**Integrated IT Governance (IGP) Q&A**

1.  **Why is it necessary to capture cost at the system level rather
    than the investment level?**

> Capturing cost information at the system level discloses the total
> cost of ownership for USDA systems and provides the level of detail
> needed to determine if the requisite planning has been completed to
> support the requested budget.
>
> The need for system level cost detail is especially important when an
> investment comprises multiple systems, which is fairly common in
> USDA.  A case in point is the current array of Grants Management
> systems across the portfolio.  There are six back-office grants
> management systems embedded in five different investments.  As USDA
> moves forward with its \"to be\" environment, the costs associated
> with each of the six systems is a key factor in weighing alternatives
> and defining actual costs and the advantages of potential \"to be\"
> alternatives.

2.  **Why is it necessary to use the 155 detailed lifecycle cost
    categories (LCC) rather than the 19 LCCs used previously?**

> The detailed LCC categories are critical to USDA efforts in several
> areas. First, it permits USDA to understand the amounts that agencies
> plan to spend on products and services and identify opportunities to
> leverage shared approaches to reduce costs. Second, it identifies the
> costs for mitigating any system-level security weaknesses. Finally, it
> supports the amounts requested in the agency's budget submission at a
> level of detail that is consistent with good project planning.

3.  **Do I have to fill out all 155 LCC categories for every system?**

> No. We estimate that only 10 to 15 cost categories will be used at any
> one time for most USDA systems. Furthermore, most of USDA\'s
> investments and systems operate in the steady state investment
> management phase, which should make the use of detailed LCC categories
> more straightforward since known operations and maintenance costs
> recur from year to year. Additionally, you will record cost
> information only when it becomes known to you, or when you are
> beginning a new life cycle cost phase; for example when moving from
> the planning phase to the acquisition phase.

4.  **How were the 155 detailed LCC categories established?**

> The detailed LCC categories were developed jointly between OCFO and
> OCIO.  They represent the union of data requirements supporting OCFO
> and OCIO responsibilities to oversee and report USDA IT investment
> portfolio activity.  Many, but not all, detailed LCC categories will
> become new budget object classification codes in the department's
> financial management/ accounting system. This joint effort should
> substantially reduce the number and complexity of separate data calls
> related to IT budget and cost information.

5.  **Why was a spreadsheet used to capture this information?**

> At the beginning of the year, plans were made to for system level
> information to be captured directly in WorkLenz. The upgrade to
> WorkLenz 5.1 delayed these plans. The spreadsheet is a short-term
> solution and its functionality will eventually be incorporated into
> the capital planning tool. Once this upgrade is completed, existing
> LCC spreadsheet data can be imported into WorkLenz.

6.  **Why is there duplication of effort between completing the LCCs
    spreadsheet and Worklenz?**

> Duplication of effort is minimal. The investment level worksheets are
> automatically populated with the data entered in the system level
> worksheets providing the roll-up summary of information to be entered
> into WorkLenz. Portfolio Managers will then use the 19 Exhibit 300 LCC
> categories in the investment worksheet to transfer data to the
> corresponding Worklenz Investment.

7.  **Why are we collecting this additional level of detail now?**

> USDA is implementing significant changes to the overall IT management
> process this year to further integrate capital planning processes with
> enterprise architecture, project execution, and portfolio management
> functions. This effort front-loads the process by performing
> qualitative analyses of agency investments during the annual planning
> phase rather than at the time of execution (IT acquisition approval).
> This will streamline the execution process for most of the investments
> in the USDA portfolio.

8.  **How has this change been communicated?**

> OCIO began meeting with agency leadership in Q1 to describe the
> changes planned for the FY 2009 capital planning cycle. OCIO met with
> all agencies except one. A concept of operations and planning guide
> for the Integrated IT Governance Process were distributed to agency
> CIOs in Q2 and OCIO briefed the Sub Cabinet on the planned changes at
> the Q2 E-Board meeting. The information has also been communicated to
> agency staff at two portfolio managers meetings and at the April
> eGovernment Working Group meeting.

9.  **How is this information expected to benefit the agencies?**

> There are several expected benefits to the agencies from this
> initiative:

-   Address senior executive ongoing concerns about IT costs and
    efficiencies;

-   Cost savings through contract consolidation and economies of scale;

-   Cost avoidance through leveraging and re-use of common tools and
    services;

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-   Increased operating efficiencies through greater standardization and
    use of enterprise services;

-   Improve security by ensuring that security-related costs are
    included in budget requests; and

-   Better justify agency budget requests when they are reviewed by
    OBPA.

10. **We are getting a lot of data calls recently. Can some of this
    information be reused to reduce the number of data calls?**

> OCIO has made a good-faith effort to help reduce the number of data
> calls by coordinating with the other USDA Offices whenever possible.
> However, 1) we occasionally receive data calls from OMB that require
> "echo" data calls since we do not collect the OMB-requested
> information as a normal part of our activities and 2) if the
> information provided in response to a given data call is considered to
> be low quality, there is resistance to reusing that information to
> pre-populate a subsequent data call.

11. **Will the information collected as part of IGP be shared with the
    agencies?**

> Agency investment information will be shared across agencies to the
> degree that pre-decisional budget information restrictions are not
> violated. Cross-agency visibility into functional requirements and
> system development or use plans is one of the key benefits of this
> effort. More information about the method for sharing the information
> will be provided later.

