INFORMATION 

TECHNOLOGY REFORM

Progress Made; More 

Needs to Be Done to 

Complete Actions and 

Measure Results

Statement of David A. Powner, Director 

Information Technology Management Issues

Testimony 

Before the Subcommittee on Federal Financial 

Management, Government Information, Federal 

Services and International Security, Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United 

States Senate

For Release on Delivery 

Expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT

Thursday, May 24, 2012

GAO-12-745T

United States Government Accountability Office

GAO
 

Page 1 GAO-12-745T 

Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Brown, and Members of the 

Subcommittee:

I am pleased to be here today to discuss the progress the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and key federal agencies have made on 

selected action items associated with information technology (IT) reform. 

While investments in IT have the potential to improve lives and 

organizations, some federally funded IT projects can—and have—

become risky, costly, unproductive mistakes. With at least $79 billion 

spent in fiscal year 2011 by the U.S. government on IT investments, it is 

important to ensure the most efficient and effective use of resources.

In December 2010, the Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) released a 

25-point plan for reforming federal IT management. This document 

established an ambitious plan for achieving operational efficiencies and 

effectively managing large-scale IT programs. It also clearly identified 

actions to be completed in three different time frames: (1) within 6 months 

(by June 2011), (2) between 6 and 12 months (by December 2011), and 

(3) between 12 and 18 months (by June 2012).

You asked us to testify on our report being released today that describes 

the progress OMB and key federal agencies have made on selected 

action items in the IT Reform Plan and the extent to which sound 

measures are in place to evaluate the success of the initiative.1

 

1

GAO, Information Technology Reform: Progress Made; More Needs to Be Done to 

Complete Actions and Measure Results, 

In this 

regard, my testimony specifically covers the progress made on 10 

selected IT Reform Plan action items by OMB; the General Services 

Administration (GSA); and the Departments of Homeland Security, 

Justice, and Veterans Affairs. In preparing this testimony, we relied on our 

report being released at today’s hearing. In that report, we evaluated 

progress by selecting 10 action items from the IT Reform Plan, focusing 

on action items that (1) were expected to be completed by December 

2011, (2) covered multiple different topic areas, and (3) were considered 

by internal and OMB subject matter experts to be the more important 

items. We also selected three federal agencies (the Departments of 

Homeland Security, Justice, and Veterans Affairs) based on several 

factors, including high levels of IT spending and large numbers of 

investments in fiscal year 2011. We then evaluated the steps OMB and 

GAO-12-461 (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 26, 2012).

 
 

Page 2 GAO-12-745T 

the selected federal agencies had taken to implement the selected action 

items from the IT Reform Plan. In cases where the action was behind 

schedule, we compared plans for addressing the schedule shortfalls to 

sound project planning practices. We also determined whether and how 

agencies were tracking performance measures associated with these 

action items, and compared these measures to best practices in IT 

performance management. In addition, we interviewed OMB and selected 

agency officials regarding progress, plans, and measures.

All work on which this testimony is based was performed from August 

2011 to April 2012 in accordance with generally accepted government 

auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the 

audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable 

basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We 

believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objective.

IT can enrich people’s lives and improve organizational performance. 

However, as we have described in numerous reports and testimonies, 

federal IT projects too frequently incur cost overruns and schedule 

slippages while contributing little to mission-related outcomes. Further, 

while IT should enable government to better serve the American people, 

the federal government has not achieved expected productivity 

improvements—despite spending more than $600 billion on IT over the 

past decade.

Over the last two decades, Congress has enacted several laws to assist 

agencies and the federal government in managing IT investments. Key 

laws include the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,2 the Clinger-Cohen 

Act of 1996,3 and the E-Government Act of 2002.4

 

2

44 U.S.C. § 3501 et seq.

Also, the GPRA 

(Government Performance and Results Act) Modernization Act of 2010 

includes IT management as a priority goal for improving the federal 

3

40 U.S.C. § 11101 et seq.

4

The E-Government Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-347 (Dec. 17, 2002).

Background 
 

Page 3 GAO-12-745T 

government.5

As set out in these laws, OMB is to play a key role in helping federal 

agencies manage their investments by working with them to better plan, 

justify, and determine how much they need to spend on projects and how 

to manage approved projects. Within OMB, the Office of E-government 

and Information Technology, headed by the Federal CIO, directs the 

policy and strategic planning of federal IT investments and is responsible 

for oversight of federal technology spending.

