United States Government Accountability Office

GAO Report to Congressional Requesters

VETERANS AFFAIRS

Continued Focus on 

Critical Success 

Factors Is Essential to 

Achieving Information 

Technology 

Realignment 

June 2007 

 

GAO-07-844 
What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

June 2007

VETERANS AFFAIRS

Continued Focus on Critical Success 

Factors Is Essential to Achieving 

Information Technology Realignment 

Highlights of GAO-07-844, a report to 

congressional requesters. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) spends nearly $1 billion yearly

to support its information 

technology (IT) needs; yet it has 

encountered persistent challenges

in managing IT projects. In October

2005, VA initiated a realignment to 

centralize its IT management 

program that it plans to complete

by July 2008. GAO was requested to 

determine (1) whether the 

department’s realignment plan 

includes critical factors for

successful implementation and

(2) how the centralized 

management approach is to ensure

that the chief information officer

(CIO) is accountable for the 

department’s entire IT budget. To 

do so, GAO identified critical

success factors, analyzed 

realignment and budget 

documents, and held discussions 

with VA officials. 

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making several 

recommendations to VA, including

that it dedicate an implementation

team to manage change, expedite

development of performance 

metrics, and establish a schedule 

for implementing management

processes. Commenting on a draft

of this report, VA generally

concurred with GAO’s 

recommendations and described

actions to address them. 

VA’s plans for realigning the management of its IT program include elements 

of several factors that GAO identified as critical to the department’s 

implementation of a centralized structure; additional departmental actions 

could increase assurance that the realignment will be completed 

successfully (see table). Since undertaking the realignment, VA has 

concentrated its efforts on transferring approximately 6,000 staff to the 

CIO’s authority and on creating a new organizational structure. It has also 

taken certain actions to establish an IT governance plan, identify workforce 

management responsibilities, and increase communication about the 

realignment with staff. However, it has not yet created a knowledge and 

skills inventory to help determine proper roles for all employees in the new 

organization, established governance boards to manage resources, or 

dedicated an implementation team to manage change and track the progress

of the realignment with performance metrics. As a result, the department 

risks jeopardizing the success of its efforts and may not realize the long-term

benefits of the realignment. 

Summary of VA’s Actions Addressing Critical Success Factors 

Critical success factor Addressed Progress 

Ensuring commitment from top

leadership 

yes Secretary approved the new IT organization 

structure and the transfer of employees 

Establishing a governance 

structure to manage resources 

partially Secretary approved the IT governance plan but

VA has not established governance boards or 

process descriptions for centrally managing IT 

Linking IT strategic plan to 

organization strategic plan 

no VA has not yet updated its IT strategic plan to 

reflect the new organization but has established 

a date by which it intends to update the plan 

Using workforce strategic 

management to identify proper 

roles for all employees 

partially VA has identified workforce management 

responsibilities but has not established a 

knowledge and skills inventory

Communicating change to all 

stakeholders 

partially VA has addressed staff concerns about the 

realignment through memorandums and 

conferences but has not fully staffed offices that 

will facilitate communication 

Dedicating an implementation 

team to manage change 

no VA does not plan to establish a realignment 

implementation team 

Source: GAO.

Within the new structure, the CIO is to have responsibility for ensuring that 

there are fiscal controls over the IT appropriation and for overseeing capital 

planning processes, budget execution, and financial management programs. 

According to the department, it plans to establish the CIO’s control by 

(1) designating organizations with specific roles and responsibilities for 

controlling the budget to report directly to the CIO; (2) implementing a 

governance structure that assigns budget oversight responsibilities to 

specific governance boards; and (3) developing and implementing IT 

portfolio management and financial management processes. While these 

measures show the potential for establishing control of the budget, VA has 

not yet fully implemented them or committed to a time frame for doing so. 

Thus, their effectiveness in ensuring the CIO’s accountability for the budget 

has not yet been established. 

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-844.

To view the full product, including the scope 

and methodology, click on the link above. 

For more information, contact Valerie C. 

Melvin at (202) 512-6304 or

melvinv@gao.gov. 
Contents 

Letter 1

Results in Brief 2

Background 4

VA Realignment Plans Include Critical Success Factors 9

Centralized Control of IT Budget Has Not Yet Been Clearly 

Established 16

Conclusions 19

Recommendations for Executive Action 20

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 21

Appendix I Scope and Methodology 23 

Appendix II Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs 25 

Appendix III GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 30

Table 

Table 1: Summary of VA’s Actions Addressing Critical Success 

Factors 9

Figures 

Figure 1: Office of Information and Technology Organizational 

Chart 6

Figure 2: Timeline of Key Events for VA IT Realignment 7

Page i GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Abbreviations 

CIO chief information officer

DAS deputy assistant secretary 

IT information technology 

IV&V independent verification and validation 

VA Department of Veterans Affairs 

VBA Veterans Benefits Administration 

VHA Veterans Health Administration 

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Page ii GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548 

June 15, 2007 

The Honorable Bob Filner 

Chairman 

The Honorable Steve Buyer 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

House of Representatives 

The use of information technology (IT) is crucial to helping the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) effectively serve our nation’s 

veterans—the department expends about $1 billion annually in support of 

its IT program. Nonetheless, VA has encountered persistent challenges in 

managing its IT projects. For example, in 2004, after spending almost $250 

million over 5 years, the department experienced a highly publicized 

failure on an initiative to replace its financial management system. 

According to VA’s Inspector General, this failure was the result of issues 

related to managing and monitoring the implementation of the system. We 

previously reported1

 that a contributing factor to VA’s challenges in 

managing projects was the department’s decentralized management 

structure, in which its administrations2

 and headquarters offices3

controlled a majority of the department’s IT budget. 

To provide greater authority and accountability over its resources, in 

October 2005, the department initiated a realignment of its IT program. 

