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Former Windows Server Director now the U.S. Chief of Information Technology

By | August 4, 2011, 6:05am PDT

Summary: Steven VanRoekel’s first job at Microsoft was as a premier support and presales technical advisor. On August 4, he became the new U.S. technology officer.

Steven VanRoekel, a 15-year Microsoft veteran, has been appointed as the U.S. Chief of Information Technology.

VanRoekel is replacing Vivek Kundra, the first U.S. CIO, who announced plans in June to become a joint fellow at the Kennedy School and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard.

VanRoekel left Microsoft in 2009. At that time he was Senior Director of Windows Server. He also had served as a Director of Web Servvices; and a speech and strategy assistant to then CEO Bill Gates. His first job at Microsoft was as a premier support and presales technical advisor.

VanRoekel left Microsoft to become Managing Director of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In June of this year, he took a job with the U.S. Agency for International Development as Executive Director for Citizen and Organizational Engagement, according to his LinkedIn profile.

VanRoekel told the New York Times he intends to take up where Kundra left off, in terms of making the U.S. government more nimble in its approach to adopting technology. Kundra was a big advocate of cloud computing and stepping up the government’s cybersecurity programs.

VanRoekel is on Twitter, by the way. He is @stevenvDC.

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Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

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RE: Former Windows Server Director now the U.S. Chief of Information Technology
tomlin21-24319035676893835085146735905770 11th Oct
I know 1 factor new on 100 % various sites every last day. It definitely is routinely refreshing to review posts 2012 nfl jerseys of other bloggers and grasp some matter from them. Quite a few many thanks for sharing.
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Does this individual really have the right stuff for this job?
Dietrich T. Schmitz, Your Linux Advocate! 4th Aug
I tend to think not.
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@Dietrich T. Schmitz, Your Linux Advocate!
those from the Linux world fall short, otherwise they would have chosen someone with that background, right?

Of course you would say otherwise.
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That's the question we should be asking. Hopefully this czar nonsense will be gone after 2012 along with their master.
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Selft taught
SpikeyMike 4th Aug
@William Farrell
"His first job at Microsoft was as a premier support and presales technical advisor."

Let me spell this out for you - He's self-taught. Hardly a quality that screams 'Right Stuff'!
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Selft taught
SpikeyMike 4th Aug
@William Farrell
"His first job at Microsoft was as a premier support and presales technical advisor."

Let me spell this out for you - He's self-taught. Hardly a quality that screams 'Right Stuff'!
@SpikeyMike - what's he "self taught" in? The skills necessary to, first, rapidly ascend the ranks of Microsoft to achieve senior director position and spend time as BillG's chief strategy guy to then, second, become CEO of the FCC and now become CTO of the US Gov't?

Could you please point me at the Idiot's Guides that someone would need to learn from in order to achieve such a rapid ascent through one's career?

In FACT, Mr. VanRoekel is a very, VERY smart and capable guy with a wealth of experience and a very analytical mind. I'd rather have him as CIO than a career politician.
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SpikeyMike: Silly man....
adornoe@... 4th Aug
Look, when I first started in IT, I was mostly self-taught, with most of my training coming from books or for learning from code and from doing. I did take some courses, but, only after I had been in the field for a long time. My knowledge was superior to those that had just come out of college with their IT/CS degrees, and I was chosen to teach and sometimes "deprogram" those newbies that were going to be working for my organization, and I was chosen for that task in 3 different companies. As supervisor and manager and consultant, I'm pretty sure that, in whatever capacity I was selected to work under, I didn't encounter that many with college training that could do a superior job than me. It's only later, when I moved up in the ranks that I could say that I wasn't as capable as the new CS/IT college graduates, because, the technology had moved on and I wasn't doing the development work anymore.

As far as development and analysis, I'm pretty sure that I can still outshine those with formal training or college degrees.

The skills which I picked up on my own were enough to get several degrees from any accredited college/university, but I didn't need them.
@Dietrich T. Schmitz, Your Linux Advocate!
So you must know him well and worked with him extensively to make such an educated statement on his qualifications.