Each of these laws delineates roles and responsibilities for 

OMB and agencies regarding information technology and its 

management.

Agency CIOs are also expected to have a key role in IT management. 

Federal law, specifically the Clinger-Cohen Act, has defined the role of

the CIO as the focal point for IT management, requiring agency heads to 

designate CIOs to lead reforms that would help control system 

development risks; better manage technology spending; and achieve real, 

measurable improvements in agency performance.

In addition, the CIO Council—comprised of CIOs and Deputy CIOs of 28 

agencies and chaired by OMB’s Deputy Director for Management—is the 

principal interagency forum for improving agency practices related to the 

design, acquisition, development, modernization, use, sharing, and 

performance of federal information resources. The CIO Council is 

responsible for developing recommendations for overall federal IT 

management policy; sharing best practices; including the development of 

performance measures; and identifying opportunities and sponsoring 

cooperation in using information resources.

After assessing the most persistent challenges in acquiring, managing, 

and operating IT systems, in December 2010 the Federal CIO established 

a 25-point IT Reform Plan designed to address challenges in IT 

acquisition, improve operational efficiencies, and deliver more IT value to 

the American taxpayer.6

 

5

Pub. L. No. 111-352, 124 Stat. 3866 (2011). The GPRA (Government Performance and 

Results Act) Modernization Act of 2010 amends the Government Performance and 

Results Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103-62, 107 Stat. 285 (1993).

The actions were planned to be completed in 

6

OMB, 25 Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal Information Technology 

Management (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 9, 2010).

Federal IT Reform Plan 

Strives to Address 

Persistent Challenges
 

Page 4 GAO-12-745T 

three different time frames: (1) within 6 months (by June 2011), (2) 

between 6 and 12 months (by December 2011), and (3) between 12 and 

18 months (by June 2012). Several different organizations were assigned 

ownership of the key action items, including the Federal CIO, the CIO 

Council, GSA, the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Federal 

Procurement Policy, the Small Business Administration, and other federal 

agencies. Table 1 contains detailed information on selected action items 

in the IT Reform Plan.

Table 1: OMB’s IT Reform Plan: Selected Action Items, Required Activities, and Responsible Parties 

