DEPARTMENT OF 

HOMELAND SECURITY

Continued Progress Made 

Improving and Integrating 

Management Areas, but 

More Work Remains

Statement of David C. Maurer, Director

Homeland Security and Justice Issues

Testimony 

Before the Committee on Homeland 

Security, House of Representatives

For Release on Delivery 

Expected at 10:00 a.m. EST

Thursday, September 20, 2012

GAO-12-1041T

United States Government Accountability Office

GAO
Page 1 GAO-12-1041T 

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548

Chairman King, Ranking Member Thompson, and Members of the 

Committee:

I am pleased to be here today to discuss the Department of Homeland 

Security’s (DHS) efforts to strengthen and integrate its management 

functions. DHS now has more than 200,000 employees and an annual 

budget of almost $60 billion, and its transformation is critical to achieving 

its homeland security and other missions. Since 2003, GAO has 

designated the implementation and transformation of DHS as high risk 

because DHS had to combine 22 agencies—several with major 

management challenges—into one department, and failure to effectively 

address DHS’s management and mission risks could have serious 

consequences for our national and economic security.1

In November 2000, we published our criteria for removing areas from the 

high-risk list.

This high-risk 

area includes challenges in strengthening DHS’s management 

functions—financial management, acquisition management, human 

capital, and information technology (IT)—the effect of those challenges on

DHS’s mission implementation, and challenges in integrating 

management functions within and across the department and its 

components.

2

 

1

GAO, High-Risk Series: An Update, 

Specifically, agencies must have (1) a demonstrated strong 

commitment and top leadership support to address the risks; (2) the 

capacity (that is, the people and other resources) to resolve the risks; (3) 

a corrective action plan that identifies the root causes, identifies effective 

solutions, and provides for substantially completing corrective measures 

in the near term, including but not limited to steps necessary to implement 

solutions we recommended; (4) a program instituted to monitor and 

independently validate the effectiveness and sustainability of corrective 

measures; and (5) the ability to demonstrate progress in implementing 

corrective measures.

GAO-03-119 (Washington, D.C.: January 2003); 

GAO High-Risk Series: An Update, GAO-09-271 (Washington, D.C.: January 2009); HighRisk Series: An Update, GAO-07-310 (Washington, D.C.: January 2007); and High-Risk 

Series: An Update, GAO-05-207 (Washington, D.C.: January 2005).

2

GAO, Determining Performance and Accountability Challenges and High Risks, 

GAO-01-159SP (Washington, D.C.: November 2000).

 
 

Page 2 GAO-12-1041T 

On the basis of our prior work, in a September 2010 letter to DHS, we 

identified, and DHS agreed to achieve, 31 actions and outcomes that are 

critical to addressing the challenges within the department’s management 

areas and in integrating those functions across the department to address 

the high-risk designation.3 These key actions and outcomes include, 

among others, obtaining and then sustaining unqualified audit opinions for 

at least 2 consecutive years on the departmentwide financial statements; 

validating required acquisition documents in accordance with a 

department-approved, knowledge-based acquisition process; and 

demonstrating measurable progress in implementing its IT human capital 

plan and accomplishing defined outcomes.4

My testimony this morning, as requested, will discuss our observations, 

based on prior and ongoing work, on DHS’s progress in achieving 

outcomes critical to addressing its high-risk designation for the 

implementation and transformation of the department. 

In January 2011, DHS issued 

its initial Integrated Strategy for High Risk Management, which included 

key management initiatives (e.g., financial management controls, IT 

program governance, and procurement staffing model) to address 

challenges and the outcomes we identified for each management area. 

DHS provided updates of its progress in implementing these initiatives in 

later versions of the strategy—June 2011, December 2011, and June 

2012. Achieving and sustaining progress in these management areas 

would demonstrate the department’s ability and ongoing commitment to 

addressing our five criteria for removing issues from the high-risk list. 

This statement is based on prior reports and testimonies we issued from 

June 2007 through September 2012 and letters we submitted to DHS in 

March and November 2011 providing feedback on the department’s 

January and June 2011 versions of its Integrated Strategy for High Risk 

Management.