Here's your well deserved hug Dietrich T. Schmitz, Your Linux Advocate!
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Based on What criteria?
facebook@... 4th Aug
@Dietrich T. Schmitz, Your Linux Advocate!

What criteria are you using to justify your condemnation? He has experience in Government IT as well as experience in large scale enterprises. There are very few candidates with such an impressive resume. Comparing his linkedin profile to yours, you lack the right stuff to comment about his qualifications.
@facebook@... Infinite LIKE! happy
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to Microsoft I'd say he's fit for the job.

But if he's a Gung Ho MS or no way, then he's not qualified.
@itguy10 ... why? Because you say so?

Microsoft runs a majority of the world's systems, so I think he's a little late for the task of tying anyone to Microsoft.
@GoodThings2Life
No, MS does not run the majority of world's systems.
There seems to be the potential for conflict of interest. Let's say like appointing a GM guys to decide on fuel efficiency standards.
@kirovs
He needs some believe that all things are Microsoft. Its better to just say okay and at the same time roll your eyes.
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Yes they do.
WilErz 11th Aug
@ kirovs@...

According to analysts like IDC and Gartner, Windows is the overwhelmingly dominant OS in both the client (desktop/laptop) and server markets. Unix/Linux has managed to hang on in the web server niche, but that's an insignificant part of the broader server market.
One word: dammit. He has no background whatsoever applicable to good cyber security, (and that includes his involvement in WS-Security), which should have been the main selection criteria these days. This is going to tick off a lot of the government techies already not too thrilled with the Fed's already poorly considered and excessive reliance on Microsoft and its army of inept developers.
@JustCallMeBC ... Where's your proof or justification for your claim? At what time have you ever read a news article in which a government has faulted another government because they used a Microsoft product? Please. I do call you BC ... Beyond a Clue.
@GoodThings2Life I happen to know that agencies like DHS have had nothing but nightmarish security problems after going "all Microsoft." Microsoft has a long, well-deserved reputation for being weak, if not utterly useless when it comes to cyber-security. If you peruse the support websites like bleepingcomputer for what is recommended for preventing being hacked or infected, or -- and especially -- for what to do when you are infected, Microsoft is completely MIA in terms of a resource. If any company should know a thing or two about detecting and removing malware from Windows, it should be Microsoft, but.... there you go. As I pointed out earlier, Microsoft Security Essential is useless against fake AV's and a quick search on any updated info since I posted that indicates that while MSE may not be that horrible at detection, it is at removal compared to the likes of Avira's products.

And if Microsoft is so inept at protecting and helping to clean home and small business PC's, why would you expect anything different at the corporate and government level? A general rule of thumb is that the more a company or agency uses Microsoft products, the more likely they are not very techish, and hence likely to suffer hacks and infections. And over the past several years, as government agencies moved in the opposite direction of everyone else in becoming more Microsoft-centric, there is almost a direct corresponding rise in successful hacks and infections in those same agencies.

And as far as one US agency warning another US agency about using a Microsoft product, I seem to recall US-CERT issuing warnings about certain Microsoft products, including IE and certain Windows "features" like autorun, which was apparently responsible for that massive 2008 Pentagon breach.

I also happen to know that sensitive government workstations are never allowed to access the Internet, ever. If government agencies with essentially unlimited funds can't lock down their Windows workstations enough to trust them to go safely web surfing, what does that also say about Microsoft and security?

So do I get to call you GT2L -- Goofytime Tool?
@JustCallMeBC - where to even begin?

1) No Anti-malware solution is ever 100% accurate.

2) Microsoft actually has some great anti-malware technologies incorporated into Windows, IE, Office, Malicious Software Removal Tool, Security Essentials (for home and small businesses) and Forefront (for enterprises). MSE is a free product - if it doesn't do what you want, then go buy someone else's. Chances are, however, that like any anti-malware tool, that MSE will be able to remove "sticky" malware in due course once an effective and non-destructive cleansing process has been determined.