Plan 

number Action item title Required activities

Responsible 

parties Due date 

1 Complete detailed 

implementation plans 

to consolidate 800 

data centers by 2015

• Complete consolidation plans that include a technical roadmap, 

clear consolidation targets, and measurable milestones

• Identify dedicated agency-specific program managers

• Establish a cross-government task force comprised of the agency 

program managers

• Ensure the task force meets monthly

• Launch a public dashboard for tracking progress towards closures 

OMB and 

federal 

agencies

June 2011

3 Shift to a “cloud first” 

policy

• Establish a federal strategy for moving to cloud computinga

• Identify three services (per agency) that are to move to cloud 

computing

• Establish migration plans for the three services that are to move

• Fully migrate the first service within 12 months 

OMB and 

federal 

agencies

June 2011

4 Stand-up contract 

vehicles for secure 

Infrastructure-as-aServiceb solutions

• Make a common set of contract vehicles for secure cloud-based 

infrastructure solutions available governmentwide

GSA June 2011

10 Launch a best 

practices 

collaboration platform

• Establish a portal for program managers to exchange information 

on best practices

• Require agencies to submit their experiences to the portal

• Codify and synthesize agency submissions to provide a searchable 

database that facilitates real-time problem solving 

CIO Council June 2011

13 Design a cadre of 

specialized IT 

acquisition 

professionalsc

• Define an IT acquisition specialist position

• Establish the requirements, guidance, curriculum, and process for 

becoming one

• Create guidance to strengthen the IT acquisition skills and 

capabilities of IT acquisition specialists

OMB and 

federal 

agencies

June 2011

15 Issue contracting 

guidance and 

templates to support 

modular 

development

• Work with IT and acquisition community to develop guidance on 

contracting for modular developmentd

• Obtain feedback from industry leaders

• Develop templates and samples supporting modular development

Office of 

Federal 

Procurement 

Policy

December 

2011
 

Page 5 GAO-12-745T 

Plan 

number Action item title Required activities

Responsible 

parties Due date 

17 Work with Congress 

to create IT budget 

models that align 

with modular 

development

Analyze working capital funds and transfer authorities to identify current 

IT budget flexibilities

Identify programs at agencies where additional budget flexibilities could 

improve outcomes

Work with Congress to propose budgetary models to complement the 

modular development approach

Evaluate mechanisms for increased transparency for these programs

OMB and 

federal 

agencies 

June 2011

20 Work with Congress 

to consolidate 

commodity IT 

spending under 

agency CIOe

Work with Congress to consolidate commodity IT spending under the 

agency CIO

Develop a workable funding model for “commodity” IT services

Have the CIO Council and agency CIOs identify “commodity” services to 

be included in this funding model as they are migrated towards shared 

services 

OMB and 

federal 

agencies

June 2011

21 Reform and 

strengthen 

Investment Review 

Boards

Revamp IT budget submissions

Have agencies conduct “TechStat” reviewsf

Have OMB analysts provide training to agency CIOs in the “TechStat” 

methodology

OMB and 

federal 

agencies

June 2011

22 Redefine role of 

agency CIOs and 

CIO Council

Make agency CIOs responsible for managing the portfolio of large IT 

projects within their agencies

Have the CIO Council periodically review the highest priority “TechStat” 

findings assembled by the agency CIOs

Federal CIO 

and agency 

CIOs

June 2011

Source: GAO analysis of OMB’s IT Reform Plan.

a

Cloud computing is an emerging form of computing where users have access to scalable, ondemand capabilities that are provided through Internet-based technologies. It has the potential to 

provide IT services more quickly and at a lower cost.

b

Infrastructure-as-a-Service is one type of cloud computing in which a vendor offers various 

infrastructure components such as hardware, storage, and other fundamental computing resources.

c

While the IT Reform Plan discusses having agencies develop cadres of specialists, there is no 

requirement for agencies to do so.

d

According to the IT Reform Plan, modular development is a system development technique that 

delivers functionality in shorter time frames by creating requirements at a high level and then refining 

them through an iterative process, with extensive engagement and feedback from stakeholders.

e

Commodity services are systems or services used to carry out routine tasks (e.g., e-mail, data 

centers, and web infrastructure).

f

OMB defines a TechStat as a face-to-face, evidence-based accountability review of an IT investment 

that results in concrete actions to address weaknesses and reduces wasteful spending by turning 

around troubled programs and terminating failed programs.

Given the challenges that federal agencies have experienced in acquiring 

and managing IT investments, we have issued a series of reports aimed 

at improving federal IT management over the last decade. Our reports 

cover a variety of topics, including data center consolidation, cloud 

computing, CIO responsibilities, system acquisition challenges, and 

modular development. Key reports that address topics covered in the IT 

GAO Has Previously 

Reported on Needed 

Improvements in Federal 

IT Management
 

Page 6 GAO-12-745T 

Reform Plan include reports on data center consolidation,7 cloud 

computing,8 best practices in IT acquisition,9 IT spending authority,10

investment review and oversight,11 and agency CIO responsibilities.12 For 

example, in July 2011, we reported that only one of the agencies 

submitted a complete data center inventory and no agency submitted a 

complete data center consolidation plan.13

 

7

GAO, Data Center Consolidation: Agencies Need to Complete Inventories and Plans to 

Achieve Expected Savings, 

We concluded that until these 

inventories and plans are complete, agencies might not be able to 

implement their consolidation activities and realize expected cost savings. 

We recommended that agencies complete the missing elements in their 

plans and inventories. In response to our recommendations, in October 

and November 2011, the agencies updated their inventories and plans. 

We have ongoing work assessing the agencies’ revised plans, and in 

February 2012, we reported that our preliminary assessment of the 

GAO-11-565 (Washington, D.C.: July 19, 2011), and Followup on 2011 Report: Status of Actions Taken to Reduce Duplication, Overlap, and 

Fragmentation, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue, GAO-12-453SP (Washington, 

D.C.: Feb. 28, 2012).

8

GAO, Information Security: Federal Guidance Needed to Address Control Issues with 

Implementing Cloud Computing, GAO-10-513 (Washington, D.C.: May 27, 2010), and

Information Security: Additional Guidance Needed to Address Cloud Computing 

Concerns, GAO-12-130T (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 5, 2011). 