5

 

3

See appendix I for a summary of the 31 actions and outcomes.

For the past products, among other methodologies, we 

interviewed DHS officials; analyzed DHS strategies and other documents 

related to the department’s implementation and transformation high-risk 

area; and reviewed our past reports, issued since DHS began its 

4

An unqualified opinion states that the audited financial statements present fairly, in all 

material respects, the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows of the entity 

in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.

5

See the related products list at the end of this statement.
 

Page 3 GAO-12-1041T 

operations in March 2003. All of this work was conducted in accordance 

with generally accepted government auditing standards; more-detailed 

information on the scope and methodology from our prior work can be 

found within each specific report. This statement is also based on 

observations from our ongoing work related to DHS IT investments.6 For 

this work, we analyzed recent cost and schedule performance for DHS’s 

major IT investments as reported to the Office of Management and 

Budget as of March 2012. We will report on the final results of this review 

later this month. We are conducting this work 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 objectives.

Since we designated the implementation and transformation of DHS as 

high risk in 2003, DHS has made progress addressing management 

challenges and senior department officials have demonstrated 

commitment and top leadership support for addressing the department’s 

management challenges. However, the department has significant work 

ahead to achieve positive outcomes in resolving high-risk issues. For 

example, DHS faces challenges in modernizing its financial systems, 

implementing acquisition management controls, and improving employee 

satisfaction survey results, among other things. As DHS continues to 

mature as an organization, it will be important for the department to

continue to strengthen its management functions, since the effectiveness 

of these functions affects its ability to fulfill its homeland security and 

other missions.

Financial management. DHS has made progress in addressing its 

financial management and internal controls weaknesses, but has been 

unable to obtain an unqualified audit opinion on its financial statements

 

6

This review is being conducted at the request of this Committee’s Subcommittee on 

Oversight, Investigations, and Management; and Senator Thomas Carper, Chairman, 

Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal 

Services and International Security of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs.

DHS Has Made

Progress in 

Addressing Its 

Management 

Challenges, but Has 

Significant Work 

Ahead to Achieve 

High-Risk Outcomes
 

Page 4 GAO-12-1041T 

since the department’s creation and faces challenges in modernizing its 

financial management systems. DHS has, among other things,

• reduced the number of material weaknesses in internal controls from 

18 in 2003 to 5 in fiscal year 2011;7

• achieved its goal of receiving a qualified audit opinion on its fiscal year 

2011 consolidated balance sheet and statement of custodial activity 

for the first time since the department’s creation;8

• established a goal of obtaining an audit opinion on all of its fiscal year 

2012 financial statements; and

• expanded the scope of the annual financial audit to the complete set 

of fiscal year 2012 financial statements, which DHS believes will help 

it to obtain an unqualified opinion for fiscal year 2013.9

However, DHS continues to face challenges in financial management. For 

example, DHS anticipates difficulties in providing its auditors transactionlevel detail to support balances reported in its fiscal year 2012 financial 

statements in order to obtain an opinion on its financial statements. This 

is due to, among other things, components not retaining original 

acquisition documentation or enforcing policies related to recording 

purchases and making payments. DHS also anticipates its auditors 

 

7

A material weakness is a significant deficiency, or a combination of significant 

deficiencies, in internal control such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material 

misstatement of the entity’s financial statements will not be prevented or detected and 

corrected on a timely basis. A significant deficiency is a deficiency, or combination of 

deficiencies, in internal control that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important 

enough to merit attention by those charged with governance. A deficiency in internal 

control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or 

employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or 

detect and correct, misstatements on a timely basis.

8

A qualified opinion states that, except for the effects of the matter(s) to which the 

qualification relates, the audited financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, 

the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows of the entity in conformity with 

generally accepted accounting principles. The matter(s) to which the qualification relates 

could be due to a scope limitation, or the audited financial statements containing a 

material departure from generally accepted accounting principles, or both.