The goals were to centralize IT management under the department-level 

Chief Information Officer (CIO) and standardize operations and the 

development of systems across the department using new management 

processes based on industry best practices. Completion of the 

realignment is scheduled for July 2008. 

 1

GAO, Veterans Affairs: The Role of the Chief Information Officer in Effectively

Managing Information Technology, GAO-06-201T (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 20, 2005); and

Veterans Affairs: The Critical Role of the Chief Information Officer Position in Effective 

Information Technology Management, GAO-05-1017T (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 14, 2005). 

2

The VA comprises three administrations: the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), the

Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and the National Cemetery Administration (NCA).

3

The headquarters offices include the Office of the Secretary, six Assistant Secretaries, and 

three VA-level staff offices. 

Page 1 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Given the importance of information technology for supporting VA’s 

mission, you requested that we review the department’s effort to realign its 

IT program. Specifically, our objectives were to determine (1) whether the 

department’s realignment plan includes critical factors for successful 

implementation of a centralized management approach and (2) how the 

centralized management approach is to ensure that the CIO is accountable

for the department’s entire IT budget, including those funds that 

previously had been controlled by its administrations. 

In conducting this review, we obtained and analyzed relevant documents 

from VA, its realignment contractor, and the independent verification and

validation contractor supporting the initiative. To assess the realignment,

we identified critical success factors by reviewing relevant GAO products 

and researching industry best practices on organizational transformations. 

In addition, we conferred with a leading provider of research and analysis

on the IT industry to obtain its input on the relevance and soundness of 

factors we identified for consideration in our assessment of the 

realignment effort. We then assessed whether the department’s 

realignment documentation identified actions that reflected these factors 

and held periodic meetings with realignment team members, including 

contractors, to discuss whether and how these factors were being 

considered in the department’s realignment plans and actions. To 

determine how the centralized management approach will ensure that the 

CIO is accountable for the entire IT budget, we reviewed documentation 

and plans that addressed budget oversight and execution under the new 

organization. To supplement our analysis, we met with officials in VA’s 

Office of Information and Technology who are responsible for managing 

and executing the budget. We conducted our study from June 2006 

through May 2007 in accordance with generally accepted government 

auditing standards. For more details on our scope and methodology, see 

appendix I. 

VA’s plans for realigning the management of its IT program include 

elements of several of the six factors we identified as critical for the 

department’s implementation of a centralized management structure; 

additional departmental actions could increase assurance that the 

realignment will be completed successfully. Since undertaking the 

realignment in October 2005, VA has concentrated its efforts on 

transferring approximately 6,000 staff to the CIO’s office and on creating a 

new centralized organizational structure. The department has also 

approved its IT governance plan to address how the Office of Information 

and Technology will manage resources; however, it has not yet established

Results in Brief 

Page 2 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
the boards that are to provide governance over the centralized structure. 

In addition, the department has identified the responsibilities for managing 

its workforce within its new structure but has not yet established a 

knowledge and skills inventory to help determine the proper roles for all 

employees in the new organization. Further, while VA has highlighted the 

importance of managing change in its realignment documentation, it has 

not dedicated an implementation team to manage the realignment and 

track its progress through the use of performance metrics. As a result, the 

department may jeopardize the success of its efforts and may not realize 

the long-term benefits of the realignment. 

Within the realigned structure, VA plans to ensure that the CIO will be 

accountable for the entire IT budget through three primary measures. 

First, the new centralized organization includes positions for two new 

deputy assistant secretaries who are to be responsible for the development 

of VA’s annual IT budget and for tracking actual expenditures against the 

budget. Second, the new governance plan calls for the establishment of 

CIO-level governance boards, which are to oversee both the development 

and approval of the budget and monitor its execution. Third, 

implementation of two new IT management processes—portfolio 

management and financial management—are to be used to establish 

control over the budget. While these measures show the potential for 

establishing the CIO’s control of the budget, VA has neither fully 

implemented them nor committed to a time frame for doing so. Thus, their 

effectiveness in ensuring accountability for the budget has not yet been 

established.

To address the critical success factors for implementing a centralized 

management structure and to ensure that the CIO has control of the IT 

budget, we are recommending that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs take 

actions in several areas, including dedicating an implementation team to 

manage change, expediting development of performance metrics to track 

the progress of the realignment, and establishing governance boards to 

provide oversight of the centralized structure. 

In providing written comments on a draft of this report, the Deputy 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs generally concurred with the report’s 

findings and recommendations. (The department’s comments are 

reproduced in app. II.) The comments described actions that begin to 

address our recommendations. Among its actions, the department 

proposed to manage its change to a centralized structure without a 

separate dedicated implementation team; however, we continue to believe 

that a dedicated implementation team is crucial to the department’s ability 

Page 3 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
to ensure that the realignment is successfully completed. Establishing 

such a team, as well as properly implementing our other 

recommendations, should help ensure that the IT realignment is 

successfully accomplished. 

VA’s mission is to promote the health, welfare, and dignity of all veterans 

in recognition of their service to the nation by ensuring they receive

medical care, benefits, social support, and lasting memorials. Its three 

major components, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), the 

Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and the National Cemetery 

Administration are primarily responsible for carrying out this mission. 

Over time, the use of information technology has become crucial to the 

department’s effort to provide benefits and services, with its budget for IT 

exceeding $1 billion annually. 

Background 

In reporting on VA’s IT management over the past several years, we have 

highlighted4 challenges the department has faced in achieving its “One VA” 

vision,5

 including that information systems and services were highly 

decentralized and that its administrations controlled a majority of the IT 

budget. For example, according to an October 2005 memorandum from 

the former CIO to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the CIO had direct 

control over only 3 percent of the department’s IT budget and 6 percent of 

the department’s IT personnel. In addition, in the department’s fiscal year 

2006 IT budget request, the Veterans Health Administration was identified

to receive 88 percent of the requested funding, while the department was 

identified to receive only 4 percent. We have previously pointed out that, 

given the department’s large IT funding and decentralized management 

structure, it was crucial for the department CIO to ensure that wellestablished and integrated processes for leading, managing, and 

controlling investments were followed throughout the department. 

