Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel's priority list was a "welcome thing to hear, especially from a senior appointee in the Obama White House," said Alan Balutis, senior director for Cisco's Business Solutions Group, and a former chief information officer at the Commerce Department.

But the speech VanRoekel gave this week had too many priorities, Balutis said.

"If everything is important, nothing is important," Balutis said in an interview with In Depth with Francis Rose.

Balutis also noted the speech did not address what would happen to the 25-point IT plan by VanRoekel's predecessor, Vivek Kundra.

What was encouraging, though, was VanRoekel's emphasis that IT be incorporated into other areas, Balutis said. He said VanRoekel's message described technology as "an opportunity to enhance government productivity and transform the way it does business."