9

DHS’s complete set of financial statements consist of the Balance Sheet, Statement of 

Net Cost, Statement of Changes in Net Position, Statement of Budgetary Resources, and 

Statement of Custodial Activity.
 

Page 5 GAO-12-1041T 

issuing a disclaimer in their fiscal year 2012 report on internal controls 

over financial reporting due to material weaknesses in internal controls, 

such as lack of effective controls over the recording of financial 

transactions related to property, plant, and equipment.

In addition, in December 2011, DHS reported that the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and U.S. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have an essential business 

need to replace their financial management systems, but DHS has not 

fully developed its plans for upgrading existing or implementing new 

financial systems at these agencies. According to DHS’s June 2012 

version of its Integrated Strategy for High Risk Management, the 

department plans to extend the useful life of FEMA’s current system by 

about 3 years, while FEMA proceeds with a new financial management 

system solution, and is in the process of identifying the specific approach, 

necessary resources, and time frames for upgrading existing or 

implementing new financial systems at USCG and ICE. Without sound 

processes, controls, and systems, DHS faces long-term challenges in 

obtaining and sustaining an unqualified opinion on both its financial 

statements and internal controls over financial reporting, and ensuring its 

financial management systems generate reliable, useful, timely 

information for day-to-day decision making. We currently have ongoing

work related to DHS’s efforts to improve its financial reporting that we 

expect to report on in the spring of 2013.10

Acquisition management. DHS has made progress in the acquisition 

management area by enhancing the department’s ability to oversee major 

acquisition programs. For example:

• DHS has established eight Centers of Excellence for cost estimating, 

systems engineering, and other disciplines to bring together program 

managers, senior leadership staff, and subject matter experts to 

promote best practices, provide expert counsel, technical guidance, 

and acquisition management tools; and each DHS component has 

established a Component Acquisition Executive (CAE) to provide 

oversight and support to programs within the component’s portfolio. 

 

10We are doing this work at the request of the Subcommittee on Federal Financial 

Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security of the 

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
 

Page 6 GAO-12-1041T 

According to DHS, as of June 2012, 75 percent of the core CAE 

support positions were filled.

• In March 2012, DHS completed the development of a Procurement 

Staffing Model to determine optimal numbers of personnel to properly 

award and administer contracts. In June 2012, DHS reported that it is 

taking steps to implement the staffing model throughout headquarters 

and the components.

• DHS included a new initiative (strategic sourcing) in its December 

2011 Integrated Strategy for High Risk Management to increase 

savings and improve acquisition efficiency by consolidating contracts 

departmentwide for the same kinds of products and services. The 

Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Procurement 

Policy has cited DHS’s efforts among best practices for implementing 

federal strategic sourcing initiatives. Earlier this month, we reported 

that the department has implemented 42 strategically sourced efforts 

since the department’s inception.11 According to DHS data, the 

department’s spending through strategic sourcing contract vehicles 

has increased steadily from $1.8 billion in fiscal year 2008 to almost 

$3 billion in fiscal year 2011, representing about 20 percent of DHS’s 

procurement spending for that year.

However, DHS continues to face significant challenges in managing its 

acquisitions. For example:

• Earlier this week, we reported that 68 of the 71 program offices we 

surveyed from January through March 2012 responded that they

experienced funding instability, workforce shortfalls, and/or changes 

to their planned capabilities over the programs’ duration.

12 We have 

previously reported that these challenges increase the likelihood 

acquisition programs will cost more and take longer to deliver 

capabilities than expected.13

 

11GAO, Homeland Security: DHS Has Enhanced Procurement Oversight Efforts, but 

Needs to Update Guidance, GAO-12-947 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 10, 2012).

12GAO, Homeland Security: DHS Requires More Disciplined Investment Management to 

Help Meet Mission Needs, GAO-12-833 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 18, 2012).

13GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Assessments of Complex Acquisitions, 

GAO-10-588SP (Washington, D.C.: June 30, 2010). 
 