Further, a contractor’s assessment of VA’s IT organizational alignment, 

issued in February 2005, noted the lack of control for how and when 

 4

GAO-06-201T and GAO-05-1017T. 

5

The One VA vision is to create versatile new ways for veterans to obtain services and 

information by streamlining interactions with customers and integrating IT resources to

enable VA employees to help customers more quickly and effectively. 

Page 4 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
money is spent.6

 The assessment found that project managers within the 

administrations had the ability to shift money to support individual 

projects. Also, according to the assessment, the focus of department-level 

management was only on reporting expenditures to the Office of 

Management and Budget and Congress, rather than on managing these 

expenditures within the department. 

In response to the challenges that we and others noted, the department 

officially began its effort to provide the CIO with greater authority over IT

in October 2005. At that time, the Secretary issued an executive decision 

memorandum granting approval for the development of a new IT 

management structure for the department. According to VA, its goals in 

moving to centralized management are to provide the department better 

oversight over the standardization, compatibility, and interoperability of IT

systems, as well as better overall fiscal discipline for the budget. 

Centralized IT Organization 

By July 2006, the department’s realignment contractor began work to 

assist with the realignment effort. The Secretary approved the 

department’s new organization structure in February 2007. As noted in 

figure 1, the new structure includes the Assistant Secretary for 

Information and Technology (who serves as VA’s CIO), the CIO’s Principle 

Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS), and five Deputy Assistant Secretaries. 

The five Deputy Assistant Secretaries are new senior leadership positions 

within the Office of Information and Technology created to assist the CIO 

in overseeing functions such as cyber security, IT portfolio management, 

systems development, and IT operations. 

 6

Gartner Consulting, OneVA IT Organizational Alignment Assessment Project “As-Is”

Baseline (McLean, Virginia; Feb. 18, 2005). 

Page 5 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Figure 1: Office of Information and Technology Organizational Chart

Source: VA.

DAS

Information Protection and 

Risk Management

DAS

IT Enterprise Strategy, Policy, 

Plans, and Programs

DAS

IT Resource

Management

DAS

Enterprise

Development

DAS

Enterprise Operations and 

Infrastructure

Principle DAS for 

Information and Technology

Assistant Secretary

Office of Information and 

Technology

The department has also identified the offices that will report to the 

Deputy Assistant Secretaries. For example, the Asset Management Office 

will report to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Technology 

Resource Management and is charged with providing staff with the 

software and hardware needed to do their jobs in the most cost-effective

manner. 

In addition, the Secretary approved an IT governance plan in April 2007 

that is intended to enable the Office of Information and Technology to 

centralize its decision making. The plan describes the relationship 

between IT governance and departmental governance and the approach 

the department intends to take to enhance governance. Figure 2 shows a 

timeline of the realignment effort. 

Page 6 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Figure 2: Timeline of Key Events for VA IT Realignment 

Source: GAO analysis of VA data. 

2005 2006 2007 2008

J FMAM J J A S OND J FMAM J J A S OND J FMAM J J A S OND J FMAM J J A S OND

Realignment contractor begins

work to assist VA in realignment

Transfer of operations and

maintenance staff made permanent

IT Governance Plan 

approved by VA 

Secretary

New Office of Information and 

Technology organization structure 

approved by Secretary

Transfer of development 

staff made permanent

Rolling implementation of 

centralized IT management processes

Scheduled 

completion date for 

VA IT realignment 

VA Secretary 

approves new IT 

management system

As the foundation for its realignment, VA plans to implement improved 

management processes in five key areas: enterprise management, business 

management, business application management, infrastructure, and 

service support. These processes7

 were recommended by the department’s 

realignment contractor and were based on industry best practices.8

According to the contractor, they are a key component of the realignment 

effort as the Office of Information and Technology moves to a processbased organization. By implementing these improved processes, VA 

expects to correct deficiencies it has encountered as a result of its 

decentralized management approach. Proper implementation should result 

in institutionalizing best management practices that will be sustained 

regardless of future leadership changes at the department. According to 

the contractor, with a system of defined processes, the Office of 

Information and Technology could quickly and accurately change the way

IT supports the department. The contractor also noted that failure to 

include such processes in the realignment would introduce the risk that 

IT Management Processes 

 7

For example, some of the processes are risk management, IT architecture management, 

workforce management, and change management. 

8

Specifically, these processes are derived from the IT Governance Institute’s Control 

Objectives for Information and related Technology (CobiT®) and Information

Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) as configured by the Process Reference Model 

for IT (PRM-IT) from a VA contractor.

Page 7 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
any progress in completing the realignment would be the result of trial and 

error. 

Successful Organization 

Transformations Are 

Based on Critical Success 

Factors 

We have reported in the past9

 on key factors that are needed in order to 

successfully transform an organization to be more results oriented, 

customer focused, and collaborative in nature. We reported that 

conducting large-scale change management initiatives are not simple 

endeavors and require the concentrated efforts of both leadership and 

employees to realize intended synergies and to accomplish new 

organizational goals. We also noted that there are a number of key 

practices that can serve as the basis for federal agencies to transform their 

cultures in response to governance challenges, such as those that an 

organization like VA might face when transforming to a centralized IT 

management structure. 

Among the significant factors we identified as critical for ensuring the 

success of VA’s move to centralized management are 

• ensuring commitment from top leadership, 

• establishing a governance structure to manage resources, 

• linking the IT strategic plan to the organization strategic plan,

• using workforce strategic management to identify proper roles for all 

employees,

• communicating change to all stakeholders, and 

• dedicating an implementation team to manage change. 

