Architect of the Capitol: Status Report on Implementation of Management Review Recommendations

This recommendation builds upon our recommendation contained in our 2003 review (GAO-03-231) that AOC developed a comprehensive strategy to improve internal and external communications by providing opportunities for routine employee input and feedback. AOC held focus group sessions in September 2004 and has communicated planned actions to employees by issuing three brochures. According to AOC, it has begun to implement several of the planned actions and will continue to communicate with employees as each action plan is implemented. In addition, AOC has issued a focus group guide that outlines procedures for conducting focus groups and reporting on the results.

Our January 2004 report on the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) said that agency protocols would help create a basic understanding between AOC and its stakeholders about how AOC's efforts and resources can be targeted at the highest priorities, as well as transparency about how decisions and tradeoffs can be made and services deployed given the competing demands that confront AOC. We noted that the agency needs to discuss with its stakeholders how protocols will help AOC balance immediate customer needs with the achievement of overall agency strategic goals. Our report also stated that a pilot test of congressional protocols would provide AOC and its customers an opportunity to test the application of the protocols to the various types of customer needs that AOC confronts and to revise those protocols based on feedback obtained during the pilot. As such, we recommended that AOC conduct a pilot of its congressional protocols in one or more of its jurisdictions to determine how well its protocols would work in addressing customer requests for service, while balancing the need of multiple requests with the strategic plan and corresponding project priorities of the agency. As of February 2007, AOC has implemented our recommendation by choosing to pilot its congressional protocols agencywide to avoid potential confusion among jurisdictions operating under different protocols and to take advantage of the benefits of training all employees concurrently. AOC officials stated that AOC expects to receive feedback from its stakeholders during the protocol's implementation and will revise the protocols, as appropriate.

AOC has continued to plan for and implement those practices in our IT investment management guide associated with corporate, portfolio-based investment decision making. AOC has further developed criteria to select investments that best support the organization's strategic goals, objectives, and mission. The agency has begun to apply the criteria to ensure that the optimal IT investment portfolio is selected and funded. AOC has also implemented its IT investment program by developing a prioritized portfolio of investments and overseeing each investment to ensure that it achieves its cost, benefit, schedule, and risk expectations.

AOC has planned for and implemented the key practices in our architecture management guide associated with leveraging an EA for organizational transformation. Specifically, the agency has ensured that adequate resources are devoted to the program (funding, people, tools, and technology), developed a written policy for architecture development and maintenance; and measured and reported progress against architecture plans. The agency has also developed an architecture that describes both the "as is" and the "to be" environments in terms of performance. Additionally, in June 2010 the agency completed its enterprise architecture security view to describe its "as is" and "to be" security states. Regarding metrics, the agency has developed EA metrics and measures that are used to measure EA progress, quality, compliance, and return on investment.