Page 7 GAO-12-1041T 

• Our recent review of DHS acquisition management also identified that 

while DHS’s acquisition policy reflects many key program 

management practices that could help mitigate risks and increase the 

chances for successful outcomes, it does not fully reflect several key 

portfolio management practices, such as allocating resources 

strategically.14

Human capital management. DHS has taken a number of actions to 

strengthen its human capital management. For example:

DHS plans to develop stronger portfolio management 

policies and processes, but until it does so, DHS programs are more 

likely to experience additional funding instability, which will increase 

the risk of further cost growth and schedule slips. We recommended 

that DHS take a number of actions to help mitigate the risk of poor 

acquisition outcomes and strengthen the department’s investment 

management activities. DHS concurred with all of our 

recommendations and noted actions it had taken or planned to 

address them.

• DHS issued human capital-related plans, guidance, and tools to 

address its human capital challenges, including a Workforce Strategy 

for 2011-2016; a revised Workforce Planning Guide, issued in March 

2011, to help the department plan for its workforce needs; and a 

Balanced Workforce Strategy tool, which some components have 

begun using to help achieve the appropriate mix of federal and 

contractor skills.

• The department implemented two programs to address senior 

leadership recruitment and hiring, as we reported in February 2012.15

While DHS’s senior leadership vacancy rate was as high as 25 

percent in fiscal year 2006, it varied between 2006 and 2011 and 

declined overall to 10 percent at the end of fiscal year 2011.16

• DHS developed outreach plans to appeal to veterans and other 

underrepresented groups.

 

14GAO-12-833. 

15GAO, DHS Human Capital: Senior Leadership Vacancy Rates Generally Declined, but 

Components’ Rates Varied, GAO-12-264 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 10, 2012).

16GAO-12-264. 
 

Page 8 GAO-12-1041T 

While these initiatives are promising, DHS continues to face challenges in 

human capital management. For example:

• As we reported in March 2012, based on our preliminary observations 

of DHS’s efforts to improve employee morale, federal surveys have 

consistently found that DHS employees are less satisfied with their 

jobs than the government-wide average.17 DHS has taken steps to 

identify where it has the most significant employee satisfaction 

problems and developed plans to address those problems, such as 

establishing a departmentwide Employee Engagement Executive 

Steering Committee, but has not yet improved employee satisfaction 

survey results. We plan to issue a final report on our findings later this 

month.18

• As we reported in April 2012, changes in FEMA’s workforce, 

workload, and composition have created challenges in FEMA’s ability 

to meet the agency’s varied responsibilities and train its staff 

appropriately.19

Information technology management. DHS has made progress in 

strengthening its IT management, but the department has much more 

work to do to fully address its IT management weaknesses. Among other 

accomplishments, DHS has:

For example, FEMA has not developed processes to 

systematically collect and analyze agencywide workforce and training 

data that could be used to better inform its decision making. We 

recommended that FEMA, among other things, identify long-term 

quantifiable mission-critical goals, establish lines of authority for 

agencywide workforce planning and training efforts, and develop 

systematic processes to collect and analyze workforce and training 

data. DHS concurred with our recommendations and reported actions 

underway to address them. 

 

17GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Preliminary Observations on DHS’s Efforts to 

Improve Employee Morale. GAO-12-509T (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 22, 2012).

18We are doing this work at the request of this Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight, 

Investigations, and Management; and Senator Susan Collins, Ranking Member of the 

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

19GAO, Federal Emergency Management Agency: Workforce Planning and Training 

Could Be Enhanced by Incorporating Strategic Management Principles, GAO-12-487 

(Washington, D.C.: Apr. 26, 2012).
 

Page 9 GAO-12-1041T 

• strengthened its enterprise architecture;20

• defined and begun to implement a vision for a tiered governance 

structure intended to improve program and portfolio management, as 

we reported in July 2012;21

• established a formal IT Program Management Development Track 

and staffed Centers of Excellence with subject matter experts to assist 

major and non-major programs.

and

Based on preliminary observations from our review of DHS’s major at-risk 

IT acquisitions we are performing for the committee, these improvements 

may be having a positive effect. Specifically, as of March 2012, 

approximately two-thirds of the department’s major IT investments we 

reviewed (47 of 68) were meeting current cost and schedule 

commitments (i.e. goals). 