 9

GAO, Results-Oriented Cultures: Implementation Steps to Assist Mergers and

Organizational Transformations, GAO-03-669 (Washington, D.C.: July 2, 2003); and

Highlights of a GAO Forum: Mergers and Transformation: Lessons Learned for a

Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal Agencies, GAO-03-293SP

(Washington, D.C.: Nov. 14, 2002). 

Page 8 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
VA’s plans for realigning the management of its IT program include 

elements of several of the six factors that we identified as critical to the

department’s implementation of a centralized management structure (see 

table 1). Additional departmental actions could increase assurance that 

the realignment will be completed successfully. Without further action to

fully address the factors we have identified, the risk to successfully 

centralizing the IT operations increases and the long-term benefits of the 

realignment may not be realized. 

Table 1: Summary of VA’s Actions Addressing Critical Success Factors 

Critical success factor Addressed Progress 

Ensuring commitment from 

top leadership

yes Secretary approved the new IT

organization structure and the transfer of 

employees 

Establishing a governance 

structure to manage 

resources 

partially Secretary approved the IT governance 

plan but VA has not established IT

governance boards or process 

descriptions for centrally managing IT

Linking IT strategic plan to 

organization strategic plan 

no VA has not yet updated its IT strategic 

plan to reflect the new organization but 

has established a date by which it intends 

to update the plan 

Using workforce strategic 

management to identify 

proper roles for all 

employees 

partially VA has identified workforce management 

responsibilities but has not established a 

knowledge and skills inventory

Communicating change to 

all stakeholders 

partially VA has addressed staff concerns about 

the realignment through memorandums 

and conferences but has not fully staffed 

offices that will facilitate communication 

Dedicating an 

implementation team to 

manage change

no VA does not plan to establish a 

realignment implementation team 

Source: GAO.

It is important that an organization’s top leadership supports and sustains 

major change initiatives through to completion. We have testified that top 

leadership involvement for making management improvements is critical 

to overcoming an organization’s natural resistance to change, marshaling 

the resources needed to improve management, and building and 

VA Realignment Plans 

Include Critical 

Success Factors

Top Leadership Has 

Committed to the 

Realignment 

Page 9 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
maintaining organizationwide commitment to new ways of doing 

business.10 In addition, in reporting on the results of a forum to identify 

useful practices and lessons learned from major private- and public-sector

organizational transformations, we noted that a key factor for successful 

organizational transformation was ensuring that top leadership drives the 

effort. 

The department has addressed this critical success factor through multiple 

actions. For example, in February 2007, the Secretary approved a new 

organization structure for centralized IT management. This structure was 

recommended by the realignment contractor following its review of the 

department’s strategic business objectives, existing organization structure, 

and business processes and will serve as the framework for organizing the 

IT workforce under the centralized model. The structure assigns roles and 

responsibilities for IT management that VA expects will provide the Office 

of Information and Technology leadership the organizational stature and 

credibility to deal effectively with the administrations on IT matters. 

Another example of the Secretary’s commitment to the realignment came 

through approval of the transfer of IT personnel to the Office of 

Information and Technology. Previously these personnel had been 

assigned to the administrations (e.g., VHA and VBA) and staff offices. The 

movement of these personnel should enable the CIO to improve control 

over IT development and operations in the department. 

A governance structure should ensure suitable stakeholder participation in 

the change initiative and reflect clearly defined stakeholder roles, 

responsibilities, and decision-making authority. When an organization is 

considering a major change initiative, it must ensure there is an 

established governance structure in place that provides for the effective 

use and oversight of resources during and after the change. According to 

VA’s independent verification and validation contractor, two critical 

aspects of governance are (1) the inclusion of relevant stakeholders in the 

development of any new processes resulting from the initiative and (2) 

holding these parties accountable for execution of their responsibilities 

throughout the entire life cycle of the initiative. We have reported that 

organizations need to establish a governance structure that represents the 

entire stakeholder community and reflects clearly defined roles, 

Governance Structure to 

Manage Resources Not Yet 

Complete 

 10GAO-05-1017T. 

Page 10 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
responsibilities, and decision-making authority among the different levels 

of leadership.

11

VA has partially addressed this critical success factor. In particular, while 

the governance plan for centralized management has been approved by 

the Secretary, the department has not yet established boards necessary to

provide governance over the centralized structure and processes that are 

being developed. One of these boards—the Business Needs and 

Investment Board—is to provide investment control for the department’s 

IT projects. According to VA officials, this board had not been established 

because some of the positions on the board had not yet been filled by 

permanent staff. 

In addition, the documentation that the department provided to us lacks 

detailed descriptions of how the new organization would support a 

completed, centralized IT governance process. Until the department 

establishes the elements needed to provide governance over its new IT 

structure and processes, the department cannot provide assurance that 

implementation of centralized management will be successful.

Our November 2002 report noted that organizations attempting a 

transformation needed to establish a coherent mission with integrated 

strategic goals and align the transformed organization to support those 

goals.12 For example, if an organization’s strategic goal is top-quality 

medical care, IT strategic goals and the related transformation should be 

aligned to support that goal. 

An IT strategic plan should define, in cooperation with the relevant 

stakeholders, how IT will contribute to the enterprise’s strategic objectives 

and related costs and risks. Industry documentation further notes that 

planning helps ensure that leadership understands the link between an 

organization’s direction and how IT is aligned to meet the organization’s 

goals. According to this documentation, an organization and its strategies 

should be integrated, clearly linking enterprise goals and IT goals, and 

recognize opportunities as well as current limitations. Further, integration 

of enterprise and goals should be broadly communicated throughout the 

IT Strategic Plan Is to Be 

Updated to Reflect New 

Organization 

 11GAO, Health Information Technology: HHS Is Taking Steps to Develop a National

Strategy, GAO-05-628 (Washington, D.C.: May 27, 2005). 