3) Many of the warnings that US-CERT and others have issued were from 2004 and referred to IE6. IE7+ are FAR more secure than prior versions and are generally very easy to deploy and manage in large enterprises.

4) I know some gov't (and some private) organizations who to this day refuse to allow internet connectivity to certain machines/networks. This isn't because they understand that by doing so, they reduce the risk of an entire class of attacks. Many of the machines connected to these networks, are in fact, UNIX and VMS boxes. They don't even trust LINUX to be installed because there's nobody's nuts to trap in a drawer if something goes wrong.

5) Please consider NOT posting when you are foaming at the mouth - it tends to result in your posts becoming increasingly unreadable.
@bitcrazed Ummm....:

1) Were any of my complaints about Microsoft's AV not being 100% accurate? No, which makes your first point rubbish. I only pointed out how poor their products are and very, very poor their support is, especially in the case of providing any resources (like malware removal tools) for people with infected PC's .

2) I had already pointed out that Security Essentials is utterly ineffectual in real world use against high tech malware like the fake AV's, especially when compared the like of Avira. Since Forefront uses the AV engine at Security Essentials, you can assume that it is just as ineffective. And in another post on this thread, I also even mentioned a Youtube video showing how laughably ineffective Security Essentials was in the case of a badly infected PC compared to a freshly downloaded and installed version of Avira. So there is no evidence whatsoever to support any of this being "Great." Take the "Malicious Software Removal Tool" -- back in October of last year, Microsoft supposedly (belatedly) added the ability to detect and remove the ZeuS/ZBOT trojan, but a test by the company Trusteer in November showed that it only detected 46% of the old variants of the bug and none of the new versions. Nothing very "great" about that either, most people would say, eh?

3) I mentioned US-CERT warnings about both IE and the Windows "Autorun" function. True that CERT's warnings about IE6 were from 2004, but the "Autorun" warning was from 2009, and after the Pentagon breach. And more recently, in January of last year after the Google attack, the *countries* of Germany and France warned against the use of *any* version of IE. And the Microsoft advisory regarding this said that the vulnerability affected IE6, IE7, and IE 8 on Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP, Server 2003, Server 2008 R2, as well as IE6 SP1 on Windows 2k SP4. Thems are a lot of browsers. Since the mid-90's, security experts have been warning how insecure AciveX is, and since the mid-90's, Microsoft has been blissfully ignoring those warnings despite a warehouse full of evidence showing those experts to be right. IE will never, ever be secure. (Something else not quite in the "great" category, wouldn't you say?)

4) Your "point" (I think) about Internet connectivity is badly worded, but it seems to support my contention that government agencies won't let sensitive computers -- primarily if not exclusively Windows based -- access the Internet. Your point about Linux is rubbish but underscores my earlier point about how the more a company or agency uses Microsoft products, the more likely they are not very techish.

5) Please wash out your mouth with something nice and foamy for posting such laughably dishonest comments.
@bitcrazed

And yet some Government agencies do use Linux.

The US Army uses Red Hat Linux. The US Air Force Research Laboratory's Software Protection Initiative (SPI) program, developed LPS Lightweight Portable Security. Homeland security is using BackTrack Linux.
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capitolIT Updated - 4th Aug
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I know VanRoekel wants to continue in Kundra's shoes, but the Cloud simply needs to be reevaluated. It makes sense in small pieces, but do policy makers really envision a world in which the NSA operates in a cloud? What about the Social Security Administration or FBI? We already face an abundance of cyber threats and now we want to put all our information up there in a cloud? There is a real lack of comprehension here about what federal agencies need and what the cloud can do, which will inevitably lead to confusion and wasted money.
@capitolIT - what makes you think that the NSA, CIA and FBI, etc., don't already operate their own clouds? You think the entire FBI/CIA/NSA infrastructure is locked in a vault deep underground and can only be accessed via multiple retina scanners & anal probes?