9

GAO, Information Technology: Critical Factors Underlying Successful Major Acquisitions, 

GAO-12-7 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21, 2011).

10GAO, Information Technology: VA Has Taken Important Steps to Centralize Control of 

Its Resources, but Effectiveness Depends on Additional Planned Actions, GAO-08-449T 

(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 13, 2008). 

11GAO, IT Dashboard: Accuracy Has Improved, and Additional Efforts Are Under Way To 

Better Inform Decision Making, GAO-12-210 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 7, 2011);

Information Technology: OMB Has Made Improvements to Its Dashboard, but Further 

Work Is Needed by Agencies and OMB to Ensure Data Accuracy, GAO-11-262 

(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 15, 2011); Information Technology: OMB's Dashboard Has 

Increased Transparency and Oversight, but Improvements Needed, GAO-10-701 

(Washington, D.C.: July 16, 2010); Information Technology: Management and Oversight 

of Projects Totaling Billions of Dollars Need Attention, GAO-09-624T (Washington, D.C.: 

Apr. 28, 2009); Information Technology: Agencies and OMB Should Strengthen 

Processes for Identifying and Overseeing High Risk Projects, GAO-06-647 (Washington, 

D.C.: June 15, 2006); and Information Technology: OMB Can Make More Effective Use of 

Its Investment Reviews, GAO-05-276 (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 15, 2005).

12GAO, Federal Chief Information Officers: Opportunities Exist to Improve Role in 

Information Technology Management, GAO-11-634 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 15, 2011).

13GAO-11-565. 
 

Page 7 GAO-12-745T 

updated plans showed that not all agency plans were updated to include 

all required information.14 We discuss each of the topics in more detail in 

the report being publicly released today.15

As discussed in our report, OMB and key federal agencies have made 

progress on selected action items identified in the IT Reform Plan, but 

there are several areas where more remains to be done. Of the 10 key 

action items we reviewed, 3 were completed and the other 7 were 

partially completed by December 2011. The action items that are behind 

schedule share a common reason for the delays: the complexity of the 

initiatives. In all seven of the cases, OMB and the federal agencies are 

still working on the initiatives. However, OMB and federal agencies have 

established time frames for completing only two of these initiatives.

In a December 2011 progress report on its IT Reform Plan, OMB reported 

that it made greater progress than we determined. The agency reported 

that of the 10 action items, 7 were completed and 3 were partially 

completed. OMB officials from the Office of E-government and 

Information Technology explained that the reason for the difference in 

assessments is that they believe that the IT Reform Plan has served its 

purpose in acting as a catalyst for a set of broader initiatives. They noted 

that work will continue on all of the initiatives even after OMB declares the 

related action items to be completed under the IT Reform Plan. We 

disagree with this approach. In prematurely declaring the action items to 

be completed, OMB risks losing momentum on the progress it has made 

to date.

Table 2 provides both OMB’s and our assessments of the status of the 

key action items, with action items rated as “completed” if all of the 

required activities identified in the reform plan were completed, and 

“partially completed” if some, but not all, of the required activities were 

completed.

 

14GAO-12-453SP. 

15GAO-12-461. 

OMB and Key Federal 

Agencies Have Made 

Progress on IT 

Reform Action Items, 

but Much Remains to 

Be Done
 

Page 8 GAO-12-745T 

Table 2: GAO’s Assessment of the Status of Key Action Items 

Plan number 

and action 

item title

OMB’s 

reported 

status 

(as of 

December 

2011)

GAO’s 

assessment Description 

(1) Complete 

detailed 

implementation 

plans to 

consolidate at 

least 800 data 

centers by 

2015

Completed Partially 

completed

In 2011, agencies published their updated consolidation plans and identified dedicated 

program managers for their data center consolidation efforts. Also, OMB established a

cross-government task force comprised of the agency program managers that meets 

monthly and launched a public dashboard for tracking progress in closing data centers. 

However, not all of the agencies’ updated data center consolidation plans include the 

required elements. Of the three agencies we reviewed, one (the Department of Justice) 

lacked required milestones and targets for servers and utilization. In addition, in 

February 2012, we reported finding similar gaps in multiple agencies’ consolidation 

plans.a When asked why the plans were not yet complete, agencies reported that it 

takes time to adequately plan for data center consolidation and many found that they 

need more time. We have previously recommended that agencies complete the 

missing elements from their data center consolidation plans.b OMB has noted that 

agencies are expected to provide an update on their plans in September 2012.

