud: Helped Schools Use Funds for
Learning—Not Infrastructure
With hundreds of school districts in the state, why does each district need its own data center when they’re all required to deliver
the same services and learning applications? Answering its own question, the state of Illinois created IlliniCloud, which provides
infrastructure (servers, storage, and networking) as a service to public school districts.
Jim Peterson, chief technology officer of IlliniCloud, oversaw the effort to build the community cloud for the state’s school
system. So far, more than 200 of the state’s 860 districts have signed up to use IlliniCloud for disaster recovery, infrastructure,
or software, including online lecture sharing and data analysis programs. These districts stand to reduce IT spending by 30 to 50
percent, easing the impact of budget reductions.
“IlliniCloud has been a model for sustainability and cost savings,” Peterson says. “As a result of our success, we are looking to
expand service offerings into higher education institutions and state and local governments.”
IT Leadership: Recognizing IT Innovators in the
Public Sector
Mark Evans and Rob Dickson, Andover Public Schools: Found Innovative Alternative to $1
Million Data Center Upgrade
Andover Public Schools (Unified School District 385), in Kansas, serves 5300 elementary, middle, and high school students and
also offers an online learning program for students across the state. After sustained growth, the data center had run out of space
and power for more servers and storage. Building a larger facility would cost $1 million, which the district could not afford.
Superintendent Mark Evans and IT director Rob Dickson decided to approach the challenge from a different angle. Rather than
building a larger facility, why not shrink the infrastructure? They realized their vision by consolidating the district’s standalone
servers and storage onto Vblock™ Systems, which are compact units of infrastructure with integrated compute, storage, and
networking.
Evan’s and Dickson’s innovation is paying dividends each month in the form of lower power and cooling costs. The modern
infrastructure also freed up teachers and administrators to introduce innovative new applications for learning and campus safety
without worrying about finding space. The latest project: adding high-definition video surveillance to the district’s elementary and
middle schools. “We didn’t even have to blink as to whether we had enough resources to complete the task,” Dickson says.
Chris Boniforti, Chief Information Officer for Lynn University: Gave New Life to Network
Designed for Presidential Debate
In November 2011, Lynn University of Boca Raton, Florida, received the welcome news that it had been selected to host a
presidential debate. As part of the agreement, the university would need to quickly build an isolated, secure network environment
to carry voice, video, and data during the event.
Chris Boniforti, the university’s chief information officer, realized that the project could jump-start the university’s plans to
introduce mobile learning and to build an IT infrastructure for its new business school. “All of our diverse technical requirements,
for both the debate and the university, could be met under one umbrella, with one vendor,” Boniforti says. He directed Cisco to
come up with a design that would satisfy the requirements of both the debate organizers and the university. Elements included
advanced wired and wireless networks, a data center platform, and unified communications system.
On the day of the debate, the technology worked flawlessly for the press and throngs of other visitors. Just three months
later, Boniforti and Cisco had replicated the same technology on campus. The first beneficiaries are members of the incoming
freshman class of 2013, who will use customized iPads to access learning applications in residence halls, classrooms, and off
campus.
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