12GAO-03-293SP. 

Page 11 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
organization to ensure that all users and stakeholders have a clear sense of 

what the organization is attempting to accomplish. 

However, VA has not addressed this critical success factor because it has 

not yet updated an IT strategic plan to reflect the goals of the new 

centralized structure. According to department officials, a draft version of

an updated IT strategic plan is expected to be completed by June 30, 2007. 

Additionally, this plan is expected to support the department’s strategic 

plan, which includes the goals of each of the department’s administrations. 

Until the IT strategic plan is updated, the department will have neither a 

clear link between the department’s strategic plan and the IT strategic plan

nor assurance that the realignment will meet the goals in these plans. 

Workforce strategic management is necessary to ensure that an 

organization has the personnel resources capable of developing and 

delivering the services required of the organization. We have previously 

reported that success in major change initiatives is more likely when the 

best individuals are selected for each position based on their 

competencies rather than on where they work.13 That is, the new 

organization needs to avoid a situation where key personnel are selected 

on the basis of an understanding that each of the originating components 

gets its “turn” in the selection process. Such an approach not only 

undermines the quality of the selections but also raises questions about 

top leadership’s ability and commitment to creating a new, integrated 

organization.

We have also reported that it is important to establish an organizationwide 

knowledge and skills inventory to exchange knowledge among 

transforming organizations. Valuable information resides in the 

organizational components of transformations, and when these 

components are combined, these intellectual assets are extremely 

powerful and beneficial to employees and stakeholders. Knowledge and 

skills inventories not only capture the intellectual assets of the new 

organization but also signal to employees that their particular expertise is 

valued by the organization.14 In addition, industry documentation notes 

that workforce strategic management should be supported by well-defined

IT Workforce Aligned 

under CIO, but Staff Roles 

Have Yet to Be Defined 

 13GAO-03-293SP. 

14GAO-03-669. 

Page 12 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
personnel competencies, staffing of appropriate roles, training, and related 

factors necessary for high performance. 

The department has taken steps to partially address this critical success 

factor. As stated previously, the department has aligned almost all of its IT 

workforce under the CIO, having transferred approximately 6,000 

personnel from the administrations to the CIO’s office. In addition, the 

department has identified the responsibilities for workforce strategic 

management within its new organizational structure—the Assistant 

Secretary for Information Technology has responsibility for workforce 

planning; the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Technology 

Resource Management has responsibility for ensuring the alignment of IT 

workforce skills with IT goals and objectives; and the Human Resources 

and Training Management Office has responsibility for developing and 

executing the human capital plan that supports the IT strategy. 

Nonetheless, key tasks remain to be completed in order for this critical 

factor to be fully addressed. For example, department officials indicate 

that VA is currently assessing the roles and responsibilities of the 

approximately 6,000 staff that have been permanently assigned to the 

Office of Information and Technology, but the department has not yet 

established a knowledge and skills inventory to determine what skills are 

available in order to decide the proper roles for all employees within the 

new organization. Also, the department has not yet developed policies and 

procedures to centrally manage the IT personnel, assessed personnel 

requirements, defined training requirements, or created career and 

training paths and requirements for the personnel. Until the department 

completes these important tasks, the success of the realignment is at risk 

because IT personnel may be situated in inappropriate positions within the 

department or they may lack adequate training to fulfill their job 

requirements. 

Any major change initiative should be supported by an effective 

communication strategy that shares expectations, reports on progress, and 

articulates the mission, service objectives, and policies and procedures. 

Our 2002 report on transformations noted that such communication 

should reach out to employees, customers, and stakeholders, engaging 

them in a two-way exchange.15 Furthermore, communication should 

Certain Actions Have Been 

Taken to Address 

Communication 

 15GAO-03-293SP. 

Page 13 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
provide for feedback about progress and concerns from stakeholders that 

will result in meaningful improvement in the transformation. 

The department has partially addressed this critical factor for successful 

implementation of its new structure. In particular, VA has taken actions to

improve communication for the realignment by addressing staff concerns. 

During our site visits to two VA medical centers, communication of 

realignment goals and activities had been a concern for IT staff. The staff

at these locations reported they had difficulty communicating directly with 

VA headquarters staff responsible for the realignment to obtain responses 

to issues. In addition, the department’s realignment contractor reported in 

its survey of 167 VA facilities that 47 percent of VA facility staff wanted to 

see more information about the realignment and 23 percent of VA facility 

CIOs reported little opportunity for feedback from the VA field sites. 

In response to these concerns, the department distributed policy 

memoranda on changes resulting from the realignment and requested 

employee input on the realignment through a forum on the VA Web site. In

addition, the department held conferences for Office of Information and 

Technology management and staff (which included sessions with the VA 

CIO) to communicate the goals and activities of the realignment. 

Nonetheless, further action could help ensure sustained communication 

throughout the realignment effort. Specifically, while the department has 

identified the Business Relationship Management Office as the single point

of contact between the Office of Information and Technology and the 

administrations, it has not yet staffed this office. According to the 

department, it has concentrated its efforts to date on transferring staff to 

the CIO’s office and on creating a new organizational structure. However, 

the performance of the Business Relationship Management Office in 

communicating the needs of the administrations to the Office of 

Information and Technology will be critical to the success of the 

realignment. Until this office is fully staffed, VA increases the risk that 

communication across the department will be inadequate, jeopardizing 

user and stakeholder support for the initiative. 

We reported in 2003 that a dedicated implementation team that is 

responsible for the day-to-day management of a major change initiative is 

critical to ensure that the project receives the focused, full-time attention 

needed to be sustained and successful.16 Specifically, the implementation 

VA Has Not Dedicated an 

Implementation Team to 

Manage the Realignment 

 16GAO-03-669. 