The cloud is nothing more than a collection of interconnected machines ... in fact, one could argue that it's actually no different to how the internet has always operated.
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capitolIT Updated - 4th Aug
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mole
normcf 4th Aug
I wonder if this is another "Stephen Elop" style infiltrator? Every decision this guy makes, which is supportive of Microsoft, will be suspect.
This discussion thread is amusing. Whether he is a MS or Linux bigot has nothing to do with reality. In my opinion, there is NO ONE who could fully qualify for the position of CIO of the US Federal Government. It is largely a puppet position. The majority of the fed's IT is in the agencies, so the CIO's roles is relegated to "oversight". To be truly successful in such a role, you would have to be a total super-negotiator, able to read and control people's thinking.

The only way to truly take gov't IT forward is to consolidate, standardize and virtualize the entire infrastructure. In other words, the CIO should be given authority to bring ALL agency IT infrastructure into a "shared services" agency (whether that is GAO or a new one), or two: one for all "secret" IT, and one for all other. Then, they have a chance.

What would be really interesting is to be a little birdy on the wall in his various interviews, to listen to what he was told about his objectives, expectations, and authority to do anything. I guess it will look good on his resume in 12-18 months when he gives up.
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Speaking of the U.S. of A...
Mr. Shmoopy 22nd Aug
How, can anyone speak of returning jobs to Americans, while they ignore, or worse, condone, the continued replacement of Americans, in American offices and worksites, with foreign nationals, at a ?clip of? hundreds of thousands (we are not told the exact number! more likely, all-told, closer to a million or more?) per year?! (not including out-of-status/illegal...)

There are real solutions, not lies masquerading as same, but few, will even speak of them, let alone...

H-1b, L-1s, OPT, J-1, B-1, lotteries, green-cards, and on and on, and on, and on, it is no longer enough to stand as a nation and compete with the world-at-large, but no, the world at large will be brought to you, so that you may compete with them in your own offices and worksites...

And you will be competing for suppressed wages, and even where qualified, will most likely be cleverly bypassed by the multi-national corporate slave owners, masquerading as U.S., sovereign entities...

We won?t even talk about national security!

In a sane world, visas such as H-1b, (also referred to, incorrectly, as H1b?) L-1, etc., (We can keep the O-1, which was meant for true genius) would be suspended. Millions of our better paying jobs would be instantly made available, in America, for Americans.

Over two (2) decades of alphabet-soup visas like H-1b, etc., have decimated the tech sector, and are impacting other U.S. based jobs, such as, nursing, teaching, etc.

The rabbit hole is deep, and wide spread? I cannot possibly explain just how treasonous these suicidal policies are, and keep this comment brief.

We should also revoke some or all green-cards. Again, a massive number of American jobs would be returned to Americans.

And then there is the issue of sending our jobs offshore, often implemented by those brought to our country on visa, or those having become a green-card holder, who then coordinate the shipping of entire departments, knowledge-bases out of our country, ultimately, entire industries.

Then for the low to medium wage jobs, we can look at the wide-open borders, and the traitors that advocate a nation without enforcement of its own borders, its laws, and disinterest in its own sovereign best-interest, survival.

And yes, it is Americans who have facilitated this betrayal of Americans, by corporations, supported by a sold-out government and press.

Constantly having your leg peed-on, and being told that it is raining, is the insult-to-injury!

The instigators, their apparatchik, the collaborators, the enemy-within, the useful-idiots, are ?p*ssing? on our nation?s workforce, and cheap labor, political-correctness, are their weapons of choice.?
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RE: Former Windows Server Director now the U.S. Chief of Information Technology
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 9th Oct
Your world wide web web site is basically advantageous! How can I make one such as mulberry alexa this?
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RE: Former Windows Server Director now the U.S. Chief of Information Technology
tomlin21-24319035676893835085146735905770 11th Oct
I know 1 factor new on 100 % various sites every last day. It definitely is routinely refreshing to review posts 2012 nfl jerseys of other bloggers and grasp some matter from them. Quite a few many thanks for sharing.

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