Huber s staff makes sure that the computers and telephones work, pens and pencils are available, trash is picked up, the vending machines are stocked and paychecks arrive on time. Essentially, GSA set up a new company with a staff of 540. This is what GSA is all about, Reath says. This is the kind of thing we do every day. But the agency s employees consider the transition duty special.
Technology makes providing the service easier and cheaper.
M.A. Skip Gerdes Jr., the transition team s telecommunications group leader, says the telephone system that used to take 10 employees to install and maintain now takes just two. What we used to do with an old bunch of telephones and hard wires, we can now do with a keystroke, he says. But all the technology in the world can t guarantee the administration is going to get off to a running start. Ultimately, it all comes down to who s going to be appointed to what post in the Cabinet, Light says. The key decisions aren t made by computers.