12. **What are the implications of not submitting this information
    within the defined timeline?**

> The budget process has been accelerated this year to accommodate a
> revised budget submission timeline. Initial budget decisions will be
> made by the Deputy Secretary in June. The required IT investment
> information from the IGP will serve as the basis for the CIO's
> budgetary recommendations to the Deputy Secretary. Incomplete or
> non-compliant submissions may adversely impact the CIO's support for
> agency's budgetary request.

13. **What is the IGP?**

> The integrated IT governance process (IGP) is "\...the set of
> responsibilities and practices exercised by senior management of the
> enterprise designed to establish and communicate strategic direction,
> ensure realization of goals and objectives, mitigate risk, and verify
> that assigned resources are used in an effective and efficient manner.
> " \-\-- IT Governance Institute (ITGI), 2003

14. **Why is the IGP important?**

> IGP is important for multiple reasons. First, research shows that
> organizations that have good IT governance perform at a level of
> productivity up to 20% higher than other organizations following the
> same strategies but without good IT governance. The IGP has the
> potential to increase significantly the productivity gains that
> agencies and the department expect from our IT investments. These
> include identifying innovative new ways to deliver our services to
> citizens, identifying and implementing cost savings by combining
> similar initiatives across the department, and by ensuring that our IT
> infrastructure is reliable, consistent, and efficient. Second, both
> the President and Congress are requiring us---because it is our
> responsibility to manage our public resources effectively---to be
> accountable and vigilant in our IT selection, planning, and
> implementation. The IGP allows us to respond effectively to these
> requirements by providing Agency heads, CFOs and CIOs line of sight on
> their IT investments from selection through return on the investment.

15. **What are the goals of the IGP?**

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1.  Transparent and timely decisions

2.  Leverage cross agency opportunities for improved citizen services
    and cost savings

3.  Increase information security and stakeholder privacy

4.  High fiscal accountability; budget request supported by project
    planning

5.  Implement a consistent USDA IT infrastructure

6.  Measurable returns from our IT investments

7.  Compliance with federal and presidential mandates

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16. **IGP is about making good decisions. As a key IT decision-maker at
    USDA, will I have a voice in these decision-making processes?**

> The IGP as currently defined identifies the decision-points and the
> decision-makers throughout the IGP process. Several of the
> decision-making groups are already in place --- the e-Board meets
> quarterly to review investment information, the ECCB has been meeting
> monthly since January, 2007, and the Enterprise Architecture Working
> Group is being re-established and started monthly meetings in April
> 2007. IGP itself has been the subject of discussion across multiple
> internal working groups. There are several forums for your voice to be
> heard both within your agency and the Department. Keep in mind that
> the IGP process is still relatively new. As issues surface they will
> be addressed as part of the IGP's continuous improvement process.
>
> As part of the evolution of the IGP, these roles and others are being
> documented in an IGP Roles and Responsibilities document that agencies
> will be asked to review prior to its full implementation.

17. **It seems like the IGP will require us to do a lot of extra work.
    It seems at times like we can barely get done what we've had to do
    in the past. How can USDA expect that we will have the person-power
    to get these extra requirements completed?**

> We have applied the IGP data collection requirements to several
> projects and have found that the burden of providing the additional
> information is not excessive. Clearly, it will take a bit more time
> the first time through to comprehend the new requirements. We expect
> there may be some missteps and some corrections that will have to be
> made as a result of this initial implementation. But our test
> experiences indicate that, if your project is well-planned, converting
> the information that you already have in some form in your planning
> materials into the form required by the IGP should take a reasonable
> amount of time once you understand the requirements. And the next time
> through the planning process, this will take significantly less time,
> since only updates to what you have already entered is required.

18. **Explain the significance of the LCCs for the IGP?**

> The system level LCCs will also support analysis on how systems that
> support a common focus might be re-aligned under a new or existing
> investment. Over time, this would result in investments where systems
> and/or service are organized to a line of business perspective. A good
> example of this is Grants Management, where there are six back office
> systems in five different investments. It makes sense to put these
> systems into a single Grants Management investment to better track our
> collective progress in migrating from the "as is" to the "to be"
> environment.

19. **Data entry into a worksheet versus WorkLenz allows for possibility
    of errors in entry and possibly "broken formulas", what safeguards
    are in place to minimize errors?**

> []{.mark}
>
> LCC spreadsheets were set up with protected cells. Protection was
> enabled with a password. The password was provided to portfolio
> managers with guidance that unused rows may be hidden but rows and
> columns should never be deleted.

20. **Will the LCCs be considered the main data collection tool for
    budget information for majors and non-majors? What about BSDs and
    other budgetary forms? Will those still be required?**

> The information provided in the LCC worksheet is a critical part of
> the IT review process. The previously-required budget supplemental
> data (BSDs) are not required for the FY09 budget preparation cycle.
> The BSD material has been replaced with the LCC worksheet and the
> Non-major Assessment spreadsheet.

21. **Will LCCs be accessible through WorkLenz? If not, where will
    current versions of submitted LCCs be stored and how can it be
    accessed?**

> The LCCs will not be accessible through WorkLenz in the short-term. We
> are reviewing options for storing the information and making it
> accessible to agencies.