(3) Shift to 

cloud-first 

policy

Completed Partially 

completed

The Federal CIO published a strategy for moving the government to cloud computing 

and had each agency identify three services to be moved to the cloud. In addition, each 

of the three agencies we reviewed established migration plans for these services and 

had migrated at least one service to the cloud by December 2011. However, each of 

the three agencies’ migration plans we reviewed were missing key required elements, 

including a discussion of needed resources, migration schedules, or plans for retiring 

legacy systems. We have ongoing work performing a more detailed review of seven 

agencies’ progress in implementing the federal cloud computing policy underway, and 

plan to issue that report in the summer of 2012.c However, at this point there are no 

time frames for agencies to complete their migration plans.

(4) Stand-up 

contract 

vehicles for 

secure 

Infrastructureas-a-Service 

solutions

Completed Completed GSA has established a common set of contract vehicles for secure cloud-based 

infrastructure solutions, and made them available governmentwide. As of January 

2012, federal agencies could purchase cloud solutions from three GSA-approved 

vendors.

(10) Launch a 

best practices 

collaboration 

platform

Completed Partially 

completed

The CIO Council developed a web-based collaboration portal to allow program 

managers to exchange best practices and case studies, and all three agencies we 

reviewed have submitted case studies to OMB for the portal. However, the data 

accessible by the portal has not yet been effectively codified and synthesized, making it 

difficult for program managers to search the databases and for them to use it for 

problem solving. For example, a general search for cloud computing best practices 

identified more than 13,000 artifacts, while a date-bounded search for the last year 

identified 14 artifacts—of which only 8 clearly provided information on best practices in 

cloud computing. The vice chairman of the CIO Council explained that the portal’s 

shortcomings are due to how new it is, and noted that the council is still working to 

improve the portal’s functionality. However, the CIO Council has not established a time 

frame for providing this additional functionality.
 

Page 9 GAO-12-745T 

Plan number 

and action 

item title

OMB’s 

reported 

status 

(as of 

December 

2011)

GAO’s 

assessment Description 

(13) Design a 

cadre of 

specialized IT 

acquisition 

professionals

Completed Completed In 2011, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy issued guidance defining an IT 

acquisition specialist; established the requirements, guidance, curriculum, and process 

for becoming one; and established guidance to strengthen the IT acquisition skills and 

capabilities of IT acquisition specialists. Because the development of the cadre is 

voluntary, the status of the agencies we reviewed varies: the Department of Veterans 

Affairs has a cadre of specialized IT acquisition professionals, the Department of 

Homeland Security is developing one, and the Department of Justice is still considering 

whether they need such a cadre.

(15) Issue 

contracting 

guidance and 

templates to 

support 

modular 

development

Partially 

completed

Partially 

completed

An official within the Office of Federal Procurement Policy stated that the agency 

worked with the IT and acquisition community to develop draft guidance for modular 

development, and has obtained feedback from industry leaders. However, the office 

has not yet issued this guidance, or the required templates and samples supporting 

modular development. An Office of Federal Procurement Policy official explained that 

delays were due to challenges in ensuring consistent definitions of modular 

development across the government and industry. The office currently plans to issue its 

guidance and templates in spring 2012.

(17) Work with 

Congress to 

create IT 

budget models 

that align with 

modular 

development

Partially 

completed

Partially 

completed

OMB reported that it analyzed existing legal frameworks to determine what budget 

flexibilities are currently available and where additional budget flexibilities are needed, 

and worked to promote these ideas (such as multiyear budgets or revolving funds) with 

selected congressional committees. Also, the three agencies we reviewed identified 

programs where additional budget flexibilities could improve outcomes. For example, 

the Department of Homeland Security proposed a working capital fund for centralized 

IT operations and maintenance functions. However, in response to OMB’s ideas, there 

has not yet been any new legislation to create budget authorities as a result of the IT 

Reform Plan and OMB has not identified options to increase transparency for programs 

that would fall under these budgetary flexibilities. OMB officials noted that they are 

behind schedule in working with Congress, in part because when the IT Reform Plan 

was issued in December 2010, the fiscal year 2012 budget process was already under 

way. They explained that this meant they needed to wait to incorporate changes into 

the fiscal year 2013 budget process. However, OMB has not yet established time 

frames for completing this activity.

