"We are not in a position today to be able to leverage those technologies in a way that we need to and that we want to going forward," Takai said. "Bringing new technologies in more quickly is one of our highest priorities."

The Defense Department's IT operations are "very stovepipe, legacy systems," said Deniece Peterson, an analyst at Input.

Takai's call for standardization is a goal the government has been heading toward but "progress has been limited on a broad scale," Peterson said and she she expects Takai to increase focus on this issue.

The DOD also plans to consolidate its 772 data centers, a move the all its agencies to do, but Takai said planning is in its initial stages and she couldn't say what the consolidation goal will be.

Regarding ever-present problem of , Takai said that "the kinds of threats and challenges that we're facing are growing exponentially."