The Office of Management and Budget needs to take a bigger role in helping agencies develop more accurate estimates or baselines for the cost and schedule plans of their information technology projects, the Government Accountability Office said.
Agencies have re-baselined or changed estimates for 48 percent of all major IT projects without sufficient OMB guidance, said David Powner, GAO’s director of IT management issues. He testified at a hearing July 31 of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security Subcommittee.
Baselines assist agencies in tracking if their projects are progressing according to plan despite potential risks, he noted.
“Re-baselining reports raise the question whether we’re getting an accurate picture of performance. It should not be used to mask schedule and cost overruns,” Powner said.
The Senate panel produced a report card of IT project performance by agency that said half the major agencies failed at planning and implementing their IT investments in fiscal 2008. Those agencies oversee $57 billion in IT investments, said Sen. Tom Carper, (D-Del.), the subcommittee's chairman. The $57 billion represents 81 percent of the fiscal 2009 IT budget request, while 19 percent or $13 billion worth of IT investments received a passing grade. The findings were based on information the subcommittee received in March, Carper said
Powner and Carper advocated seeking more transparency and public disclosure of agency shortfalls.
“I don’t think you can fix shortfalls without fully disclosing all your problems. We highlight the high-risk projects to fix the shortfall,” Powner said. Half of projects are re-baselined and half of those multiple times, and none of the projects are performing at the threshold that OMB’s President’s Management Agenda requires, he said.
Carper said part of Congress’ oversight role when agencies don’t perform adequately is to embarrass by having them testify at hearings . “Sometimes people need a swift kick in the pants,” he said.
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