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David Hollis |
It All Adds Up
David Hollis
February 2009
Although he's an accountant by training, David Hollis' interest in how organizations work goes beyond balance sheets. As he puts it, "Over time, I found that I liked installing computer systems and teaching others how to use them."
Hollis is a principal information systems engineer in MITRE's Internal Revenue Service/Veterans Affairs federally funded research and development center. More than two years into his MITRE tenure, he has helped shape the company's efforts in two important areas—first for our Civilian Agencies mission, and now for our Public Revenue and Finance mission area. Along the way, Hollis has worked with organizations that don't always grab headlines, but do affect everyday life in many ways. Among other things, they ensure that the food we eat is safe and the personal information we submit for federal housing loans is protected from hackers or identity thieves.
"The work these agencies do might seem mundane to some, but if you boil it down to how they affect people, they really make a difference," Hollis says.
MITRE is mobilizing to help these agencies carry out expanding missions more efficiently and effectively. These efforts have led to several success stories. For instance, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was honored for its information security improvements with a rating of A+ in the annual Federal Information Security Management Act ratings in 2006.
In the middle of that project and many others you'll find Hollis, whose nuts-and-bolts knowledge of large-scale systems modernization gives his colleagues an inside view of complex organizations and a better understanding of how to make their ideas work.
"David is a joy to work with," says John Geraghty, a project leader in the Public Revenue and Finance mission area. "He's very analytical, creative, energetic, and thorough. He brings a passion for financial management and the inner workings of agencies. Working with him as part of a team, we've been able to produce some interesting new viewpoints within MITRE, and that has helped us come up with better service for our customers."
Common Ground for Uncommon Missions
After graduating from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., Hollis started a career that included stops at several for-profit companies. He also gained exposure to how federal civilian agencies work. During those years, Hollis picked up an insight that he's applied to his work at MITRE: "The problems that each of the agencies in that marketplace have are fairly common. You can help them solve their problems with similar solutions and extend that to other agencies as well."
Since joining MITRE in September 2006, Hollis has devoted himself to helping colleagues better understand the government's needs and pool their resources to meet them. A major step towards that was the Civilian Agencies Showcase, held last year in McLean, Va. MITRE employees working on 24 different projects for federal civilian agencies described for some 200 co-workers what they were doing, how it helped their customers, and how their work plans might be used for other projects. Hollis says the event increased awareness within the company of what civilian agencies do. Many of those who attended came away with ideas they took to their own customers.
Similarly, he has brought speakers to MITRE to discuss other challenges on the civilian side. In May 2007, he arranged for two members of the 9/11 Commission—Dan Marcus, the 9/11 commission's general counsel, and Chris Kojm, its deputy executive director—to discuss the project management challenges they faced in pulling a group together to carry out a sensitive task. Recalls Hollis: "We didn't have to prompt them to get them to describe their operations in a way that we would recognize. That was the big 'a-hah.' No matter what the topic is, you still have these fundamental problems of management to work through."
Moving to the Public Revenue and Finance mission area, Hollis and Geraghty have joined forces to enhance business planning for agencies like the IRS and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Much of that work is focused on finding ways to reduce improper payments and ensure adequate financial controls in case of a Katrina-like emergency. Hollis is leading another effort—which he hopes will be taken up across MITRE—to offer OMB insights on challenges the new Obama administration will face. This initiative includes white papers on topics related to MITRE's capabilities, such as enterprise systems engineering, electronic medical records, information security, and privacy.
A Cook in the Garden
When he's not at MITRE, Hollis hones his green thumb working in his English garden. He also spends a lot of time in the kitchen. Hollis catered his first dinner party at age 11 and learned to cook by reading the works of Julia Child, which may account for his fondness for French cooking. He also frequently serves Italian dishes.
Cooking and gardening may seem a world apart from systems engineering, but Hollis says there are key similarities: "The importance of proper technique, preparation, and, frankly, experience. You need all those things to be an effective gardener or cook—or engineer."
—by Russell Woolard
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