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GAO: US agencies need to better track IT investments

15.02.2006
U.S. federal agencies didn't adequately account for spending on major IT projects last year, putting millions of dollars at risk, according to a report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

In the report, the GAO said it reviewed the business cases, called Exhibit 300s, for 29 projects at five federal agencies that had more than US$1 billion in IT expenditures in fiscal 2006. It's aim was to determine if those agencies complied with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements for project management and reporting processes. Agencies submit the Exhibit 300s to the OMB when they make major IT budget requests. The five agencies were the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Transportation and Treasury.

The GAO found that the agencies failed to perform analyses and provide documentation to support decisions on major IT investments. Officials from those agencies attributed the shortcomings in support to lack of understanding of a requirement or how to respond to it, according to the report.

Each year, agencies submit a capital asset plan and business case to the OMB to justify each request for a major IT investment. The information in the plan should reflect controls that agencies have established to ensure good project management, as well as show that they have defined cost, schedule and performance goals, the GAO said. The information is used by the OMB and the agencies to identify and correct poorly planned or performing investments, according to the report. "The weaknesses in the 39 Exhibit 300s raise questions regarding the sufficiency of the business cases for these major [IT] investments and the quality of the projects' management," the GAO said. "Without adequate support in key areas, OMB and agency executives may be depending on unreliable information to make critical decisions on IT projects, thus putting millions of dollars at risk."

In the 2006 budget, nearly 25 percent, or US$15 billion, of the approximately $65 billion requested for major IT projects was considered at risk by the OMB, the GAO found.

In addition, the GAO said these weaknesses and their causes are consistent with problems in project and investment management that are also pervasive in other government agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security.