Information Technology: OMB Can Make More Effective Use of Its Investment Reviews
GAO-05-276
Published: Apr 15, 2005. Publicly Released: Apr 21, 2005.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
For the President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2005, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stated that of the nearly 1,200 major information technology (IT) projects in the budget, it had placed approximately half--621 projects, representing about $22 billion--on a Management Watch List, composed of mission-critical projects with identified weaknesses. GAO was asked to describe and assess OMB's processes for (1) placing projects on its Management Watch List and (2) following up on corrective actions established for projects on the list.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Management and Budget | In order for OMB to take advantage of the potential benefits of using the Management Watch List as a tool for analyzing and following up on IT investments on a governmentwide basis, the Director of OMB should develop a central list of projects and their deficiencies. |
Closed – Implemented
In September 2006, OMB started publicly releasing aggregate data on its Management Watch List, followed by quarterly updates, but did not publish the specific reasons why projects were placed on the Management Watch List. Subsequently, in April 2008, OMB began to publicly disclose the projects' deficiencies; that is, the reasons for inclusion on the Management Watch List.
|
| Office of Management and Budget | In order for OMB to take advantage of the potential benefits of using the Management Watch List as a tool for analyzing and following up on IT investments on a governmentwide basis, the Director of OMB should use the list as the basis for selecting projects for follow-up and for tracking follow-up activities. To guide follow-up, the Director of OMB should develop specific criteria for prioritizing the IT projects included on the list, taking into consideration such factors as the relative potential financial and program benefits of these IT projects, as well as potential risks. |
Closed – Implemented
As a result of this and other recommendations to OMB for improving its oversight and transparency of IT investments, in June 2009, OMB publicly deployed a dashboard that provides details on all major federal information technology investments and provides it (and others) with the ability to track the progress of these investments over time. The detailed information collected could allow for prioritizing IT projects to guide follow-up activities.
|
| Office of Management and Budget | In order for OMB to take advantage of the potential benefits of using the Management Watch List as a tool for analyzing and following up on IT investments on a governmentwide basis, the Director of OMB should analyze the prioritized list to develop governmentwide and agency assessments of the progress and risks of IT investments, identifying opportunities for continued improvement. |
Closed – Implemented
In April 2008, OMB issued governmentwide and agency assessments of the projects on the Management Watch List, identifying risks and opportunities for improvement, including risk management and security.
|
| Office of Management and Budget | In order for OMB to take advantage of the potential benefits of using the Management Watch List as a tool for analyzing and following up on IT investments on a governmentwide basis, the Director of OMB should report to the Congress on progress made in addressing risks of major IT investments and management areas needing attention. |
Closed – Implemented
In July 2008, OMB reported its updated govermnentwide and agency assessments of the projects on the Management Watch List to Congress. These assessments showed agenices' progress in addressing risk since the initial April 2008 assessments and also highlighted areas still needing management attention.
|
Full Report
Office of Public Affairs
Topics
Budget administrationBudget controllabilityE-governmentFederal fundsFinancial managementInformation technologyInternal controlsInvestmentsPolicy evaluationPresidential budgetsCorrective action