DHS has made progress, but the department has much more work to do 

to fully address its IT management weaknesses. For example, the 

department needs to:

• finalize the policies and procedures associated with its new tiered 

governance structure and continue to implement this structure, as we 

recommended in our July 2012 report;22

• continue to implement its IT human capital plan, which DHS believed 

would take 18 months to fully implement as of June 2012; and

• continue its efforts to enhance IT security by, among other things, 

effectively addressing material weaknesses in financial systems 

security, developing a plan to track and promptly respond to known 

vulnerabilities, and implementing key security controls and activities.

 

20An enterprise architecture can be viewed as a blueprint for organizational transformation 

and IT modernization.

21GAO, Information Technology: DHS Needs to Further Define and Implement Its New 

Governance Process, GAO-12-818 (Washington, D.C.: July 25, 2012).

22GAO-12-818. 
 

Page 10 GAO-12-1041T 

Management integration. DHS has made progress in integrating its 

individual management functions across the department and its 

component agencies. For example, DHS has put into place common 

policies, procedures, and systems within individual management 

functions, such as human capital, that help to integrate its component 

agencies, as we reported in September 2011.23 To strengthen this effort, 

in May 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security modified the 

delegations of authority between the Management Directorate and their 

counterparts at the component level. According to DHS, this action will 

provide increased standardization of operating guidelines, policies, 

structures, and oversight of programs. Additionally, DHS has taken steps 

to standardize key data elements for the management areas across the 

department to enhance its decision-making. For example, in April 2012, 

the Under Secretary for Management appointed an executive steering 

committee and tasked this committee with creating a “Data Mart” to 

integrate data from disparate sources and allow the dissemination of 

timely and reliable information by March 2013. Further, consistent with 

our prior recommendations, DHS has implemented mechanisms to 

promote accountability for management integration among department 

and component management chiefs by, among other things, having the 

department chiefs develop written objectives that explicitly reflect 

priorities and milestones for that management function.24

Although these actions are important, DHS needs to continue to 

demonstrate sustainable progress in integrating its management 

functions within and across the department and its components and take 

additional actions to further and more effectively integrate the department. 

For example, DHS recognizes the need to better integrate its lines of 

business. The Integrated Investment Life Cycle Model (IILCM), which the 

department is establishing to manage investments across the 

department’s components and management functions, is an attempt at 

doing that. DHS identified the IILCM as one of its most significant 

management integration initiatives in January 2011. However, the June 

2012 update reported that this initiative is in its early planning stages, will 

 

23GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Progress Made and Work Remaining in 

Implementing Homeland Security Missions 10 Years after 9/11, GAO-11-881 (Washington 

D.C.: Sept. 7, 2011).

24GAO, Department of Homeland Security: Actions Taken Toward Management 

Integration, but a Comprehensive Strategy Is Still Needed, GAO-10-131 (Washington, 

D.C.: Nov. 20, 2009).
 

Page 11 GAO-12-1041T 

be phased in over multiple budget cycles, and requires additional 

resources to fully operationalize. In September 2012, DHS reported that it 

has developed draft policy and procedural guidance to support 

implementation of the IILCM and now plans to begin using aspects of this 

new approach to develop portions of the department’s fiscal years 2015 

through 2019 budget.

DHS strategy for addressing GAO’s high-risk designation. In January 

2011, DHS issued an agencywide management integration strategy—the 

Integrated Strategy for High Risk Management—as we recommended in 

our March 2005 report on DHS’s management integration efforts.25 DHS’s 

most recent version of the strategy, issued in June 2012, greatly 

improved upon prior versions and addressed feedback we previously 

provided by, for example, identifying key measures and progress ratings 

for the 18 initiatives included in the strategy and the 31 outcomes.26

DHS can further strengthen or clarify its Integrated Strategy for High Risk 

Management to better enable DHS, Congress, and GAO to assess the 

department’s progress in implementing its management initiatives by, 

among other things: determining the resource needs for all of the 

corrective actions in the strategy; communicating to senior leadership 

critical resource gaps across all initiatives; and identifying program and 

project risks in a supporting risk mitigation plan for all initiatives.

