**GAO-08-951**                      Published: Sep 22, 2008. Publicly Released: Sep 22, 2008.                  

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## Highlights

In 2008, the Department of Treasury (Treasury) plans to spend approximately $3 billion on information technology (IT) investments--the third largest planned IT expenditure among civilian agencies. To more effectively manage such investments, in 2005 the Office of Management and Budget required agencies to use earned value management (EVM). EVM is a project management approach that, if implemented appropriately, provides objective reports of project status, produces early warning signs of impending schedule delays and cost overruns, and provides unbiased estimates of a program's total costs. GAO was asked to assess whether the department and its key component agencies (1) have the policies in place to effectively implement EVM and (2) are adequately using EVM techniques to manage critical system investments. GAO compared agency policies to best practices identified in the Cost Assessment Guide and reviewed the implementation of key EVM practices for several investments.

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## Topics

Information Technology

Best practicesCost analysisData collectionData integrityEarned value management systemsInformation technologyInternal controlsIT acquisitionsManagement information systemsMission critical systemsPerformance measuresPolicy evaluationProgram managementStandardsSystems evaluationSystems integrationSystems managementWork measurementProgram costsProgram implementation