DorobekINSIDER: Reorg at GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service; O’Hare to retire

Just before the end of the year, a significant reorganization coming to GSA’s acquisition leadership.

Ed O’Hare, Assistant Commissioner for the Integrated Technology Services (ITS) portfolio, who took the post in March 2009, will retire effective January 15, 2011, according to a memo by Steve Kempf , the commission of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service sent to employees today. Mary Davie, presently the Assistant Commissioner of FAS’ Office of Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS), will serve as the ITS portfolio’s next leader effective January 16, 2011.  ITS oversees some of the government’s biggest and most important contracts including the GSA schedule contracts, GSA’s governmentwide telecommunications contracts such as Networx , and GSA’s governmentwide acquisition vehicles , including the just announced Alliant.

Joe Jeu, Assistant Commissioner for FAS’ General Supplies and Services (GSS) portfolio, has accepted an opportunity to continue his career at another federal agency, effective January 2, 2011.

Kempf stressed that the Federal Acquisition Services has a deep bench of executives with extensive experience. Therefore, as part of those changes:

* As I mentioned, Mary Davie, presently the Assistant Commissioner of FAS’ Office of Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS), will serve as the ITS portfolio’s next leader effective January 16, 2011.
* Bill Sisk, presently the FAS Southeast Sunbelt Region Commissioner, has agreed to act as the GSS Assistant Commissioner effective January 2, 2011.
* Michael Gelber, presently the FAS Northwest Arctic Region Commissioner, will become the new FAS Pacific Rim Commissioner effective January 16, 2011.

The following people will act in these positions during the upcoming transition period:

* Tim Fleming, presently AAS’ Deputy Assistant Commissioner, will be the Acting Assistant Commissioner for AAS.
* Kelley Holcombe, FAS Deputy Regional Commissioner, will serve as the Acting FAS Southeast Sunbelt Region Commissioner.
* James Hamilton, the Northwest Arctic Region’s Director for Customer Accounts and Research, will serve as the Acting FAS Commissioner in Region 10.

House passes CR through 12.21; Senate still debating

From Federal News Radio’s Jason Miller:

The House passed a continuing resolution to keep the government open three more days—until Dec. 21.

The House passed the bill by voice vote today.

Congress passed a CR earlier this month to keep the government open through Dec. 18.
The Senate hoped to pass an omnibus appropriations bill, but Major Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pulled the bill Friday. Reid said Thursday that he would work out a short-term CR with the Republicans, but as of 6 p.m. Friday no deal had been worked out yet, according to a Senate Appropriations Committee spokesman.

The Senate must pass a CR by midnight on Sunday to avoid a government shutdown.

Senate Republicans are calling for a longer-term CR through mid-February. The White House earlier this week said it supported a year-long CR keeping funding at 2010 levels.

The Hill reports:

Democrats had hoped to pass a much broader spending bill to fund the government through fiscal year 2011. But faced with a lack of Republican support, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) scrapped that $1.1 trillion bill Thursday in favor of a shorter-term fix, keeping spending at current levels.

Earlier on the DorobekINSIDER: POLITICO report Shira Toeplitz with analysis of why the omnibus spending bill failed.

DorobekINSIDER: NextGov’s new editor: Katherine McIntire Peters

A number of new — and returning — people to the government IT press.

Government Executive’s tech site, NextGov, has a new editor: Katherine McIntire Peters.

The DorobekINSIDER told you last month that Allan Holmes, who helped create NextGov, was leaving to join Bloomberg’s BGov. That led to a search for a replacement.

Government Executive editor in chief Tom Shoop today announced that GovExec veteran Katherine McIntire Peters will be taking that post. NextGov is also adding Charlie Clark as a senior correspondent. Clark has been everywhere from National Journal to the Post to CQ. He’ll work across Government Executive and Nextgov.

It comes as the 1105 Government Information Group has tapped veterans for some key spots. Earlier this year, David Rapp, who had served as the 1105 Government Information Group editorial director and editor of FCW, also joined Bloomberg’s BGov. And Wyatt Kash, the long time editor of Government Computer News, was shifted to focus on events such as FOSE. 1105 Government Information Group president Anne Armstrong recently named Paul McCloskey as the editor of Government Computer News and John S. Monroe as the editor of Federal Computer Week. McCloskey and Monroe are veterans of the government IT market — and FCW.

Below, you can read Shoop’s note to staff about Peters and Clark…

All:

I’m very pleased to announce that we have a new editor for Nextgov, and even more pleased to report that while we searched far and wide, ultimately we found her right within our walls.