(20) Work with 

Congress to 

consolidate 

commodity IT 

spending 

under agency 

CIOs

Partially 

completed

Partially 

completed

OMB issued a memo in August 2011 that, among other things, required agencies to 

consolidate commodity IT services under the agency CIO.d In addition, the federal CIO 

has discussed the importance of consolidating commodity IT under the agency CIOs 

with selected congressional committees. However, OMB noted that this action item is 

behind schedule and that it is continuing to discuss the implementation of the memo 

and the development of models for funding commodity IT with agencies and Congress. 

Further, the three agencies we reviewed had not yet reported to OMB on their 

proposals for migrating commodity IT services to shared services, in part because they 

were waiting for guidance from OMB. OMB officials noted that part of the reason for the 

delay is that when the IT Reform plan was issued in December 2010, the fiscal year 

2012 budget process was already under way. Therefore, they needed to wait a year to 

incorporate changes into the fiscal year 2013 budget process. However, OMB has not 

established a time frame for completing this activity.
 

Page 10 GAO-12-745T 

Plan number 

and action 

item title

OMB’s 

reported 

status 

(as of 

December 

2011)

GAO’s 

assessment Description 

(21) Reform 

and strengthen 

Investment 

Review Boards

Completed Completed In 2011, OMB revamped its requirements for agency IT budget submissions. OMB also 

developed, published, and provided training for agency CIOs on how to conduct 

TechStat reviews that includes accountability guidelines, engagement cadence, 

evaluation processes, and reporting processes. By December 2011, all 24 agencies 

conducted at least one TechStat review.

(22) Redefine 

role of agency 

CIOs and the 

CIO Council

Completed Partially 

completed

In August 2011, OMB issued a memo directing agencies to strengthen the role of the 

CIO away from solely being responsible for policymaking and infrastructure 

maintenance to a role that encompasses true portfolio management for all IT. However, 

OMB acknowledged that there is disparity among agency CIOs’ authorities and that it 

will take time for agencies to implement the required changes. Of the three agencies 

we reviewed, two CIOs reported having true portfolio management for all IT projects, 

and one did not. The Department of Homeland Security’s CIO does not yet have 

responsibility for the portfolio of all IT projects. We have ongoing work assessing the 

department’s governance of IT investments.

Regarding changes in the role of the CIO Council, the council formed a committee to 

focus on management best practices. This committee analyzed the outcomes of 

agency TechStat reviews over the past year and published a report discussing 

governmentwide trends in December 2011. 

Source: GAO analysis of OMB and agency data.

a

GAO-12-453SP. 

b

GAO-11-565. 

c

The seven agencies are the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Homeland 

Security, State, and Treasury, as well as GSA and the Small Business Administration.

d

OMB, Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Chief Information Officer 

Authorities, M-11-29 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 8, 2011).

Until OMB and the agencies complete the action items called for in the IT 

Reform Plan, the benefits of the reform initiatives—including increased 

operational efficiencies and more effective management of large-scale IT 

programs—may be delayed. With the last of the action items in the IT 

Reform Plan due to be completed by June 2012, it will be important for 

OMB and the agencies to ensure that the action items due at earlier 

milestones are completed as soon as possible.
 

Page 11 GAO-12-745T 

The importance of performance measures for gauging the progress of 

programs and projects is well recognized. In the past, OMB has directed 

agencies to define and select meaningful outcome-based performance 

measures that track the intended results of carrying out a program or 

activity.16 Additionally, as we have previously reported, aligning 

performance measures with goals can help to measure progress toward 

those goals, emphasizing the quality of the services an agency provides 

or the resulting benefits to users.17 Furthermore, industry experts describe 

performance measures as necessary for managing, planning, and 

monitoring the performance of a project against plans and stakeholders’ 

needs.18

Recognizing the importance of performance measurement, OMB and 

GSA have established measures for 4 of the 10 action items we 

reviewed: data center consolidation, shifting to cloud computing, using 

contract vehicles to obtain Infrastructure-as-a-Service, and reforming 

investment review boards. Moreover, OMB reported on three of these 

measures in the analytical perspectives associated with the President’s 

fiscal year 2013 budget. Specifically, regarding data center consolidation, 

OMB reported that agencies were on track to close 525 centers by the 

end of 2012 and expected to save $3 billion by 2015. On the topic of 

cloud computing, OMB reported that agencies had migrated 40 services 

to cloud computing environments in 2011 and expect to migrate an 

additional 39 services in 2012. Regarding investment review boards, 

OMB reported that agency CIOs held 294 TechStat reviews and had 

achieved more than $900 million in cost savings, life cycle cost 

avoidance, or reallocation of funding.

