Better Managing IT to Achieve Benefits and Control Costs

A major challenge for the federal government is managing its massive investment in information technology (IT)—currently more than $70 billion annually.

• GAO's reports have repeatedly shown that agencies and the government as a whole face challenges in effectively planning and managing their IT investments.
• To help ensure that investments of public resources are justified and that public resources are wisely invested, OMB had been using a Management Watch List as part of the budget cycle to help oversee the justification for and planning of agencies' IT investments. Projects were put on the list if a detailed review of their business cases by OMB identified weaknesses.
• To improve project oversight, OMB had been requiring agencies to identify high-risk IT projects (i.e., projects requiring attention from oversight authorities and the highest level of agency management based on criteria specified by OMB). Agencies were also required to submit quarterly reports on those high-risk projects experiencing performance shortfalls: That is, if they (1) had unclear cost, schedule, and performance goals; (2) had cost and schedule variances exceeding 10 percent; (3) did not have a qualified project manager; or (4) were duplicative of other projects.
• As of July 2008, OMB and federal agencies had identified approximately 413 IT projects—totaling at least $25.2 billion in expenditures for fiscal year 2008—as being poorly planned, poorly performing, or both.
• In June 2009, OMB publicly deployed a "dashboard," which is a Web-site clearinghouse of information that provides details on all major federal IT investments and provides OMB and others with the ability to track the progress of these investments over time.

^ Back to topWhat Needs to Be Done

OMB had taken steps to improve the identification and oversight of major IT investments. However, more needs to be done by the agency to fully address recommendations GAO has previously made. Specifically, OMB needs to

• continue to prioritize the projects needing follow-up action and to keep reporting to Congress on management areas needing attention;
• identify the deficiencies (i.e., performance shortfalls) associated with the high-risk projects, so that OMB and others can better analyze the reasons projects are performing poorly, take corrective actions, and track these projects on a governmentwide basis.

^ Back to topKey Reports

Information Technology

Information Technology

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