Page 14 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
team is important to ensuring that various change initiatives are 

implemented in a coherent and integrated way. The team must have the

necessary authority and resources to set priorities, make timely decisions, 

and move quickly to implement the transformation. In addition, the 

implementation team can assist in tracking implementation goals for a 

change initiative and identifying performance shortfalls or schedule 

slippages. It is important for the team to use performance metrics to 

provide a succinct and concrete statement of expected performance 

versus actual performance. Because of its close involvement with the 

change initiative, the implementation team can also suggest corrections to 

remedy any problems. 

The department has not addressed this critical success factor because it

has not dedicated an implementation team to manage the realignment 

effort and track its progress. At the conclusion of our review, staff from 

the IT realignment office, which was responsible for overseeing the 

realignment, had been reassigned to other areas of responsibility within 

the department’s new structure. In addition, the Director of the 

Realignment Office told us that multiple offices will assume responsibility 

for managing the realignment through July 2008. For example, the Office 

of Quality and Performance Management will oversee process 

implementation across the Office of Information and Technology, and the 

Office of Oversight and Compliance Management will assess whether the 

department is complying with the new processes. However, there is no 

one entity currently responsible for managing the realignment. 

In addition, according to the Director of the Realignment Office, the

department has developed performance metrics to measure progress on 

the implementation of the new management processes. However, metrics 

have not yet been developed to assess progress in implementing key 

milestones of the realignment. He noted that the department planned to 

develop performance metrics for tracking the progress of the realignment 

and that these metrics would be finalized by mid-June 2007. 

Also, the department expects to implement the new IT management 

processes incrementally by July 2008, but it has missed key 

implementation dates for these processes. Implementation of the first 9 of 

36 processes was to begin in March 2007; however, as of early May 2007, 

the department had only begun pilot testing two of the new processes.17

 17The two processes are (1) risk management and (2) solution test and acceptance. 

Page 15 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
With the dissolution of the IT Realignment Office in June, and the absence 

of any one entity currently dedicated for managing the realignment, it is 

less likely that VA will be able to ensure that the realignment is managed 

effectively throughout its implementation. 

Within VA’s new centralized management structure, the CIO is expected to

be responsible for ensuring that there are fiscal controls over the 

department’s IT appropriation and for overseeing capital planning and 

execution. These responsibilities are consistent with the Clinger-Cohen 

Act of 1996,18 which requires federal agencies to develop processes for the 

selection, control, and evaluation of major systems initiatives. According 

to the department, it plans to establish the CIO’s control over the IT 

budget by (1) designating organizations with specific roles and 

responsibilities for controlling the budget to report directly to the CIO, (2) 

implementing an IT governance structure that assigns budget oversight 

responsibilities to specific governance boards, and (3) developing and 

implementing IT portfolio management and financial management 

processes in the new organization. While these measures show the 

potential for establishing the CIO’s control of the budget, the department 

has not yet fully implemented them; thus, their effectiveness in ensuring 

accountability for the budget has not yet been established. 

As one measure to establish CIO control within the new organization, two 

deputy assistant secretaries under the CIO are expected to have 

responsibility for managing and controlling different aspects of the IT 

budget. Specifically, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for IT Enterprise 

Strategy, Policy, and Programs is to have responsibility for the creation, 

implementation, and control of an integrated IT portfolio, and for the 

design, development, and implementation of a portfolio management 

process. In addition, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information 

Technology Resource Management is to have responsibility for managing 

budget execution and compliance, including tracking actual expenditures 

against the budget. 

However, as of May 2007, the deputy assistant secretary positions had 

been filled with acting officials,19 and department officials could not 

Centralized Control of 

IT Budget Has Not Yet 

Been Clearly 

Established 

Deputy Assistant Secretaries to 

Control Aspects of IT Budget 

 1840 U.S.C. §§ 11311-11313.

19Currently, the titles for these positions are deputy CIO for IT Resource Management and 

deputy CIO for IT Enterprise Strategy, Policy, Plans, and Programs, pending congressional 

approval of the Senior Executive Service deputy assistant secretary positions. 

Page 16 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
provide a date for when permanent appointees would be named to these 

positions. In addition, while these offices had been identified in the new 

organization structure, VA had not determined when personnel would be 

staffed to the offices and would assume their budget oversight 

responsibilities. Until these positions are filled with permanent 

appointees, the department cannot ensure their effectiveness in managing 

and controlling the IT budget. 

As a second measure, the IT governance plan, which was approved by the 

Secretary in April 2007, describes VA’s approach to enhancing governance, 

including management of the IT budget. The plan states that the decision

to undertake IT investments requires adherence to the governance process 

to assure that investments align with the department’s strategic plan. In

addition, it states that investment governance decisions should address 

how the department will program and budget resources against the IT 

business plan, meet customer demands, and allocate funding according to

the needs and requirements of the administrations and staff offices. 

According to the plan, two governance boards are to have responsibility 

for overseeing the development and approval of the budget and 

monitoring budget execution: 

IT Governance Plan Identifies 

Boards to Assist in 

Management of IT Budget 

• The Business Needs and Investment Board is to provide departmentwide

investment control for the IT programs. Its responsibilities are to include 

reviewing investments, formulating and approving budgets, determining 

the source and amount of funding for IT projects, and monitoring budget 

execution. This board is to be chaired by the Principle Deputy Assistant 

Secretary of the Office of Information and Technology, and its 

membership is to include senior representatives of the administrations and 

staff offices, resource management offices, and selected IT service 

managers. 

• The IT Leadership Board is to develop and approve the departmentwide IT 

budget based on information submitted to it by the Business Needs and 

Investment Board. This board is to be chaired by the CIO, and membership 

is to include key executive leaders in the Office of Information and 

Technology, administrations, and staff offices. 