According to government and industry best practices, 

performance measures should be measurable, outcome-oriented, and 

actively tracked and managed.

However, OMB has not established performance measures for 6 of the 10 

action items we reviewed. For example, OMB has not established 

 

16OMB, Guide to the Program Assessment Rating Tool. 

17GAO, NextGen Air Transportation System: FAA’s Metrics Can Be Used to Report on 

Status of Individual Programs, but Not of Overall NextGen Implementation or Outcomes, 

GAO-10-629 (Washington, D.C.: July 27, 2010).

18Thomas Wettstein and Peter Kueng, “A Maturity Model for Performance Measurement 

Systems,” and Karen J. Richter, Ph.D., Institute for Defense Analyses, CMMI® for 

Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ) Primer, Version 1.2.

OMB Has Not 

Established Measures 

for Evaluating Results 

on Most IT Reform 

Initiatives
 

Page 12 GAO-12-745T 

measures related to the best practices collaboration platform, such as 

number of users, number of hits per query, and customer satisfaction. 

Further, while OMB has designed the guidance and curriculum for 

developing a cadre of IT acquisition professionals, it has not established 

measures for tracking agencies’ development of such a cadre. Table 3 

details what performance measures and goals, if any, are associated with 

the action item.

Table 3: Assessment of Performance Measures Associated with Selected IT Reform Action Items

Action item Performance measures Performance goals

(1) Complete detailed 

implementation plans to 

consolidate 800 data centers by 

2015

• Number of data center closures

• Expected cost savings

•

• The IT Reform Plan identifies a goal to consolidate 800 

data centers by 2015.

• In December 2011, in conjunction with a decision to 

include smaller data centers in the consolidation effort, 

the Federal CIO increased this goal to more than 1,000 

data centers by 2015.

• In February 2012, OMB announced a goal of saving $3 

billion by 2015.

(3) Shift to a cloud-first policy • Number of services 

transitioned to a cloud 

computing environment

• Number of legacy systems 

eliminated

• Anticipated cost savings

• The IT Reform Plan states that each agency will identify 

three services to move to the cloud and that one of those 

services must move within 12 months.

• OMB has not yet announced goals for eliminated legacy 

systems or anticipated cost savings.

(4) Stand-up contract vehicles 

for secure Infrastructure-as-aService solutions

• Number of task orders issued 

under the contract vehicle

• Dollar amounts awarded 

through the contract vehicle

• Period of performance for the 

contract

• GSA established a goal of having at least one task order 

issued under the Infrastructure-as-a-Service blanket 

purchase agreement in the first year.

• GSA has not yet announced goals for its second year. 

(10) Launch a best practices 

collaboration platform

—a —a

(13) Design a cadre of 

specialized IT acquisition 

professionals

—a —a

(15) Issue contracting guidance 

and templates to support 

modular development

—a —a

(17) Work with Congress to 

create IT budget models that 

align with modular development

—a —a

(20) Work with Congress to 

consolidate commodity IT 

spending under agency CIOs

—a —a
 

Page 13 GAO-12-745T 

Action item Performance measures Performance goals

(21) Reform and strengthen 

investment review boards

• Number of TechStat reviews

• Number of terminated 

programs

• Cost savings associated with 

TechStat reviews

• OMB established a goal of having agency CIOs terminate 

or turn around one third of all underperforming IT 

investments by June 2012.

(22) Redefine role of agency 

CIOs and the CIO Council

—a —a

Source: GAO analysis of OMB and agency data.

a

Performance measures or goals have not been established for this action item.

Until OMB establishes and tracks measureable, outcome-oriented 

performance measures for each of the action items in the IT Reform Plan, 

the agency will be limited in its ability to evaluate progress that has been 

made and whether or not the initiative is achieving its goals.

