GAO: Management and Oversight of Information Technology Projects Need Attention

In testimony before the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, GAO reports progress implementing several initiatives aimed at improving oversight and transparency of federal IT investments, but as GAO previously reported and recommended, more attention needs to be placed on improving these initiatives. However, more needs to be done by both OMB and the agencies to address recommendations GAO has previously made, such as identifying and publicizing performance shortfalls on high-risk projects. Additionally, the future of the Management Watch List and high-risk list is uncertain because OMB officials stated that they have not decided if the agency plans to continue to use these lists. As another step aimed at increasing oversight of agencies' IT investments, OMB required agencies to provide investment justifications for major IT projects to demonstrate both to agency management and to OMB that the projects are well planned. However, GAO raised concerns about the accuracy and reliability of the information agencies used to comply with this requirement and recommended changes to the reporting process. In response, OMB required agencies to disclose weaknesses in their information. OMB also required the use of earned value management, an approach to project management that can provide insight into project status, warning of schedule delays and cost overruns, and unbiased estimates of total costs. However, GAO identified weaknesses in agencies' use of this management tool. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration was using earned value management to manage IT acquisition programs, but not all programs ensured that their earned value data were reliable. GAO made a number of recommendations to federal agencies to clarify and expand their earned value management policies and strengthen their oversight processes at the program level. Until agencies expand and enforce their earned value management policies, it will be difficult for them to optimize the effectiveness of this management tool.