Defense IRM: Investments at Risk for DOD Computer Centers
AIMD-97-39
Published: Apr 04, 1997. Publicly Released: Apr 04, 1997.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed: (1) the Department of Defense's (DOD) plans to consolidate, outsource, and modernize its computer center operations; and (2) whether DOD has an effective framework in place for making and executing these decisions. GAO did not validate the accuracy of the information provided by DOD on the numbers and costs of computer centers, the alternative analyses, funding plans, and processing capacities.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | The Secretary of Defense should direct the Department's CIO to develop an integrated, departmentwide plan for improving the cost operations of its computer centers. |
DOD officials stated that they do not believe an integrated plan is needed because it has already consolidated so many computer centers.
|
| Department of Defense | Until this plan is approved by the Secretary, the Secretary of Defense should limit any capital investments in the Department computer centers to investments that meet critical technology needs to operate the DOD computer centers. DOD's CIO should certify that these investments comply with departmentwide goals and technical standards. |
DOD's draft response indicates continued nonconcurrence with this recommendation. DOD officials stated that they do not believe GAO's findings warranted limiting capital investments until the plan was completed.
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| Office of the Assistant Secretary for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence | As a basis for this plan, and for future decisions concerning consolidation, modernization and outsourcing of computer centers, DOD's CIO should develop policies and related procedures that address what constitutes an optimum computer center in terms of processing capacity and staff numbers and skills. |
DOD incorporated this recommendation into its policies and procedures on April 6, 2001, when the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum to the senior DOD leadership institutionalizing DOD CIO Guidance and Policy Memorandum (G&PM) No. 11-8450, DOD Global Information Grid Computing. Further, the Defense Management Council established a performance contract with the DOD computing center for FY2001-2005. This contract includes performance metrics.
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| Office of the Assistant Secretary for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence | As a basis for this plan, and for future decisions concerning consolidation, modernization and outsourcing of computer centers, DOD's CIO should develop policies and related procedures that address how many computer centers are needed. |
DOD incorporated this recommendation into its policies and procedures on April 6, 2001, when the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum to the senior DOD leadership institutionalizing DOD CIO Guidance and Policy Memorandum (G&PM) No. 11-8450, DOD Global Information Grid Computing. Further, the Defense Management Council established a performance contract with the DOD computing center for FY2001-2005. This contract includes performance metrics.
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| Office of the Assistant Secretary for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence | As a basis for this plan, and for future decisions concerning consolidation, modernization and outsourcing of computer centers, DOD's CIO should develop policies and related procedures that address which of its computer center operations are inherently governmental and/or require component-unique centers solutions, and thus cannot be consolidated or outsourced. |
DOD incorporated this recommendation into its policies and procedures on April 6, 2001, when the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum to the senior DOD leadership institutionalizing DOD CIO Guidance and Policy Memorandum (G&PM) No. 11-8450, DOD Global Information Grid Computing. Further, the Defense Management Council established a performance contract with the DOD computing center for FY2001-2005. This contract includes performance metrics.
|
| Office of the Assistant Secretary for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence | As a basis for this plan, and for future decisions concerning consolidation, modernization and outsourcing of computer centers, DOD's CIO should develop policies and related procedures that address how DOD should compare its computer center services with those of other public-sector and private-sector services in terms of cost, speed, productivity, and quality of outputs and outcomes. |
DOD incorporated this recommendation into its policies and procedures on April 6, 2001, when the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum to the senior DOD leadership institutionalizing DOD CIO Guidance and Policy Memorandum (G&PM) No. 11-8450, DOD Global Information Grid Computing. Further, the Defense Management Council established a performance contract with the DOD computing center for FY2001-2005. This contract includes performance metrics.
|
| Office of the Assistant Secretary for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence | As a basis for this plan, and for future decisions concerning consolidation, modernization and outsourcing of computer centers, DOD's CIO should develop policies and related procedures that address which cost and performance goals are relevant for comparing departmentwide alternatives. |
DOD incorporated this recommendation into its policies and procedures on April 6, 2001, when the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum to the senior DOD leadership institutionalizing DOD CIO Guidance and Policy Memorandum (G&PM) No. 11-8450, DOD Global Information Grid Computing. Further, the Defense Management Council established a performance contract with the DOD computing center for FY2001-2005. This contract includes performance metrics.
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| Office of the Assistant Secretary for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence | DOD's CIO should establish or incorporate within its existing processes, as practical, the necessary oversight to ensure that the above recommended departmentwide plan and future computer center consolidation, modernization, and outsourcing decisions: (1) are being developed in accordance with the above policies and procedures; (2) are based on a sound analysis of alternatives; and (3) consider the goals and needs of the entire department. |
DOD incorporated this recommendation into its policies and procedures on April 6, 2001, when the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum to the senior DOD leadership institutionalizing DOD CIO Guidance and Policy Memorandum (G&PM) No. 11-8450, DOD Global Information Grid Computing. Further, the Defense Management Council established a performance contract with the DOD computing center for FY2001-2005. This contract includes performance metrics.
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| Office of Management and Budget | The Director, OMB, should clarify its Bulletin, particularly in regard to mid-tier consolidation criteria and its intent to have an integrated DOD submission. |
OMB issued a letter to DOD in September 1997 that supplemented and clarified guidance on OMB Bulletin 96-02. However, OMB did not clarify its position in regard to mid-tier consolidation criteria and OMB officials told GAO that they believe the criteria are sufficient.
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| Office of Management and Budget | The Director, OMB, should require DOD to replace its prior multiple submissions in response to this new guidance with an integrated departmentwide submission that contains a departmentwide inventory of computer centers, a departmentwide consolidation strategy, and a departmentwide implementation plan. |
On September 29, 1997, OMB issued a letter to DOD requiring a consolidated submission, its strategy, and plans as recommended by GAO. On December 24, 1997, DOD provided to OMB its initial information and plans to provide updated information every six months.
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