In addition to these two governance boards, the Strategic Management 

Council is to be responsible for making decisions on the overall level of IT

spending and priorities for the department and for approving budgets. The 

Strategic Management Council was in place prior to the realignment effort 

and the governance plan noted that it would be included as part of the 

governance structure. It is chaired by the Deputy Secretary, and its 

membership includes senior department leadership. As an example of the 

Page 17 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
planned interaction between the boards, the Business Needs and 

Investment Board is to ensure that the administrations and staff offices’ 

requirements have been identified, documented, justified, scoped, 

planned, and prioritized and that funds have been allocated. This 

information is to be forwarded with all other prioritized requirements to 

the IT Leadership Board for review and endorsement and then sent on to

the Strategic Management Council for departmentwide approval. 

As of early May 2007, however, VA officials stated that neither the 

Business Needs and Investment Board nor the IT Leadership Board had 

been established. VA officials also could not provide a date for when they 

would be set up. Until the governance boards are in place with the 

Strategic Management Council, the department will lack a complete 

governance model for the new organization. 

As a third measure to establish the CIO’s control over the IT budget, VA 

plans to implement processes that specifically address portfolio 

management and financial management. As noted earlier in this report, it 

is crucial for the CIO to ensure that well-established and integrated 

processes are in place for leading, managing, and controlling VA’s IT 

resources. These two processes represent how the CIO organization 

intends to carry out its responsibilities for the development and control of 

the budget. Specifically, the IT portfolio management process is to address 

how the CIO will manage the department’s investment portfolio to achieve 

strategic objectives and allocate funding. The process is to include steps

VA will take to identify, select, initiate, manage, and control its projects. 

According to the realignment assistance contractor, implementation of 

this process should help VA make better investment decisions and gain

better control over its projects. 

The financial management process, according to its charter, will address 

how the CIO organization plans to manage IT investment programs,20

address costs and benefits of investments, and provide a formal budgeting 

process for managing the IT portfolio against the budget. According to the 

realignment assistance contractor, implementation of this process should 

provide the CIO with accurate cost information to support IT investment 

decisions and justify expenditures, and enable this official to ensure that 

Two New Management 

Processes Are to Address IT 

Budget 

 20According to the process charter, these programs encompass cost, benefits, prioritization 

within budget, a formal budgeting process and management against the budget. 

Page 18 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
the Office of Information and Technology operates in a cost-effective 

manner by providing a sound basis for cost-benefit analyses.

While the department had identified individuals who would be responsible 

for implementing these two processes, an official in the realignment office

told us that the schedule for implementing the processes had not been 

established. The official stated that VA nonetheless expected to complete 

implementation of all management processes and meet the July 2008 

target date for full implementation of the realignment. However, the 

absence of a schedule to implement these two processes increases the risk 

that they will not be implemented in a timely manner, thus reducing their 

effectiveness in contributing to improved IT budget accountability and 

oversight. 

The department has taken various actions that address several of the 

factors we identified as critical to its realignment, including establishing a 

new organizational structure, approving its governance plan, and 

transferring IT staff to the CIO’s authority. While these are positive steps, 

the department has much work to complete in order to ensure the success 

of its efforts. For example, the department has not yet developed detailed

IT governance process descriptions to address the management of IT 

resources, established a knowledge and skills inventory to determine the 

proper roles for employees transferred to the new organization, or 

identified the personnel requirements, career paths, and training 

requirements for these employees. Further, the department has not fully 

staffed offices necessary for supporting the new structure, identified an 

implementation team that will be responsible for managing the change to 

the new management structure, or developed performance metrics to 

assess progress in implementing key milestones of the realignment. The 

department’s continued focus on ensuring that these important actions are 

taken is essential to successfully achieving and realizing the benefits of the 

realignment.

While department officials and realignment documents identified three 

measures of the realignment that are to provide the CIO with control over 

the IT budget, VA has yet to identify how and when this control will be 

achieved. Specifically, the department has not yet staffed with permanent 

appointees the two deputy assistant secretary positions that will have 

responsibility for IT budget management and control, established the two 

governance boards that are to have IT budget oversight responsibility, or 

developed a schedule for implementation of the IT portfolio management 

and financial management processes. Without showing how and when 

Conclusions 

Page 19 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
such controls will be in place, it remains unclear if VA’s actions will result 

in optimizing its IT investment management process to provide the CIO 

with full control over the budget. 

To ensure that VA’s IT realignment is successfully accomplished, we 

recommend that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs direct the Chief 

Information Officer to take the following six actions: 

Recommendations for 

Executive Action 

• Develop detailed IT governance process descriptions that address how the 

department will manage IT resources within the centralized organization. 

• Establish a knowledge and skills inventory to determine what skills are 

available in order to decide the proper roles for all employees transferred 

to the new organization.

• Assess personnel requirements under the centralized management model, 

including career paths and appropriate training requirements. 

• Fully staff all offices necessary for supporting the new organizational 

structure. 

• Dedicate an implementation team responsible for change management 

processes throughout the transformation to a centralized IT structure. 

• Expedite the development of performance metrics to track the progress of 

the realignment. 

In addition, to ensure that centralized control of the IT budget is 

established, we recommend that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs direct 

the Chief Information Officer to take the following three actions: 

• Establish milestones to permanently staff the deputy assistant secretary 

position for IT Enterprise Strategy, Policy, and Programs and the deputy 

assistant secretary position for IT Resource Management. 

• Commit to a date for establishing the Business Needs and Investment 

Board and the IT Leadership Board. 

• Establish a schedule for the implementation of the IT portfolio 

management and financial management processes. 

