Preparing for the next five years: checklist

In looking forward to 2011-2015, there are some things that most government IT shops should have done by now. Here's a list of some of those:

• Virtualized 90%+ of all server-based applications
• Created and implemented a social media policy
• Reduced physical server counts by upwards of 60-70%
• Implemented a cloud strategy and begun moving major applications and services to the cloud
• Developed a plan for supporting mobile platforms - smartphones and pad devices
• Planned to support virtual desktop environments
• Developed your first mobile apps and services, along with a mobile version of important websites
• Consolidated data centers with a strong business continuity plan that supports redundancy for all IT critical applications and services
• Have a well-established security structure and auditing process in place for online services and transaction-based applications
• Implemented a first or second phase plan for sharing data on the web (data.gov)
• Have a structure in place that is capable of implementing cross-agency, enterprise applications and services
• Shortened development cycles by 50% or more
• Have processes in place for monitoring and reporting IT performance on a regular basis
• Incorporated GIS as a critical part of your go-forward strategy

Right now, I'm still pondering some of the key initiatives that will drive the next five years. I'll try to post more on that soon.