Katherine Peters has agreed to take the reins at Nextgov, effective at the beginning of 2011. As many of you know, Katherine has been with us for 15 years, and is our senior correspondent covering Defense Department management issues and federal agencies’ use and oversight of energy. She has been pinch-hitting as an editor since October, and during that time, under her leadership and that of our other experienced editors, Nextgov has continued to lead the way in breaking major federal IT stories and providing insightful analysis. Just as important, Katherine has immediately gained the respect and admiration of the staff. That’s no surprise, because she has excelled at every challenge we’ve put in front of her for all these years, and is quite simply one of the most talented writers and editors in the business today. Before joining us, she gained experience as an associate editor at Army Times and as a writer and technical editor at both IDC Washington and EDS. We’re fortunate she’s eager to take on this new challenge, and I have every confidence she’ll take Nextgov to new heights.

Luckily, we won’t have to wait to find a replacement for Katherine as senior correspondent. That position will be filled by Charlie Clark, who has been working with us on a temporary basis for the past couple of months. Charlie brings a wealth of experience to the job, having previously worked as a managing editor at National Journal, an editorial writer and copy editor at the Washington Post, a staff writer at Congressional Quarterly, and editor of Tax Notes Today at Tax Analysts. He’ll be doing a mix of editing and writing across a variety of subjects.

As Katherine and Charlie get settled in their new roles, we’ll continue to look for another talented journalist to fill the staff correspondent slot we still have open.

Please join me in congratulating Katherine and welcoming Charlie to the team.

Tom

DorobekINSIDER: Microsoft Federal’s Carlson to join Amazon

In one of the biggest moves in government IT in years, Teresa Carlson, who has led Microsoft Federal for the past several years, is leaving the software giant to lead Amazon.com’s burgeoning cloud computing business.

Amazon officials were not available to confirm, but Carlson has told told friends that she will start on Dec. 13. Microsoft officials said that no replacement has been named.

Carlson is one of the preeminent leaders in the business of government community. She has been at Microsoft since 2002, and for the past several years, she has served as the vice president of Microsoft Federal.

The move is a tectonic shift for the cloud computing environment — and for Amazon.com. Amazon has already been a significant player in government — Recovery.gov runs on the Amazon cloud platform. But Amazon has largely lacked a “face” to the market.

But it also is a significant development for the cloud computing environment, scoring one of the most respected government IT executives for the relatively new computing platform.

And… the move leaves Microsoft Federal with a big shoes to fill.

Carlson’s biography as posted on the Microsoft Web site:

Teresa Carlson
Vice President US Federal Government
Microsoft Corporation

Teresa Carlson is the Vice President at Microsoft Corporation responsible for US Federal Government. In this role, she defines the strategy and oversees the execution of sales, contracting, pre-sales technical support, product marketing, customer satisfaction, and performance of the US Federal Government business worldwide.

Teresa joined Microsoft in 2002 as part of the US Federal Group to start up and manage the new Business Productivity unit. In this role, she led a team focused on delivering customer business value through a portfolio of business scenarios. Promoted from there to lead the US Federal Solutions Unit, she created a comprehensive solutions framework that was introduced into the US Federal marketplace. Teresa was also responsible for the US Federal partner channel that consists of more than 2500 Microsoft partners. In July 2005 she became the US Director of Strategy and Operations for Microsoft Federal where she developed new concepts, methods, and strategies for working in the US Federal market. And in 2006 she became the General Manager of the US Federal Civilian Agencies and International Global Organizations (IGO’s) business unit, managing a $600M+ business unit.

Prior to joining Microsoft Teresa was the World Wide Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Lexign Incorporated, formerly Keyfile Corporation, a software company focused on secure, end-to-end business transactions using XML and other technologies. Upon acquisition of three separate companies by Lexign, Teresa was responsible for the overall strategy of the integration and world-wide launch of the newly merged company.
Before moving into the information technology arena, Teresa spent 15 years in the health care field, as a practitioner and consultant initially, then as a business manager and area vice-president, responsible for national accounts, marketing, and business development. During this time, she led customers through numerous transformations, including Joint Commission certifications and significant payment system changes.

Teresa is a native of Kentucky, and currently loves living in Maryland with her husband, a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point and her youngest son. Her oldest son is now also at West Point. The three men in her life help make it exciting and keep her priorities straight. She has an undergraduate and Masters of Science degree in Communications and Speech and Language Pathology from Western Kentucky University. She holds a variety of certificates and is an advocate for children.

Teresa has received many awards for her industry and civic contributions to the Washington D.C. Community. These include the Federal Computer Week’s Fed 100 Award, and The Bisnow on Business’ Federal IT Power 50 for 2009. Her deep commitment to bettering her community and her passion for her Federal customers has led her to numerous leadership engagements including service on the Boards of: AFCEA Bethesda Chapter, AFFIRM, American Red Cross Capital Chapter, TIE-DC and NPower.