Page 20 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
In providing written comments on a draft of this report, the Deputy 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs agreed with our findings and generally 

concurred with our recommendations. (The department’s comments are 

reproduced in app. II.) The comments described actions planned that 

respond to our recommendations: for example, developing and 

implementing an IT career management program that includes a 

knowledge and skills inventory for Office of Information and Technology 

employees, and fully implementing the IT governance plan by October 

2007. In addition, the comments provided further information on the 

department’s actions taken since receiving our draft report, such as the 

establishment of the Business Needs and Investment Board that is a key 

component of the IT governance process; establishment of offices 

responsible for ensuring compliance with IT policies, directives and core 

IT processes; and filling a senior executive position in the Office of 

Information and Technology. If the actions that the department has 

planned to undertake are properly implemented, they should help ensure 

that the IT realignment is successfully accomplished. 

Although the department concurred with all our recommendations, it 

provided an alternative approach to dedicating an implementation team 

responsible for change management processes throughout the 

transformation to a centralized IT structure. Its written comments 

indicated that change management would be the responsibility of two 

organizations in the new structure. However, in our view, having a 

dedicated implementation team, responsible for day-to-day management of 

major change initiatives, is crucial to VA’s ability to ensure that the IT 

realignment is fully and successfully implemented in a coherent, 

integrated, and coordinated manner. The approach articulated in the 

department’s comments does not make clear how progress will be 

monitored, schedule slippages or shortfalls identified, and solutions to 

problems developed and implemented. Without having a dedicated 

implementation team, as we recommend, the department may increase the

risk to the success of the realignment. 

We are sending copies of this report to the Chairman and Ranking Member 

of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, House of Representatives. We are 

also sending copies to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and appropriate 

congressional committees. We will also make copies available to others on

request. In addition, the report is available at no charge on GAO’s Web site 

at http://www.gao.gov. 

Agency Comments 

and Our Evaluation 

Page 21 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
If you and your staff have any questions about this report, please contact 

me at (202) 512-6304 or melvinv@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of 

Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page 

of this report. Major contributors to this report are listed in appendix III. 

Valerie C. Melvin 

Director, Human Capital and 

 Management Information Systems Issues 

Page 22 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Appendix I: Scope and Appendix I: Scope and Methodology Methodology 

To determine whether the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

realignment plan includes critical factors for successful implementation of 

a centralized management approach, we obtained and analyzed 

realignment documents from VA, its realignment contractor, and the 

independent verification and validation (IV&V) contractor. These 

documents included the realignment contract request for quotes and 

memorandums signed by the Secretary and Deputy Secretary relating to

approval of the permanent assignment of operations and maintenance and 

development staff to the Office of Information and Technology. The 

documents also included the establishment of the VA single information 

technology (IT) leadership authority. We also obtained and analyzed the 

realignment contractor’s performance work statement, which detailed the

work the contractor was to perform. In addition, we reviewed other 

contractor deliverables, such as process charters for the new IT 

management processes, the “to be” organization structure transition plan,

and the transition management plan. VA also provided IV&V contractor 

documents that assessed each of the realignment contract deliverables. 

We reviewed these documents to identify problems and concerns raised 

by the IV&V contractor. 

To identify factors critical to the success of the centralization effort, we 

reviewed GAO products relevant to organizational transformation. We also 

reviewed industry best practices documentation, such as the IT 

Governance Institute’s Control Objectives for Information and related 

Technology 4.0, to identify industry standard success factors for IT 

organizations. To validate the success factors, we met with IV&V 

contractor officials to elicit their input on the relevance and soundness of 

factors we identified for consideration in our assessment of the 

realignment effort. IV&V contractor officials concurred that the factors we 

developed are critical to VA’s successful IT realignment. In addition, we 

compared documents obtained from VA and realignment contractor 

officials against these factors to determine the level to which the critical

success factors were included. We also conducted monthly meetings with 

the VA realignment team and the realignment contractor to determine 

whether these critical success factors were being considered in the 

implementation of the realignment. 

We visited the VA medical center and a benefits administration office in 

Baltimore and a VA medical center in Philadelphia to become familiar with 

the methodology that the realignment contractor was using to assess VA’s 

readiness for the realignment. We observed teams from the realignment 

contractor as they gathered information that would be used to create a 

baseline of IT activities and a transition plan for the department. We 

Page 23 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Appendix I: Scope and 

Methodology 

selected these locations due to the schedule availability of the department

and the contractor and because they are representative of VA facilities. 

To determine how the centralized management approach will ensure that 

the CIO is accountable for VA’s entire IT budget, including those funds 

that previously had been administered by its administrations, we reviewed 

VA and realignment contractor documentation and plans that specifically

address IT budget oversight and execution under the realignment. These 

documents included roles and responsibilities for those VA organizations 

listed in the single IT leadership organization structure that are to have

responsibility for IT portfolio and financial management, the IT 

Governance Plan, and the IT Portfolio Management and Financial 

Management Process Design and Implementation Plans. To supplement 

our analysis, we met with officials in VA’s Office of Information and 

Technology who are responsible for managing and executing the IT 

budget. We conducted our work in VA offices in Washington, D.C., and at

VA facilities in Baltimore and Philadelphia from June 2006 through May 

2007 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards. 

Page 24 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Appendix II: Comments from the Department Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs 

of Veterans Affairs 

Page 25 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Appendix II: Comments from the Department 

of Veterans Affairs 

Page 26 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Appendix II: Comments from the Department 

of Veterans Affairs 

Page 27 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Appendix II: Comments from the Department 

of Veterans Affairs 

Page 28 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Appendix II: Comments from the Department 

of Veterans Affairs 

Page 29 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs
Page 30 GAO-07-844 Veterans Affairs 

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

Valerie C. Melvin, (202) 512-6304 or melvinv@gao.gov

In addition to the contact named above, major contributors to this report 

were Barbara Oliver, Assistant Director; Nabajyoti Barkakati; Jacki Bauer; 

Neil Doherty; Nancy Glover; B. Scott Pettis; J. Michael Resser; and Eric 

Trout. 

GAO Contact 

Staff 

Acknowledgments 

(310760) 
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