Immediate Review of Information Technology Projects

Federal information technology (IT) projects too often cost more than they should, take longer than necessary to deploy, and deliver solutions that do not meet our business needs. Pursuant to Office of Management and Budget Memorandum 10-25, "Reforming the Federal Government's Efforts to Manage Information Technology Projects," we are undertaking detailed reviews of the highest risk IT projects across the Federal Government to address these systemic problems.

In order to justify future funding for these projects, agencies will need to demonstrate that project risks can be reduced to acceptable levels through actions such as setting proper project scope, defining clear deliverables and mission-oriented outcomes, and putting in place a strong governance structure with explicit executive sponsorship. Projects which do not meet these criteria will not be continued. As part of the FY 2012 Budget formulation process, CIO Council agencies will be required to develop and put in place improvement plans for their highest-risk IT projects. Pursuant to that objective, agencies shall take the following steps:
1. Identify agency high-risk IT projects,
2. Develop improvement plans for these projects, and
3. Present improvement plans in TechStat sessions.