In our report being released today, we are making several 

recommendations to help ensure the completion of key IT reform 

initiatives and that the results of these initiatives are measured. 

Specifically, we are recommending that the Departments of Homeland 

Security, Justice, and Veterans Affairs complete elements missing from 

the agencies’ plans for migrating services to a cloud computing 

environment, and identify and report on the commodity services proposed 

for migration to shared services. All three agencies agreed with our 

recommendations and identified steps that they are undertaking to 

address them.

In addition, we are recommending that the Federal CIO ensure that the 

action items called for in the IT Reform Plan are completed by the 

responsible parties prior to the completion of the IT Reform Plan’s 18 

month deadline of June 2012 and that the agency provide clear time 

frames for addressing the shortfalls associated with the IT Reform Plan 

action items. The Federal CIO agreed with both of these 

recommendations and stated that OMB intends to complete the action 

items by the deadline. We are also recommending that the Federal CIO 

accurately characterize the status of the IT Reform Plan action items in 

an upcoming progress report in order to keep momentum going on action 

items that are not yet completed. The Federal CIO disagreed with this 

recommendation and stated that OMB has accurately characterized the 

completeness of the action items, and therefore, the recommendation 

does not apply. We do not agree with OMB’s characterization of four 

action items. Specifically, OMB considers the action items associated with 

Implementation of 

Recommendations 

Could Help Ensure 

Key Efforts are 

Completed and 

Results are Identified
 

Page 14 GAO-12-745T 

data center consolidation, cloud-first policy, best practices collaboration 

portal, and redefining roles of agency CIOs and the CIO Council to be 

completed. While we agree that OMB has made progress in each of 

these areas, we found activities specified in the IT Reform Plan that have 

not yet been completed. For example, in the area of data center 

consolidation, we found that selected agency plans are still incomplete. In 

addition, in the move to cloud computing, selected agency migration 

plans lack key elements. Thus, we believe that the recommendation is 

warranted.

To address our concerns regarding performance measures, we are 

recommending that the Federal CIO establish outcome-oriented 

measures for each applicable action item in the IT Reform Plan. The 

Federal CIO disagreed with our recommendation and noted that OMB 

measured the completeness of the IT Reform Plan action items and not 

the performance measures associated with broader initiatives. We 

continue to believe that our recommendation is appropriate because there 

are multiple action items in the IT Reform Plan that are not aligned with 

broader initiatives and for which there are no measures. Examples 

include the best practices portal, developing a cadre of specialized IT 

acquisition professionals, and establishing budget models that align with 

modular development. Given that the purpose of the IT Reform Plan is to 

achieve operational efficiencies and improve the management of largescale IT programs, we maintain that it is appropriate to establish 

performance measures to monitor the IT Reform Plan’s results.

In summary, OMB and selected agencies have made strides in 

implementing the IT Reform Plan, including pushing agencies to 

consolidate data centers, migrating federal services to cloud computing, 

improving the skills of IT acquisition professionals, and strengthening the 

roles and accountability of CIOs. However, several key reform items 

remain behind schedule despite OMB stating that these items have been 

completed.

In addition, OMB has not established performance measures for gauging 

the success of most of its reform initiatives. For example, while OMB is 

tracking the number of services that agencies move to a cloud computing 

environment and the number of data center closures, it is not tracking the 

usefulness of its efforts to develop a best practices collaboration portal or 

a cadre of IT acquisition professionals.
 

Page 15 GAO-12-745T 

Overstating progress and not implementing appropriate performance 

measures do not position the federal IT community to leverage and build 

on the progress made to date. Moving forward, it will be important for 

OMB to continue to provide guidance, goals, and oversight to ensure that 

critical IT reform efforts extend well beyond the original 18-month time 

frame. It will also be important for agencies to aggressively pursue the 

completion of IT reform initiatives.

Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Brown, and Members of the 

Subcommittee, this concludes my statement. I would be happy to answer 

any questions at this time.

If you or your staffs have any questions about this testimony, please 

contact me at (202) 512-9286 or at pownerd@gao.gov. Individuals who 

made key contributions to this testimony are Colleen Phillips (Assistant 

Director), Cortland Bradford, Rebecca Eyler, Kathleen S. Lovett, and 

Jessica Waselkow.

GAO Contact 

and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

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