We 

believe the June 2012 strategy, if implemented and sustained, provides a 

path for DHS to address our high-risk designation.

Going forward, DHS needs to continue implementing its Integrated 

Strategy for High Risk Management and show measurable, sustainable 

progress in implementing its key management initiatives and corrective 

actions and achieving outcomes. We will continue to monitor, assess, and 

provide feedback on DHS’s implementation and transformation efforts 

through our ongoing and planned work, including the 2013 high-risk 

update that we expect to issue in January 2013.

 

25GAO, Department of Homeland Security: A Comprehensive and Sustained Approach 

Needed to Achieve Management Integration, GAO-05-139 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 16, 

2005).

26GAO-10-131. 
 

Page 12 GAO-12-1041T 

Chairman King, Ranking Member Thompson, and Members of the 

Committee, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be pleased to 

respond to any questions that you may have.

For questions about this statement, please contact David C. Maurer at 

(202) 512-9627 or maurerd@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of 

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

of this statement. Individuals making key contributions to this statement 

include Maria Strudwick, Assistant Director; Victoria Miller, Analyst-inCharge; and Chloe Brown. Other contributors include: David Alexander, 

Michael LaForge, Tom Lombardi, Anjalique Lawrence, Gary Mountjoy, 

Sabine Paul, and Katherine Trimble. Key contributors for the previous 

work that this testimony is based on are listed within each individual 

product.

GAO Contact and 

Staff 

Acknowledgments 
Appendix I: Summary of Actions and 

Outcomes for Addressing the Implementing 

and Transforming the Department of Homeland 

Security High-Risk Area

Page 13 GAO-12-1041T 

On the basis of our prior work, in a September 2010 letter to the 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), we identified 31 actions and 

outcomes that are critical to addressing the challenges within the 

department’s management areas and in integrating those functions 

across the department, thus addressing the high-risk designation. This 

appendix provides a summary of the 31 actions and outcomes.

Financial management

1. Maintain top management commitment to correcting weaknesses

2. Address internal control, business process, and systems weaknesses

3. Commit sufficient resources to implement financial system 

modernization and complete a full-scope audit of the department’s 

basic financial statements

4. Expand scope of financial statement audit to include an opinion on all 

of the department’s basic financial statements

5. Sustain clean opinions for at least 2 consecutive years

6. Comply with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 

1996

7. Embrace best practices for financial system modernization

8. Establish contractor oversight mechanisms for financial system 

modernization

9. Successfully implement new or upgrade existing financial systems as 

needed throughout the department, including the U.S. Coast Guard 

(USCG), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and U.S. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Acquisition management

1. Validate required acquisition documents in a timely manner at major 

milestones, including life-cycle cost estimates, in accordance with a 

department-approved, knowledge-based acquisition process

2. Improve component acquisition capability

3. Establish a Joint Requirements Council or a similar body

4. Ensure a sufficient number of trained acquisition personnel are in 

place at the department and component levels

Appendix I: Summary of Actions and 

Outcomes for Addressing the Implementing 

and Transforming the Department of 

Homeland Security High-Risk Area
Appendix I: Summary of Actions and 

Outcomes for Addressing the Implementing 

and Transforming the Department of Homeland 

Security High-Risk Area

Page 14 GAO-12-1041T 

5. Establish and demonstrate measurable progress in achieving goals 

that improve programs’ compliance with the department’s established 

processes and policies. For major acquisitions, demonstrate that 

actual cost and schedule performance are within baseline thresholds.

Human capital management

1. Implement a human capital strategic plan

2. Link workforce planning to other department planning efforts

3. Enhance recruiting to meet current and long-term needs

4. Base human capital decisions on competencies and performance

5. Seek employees’ input to strengthen human capital approaches and 

activities

6. Improve scores on the Office of Personnel Management’s Federal 

Employee Viewpoint Survey

7. Assess and improve training, education, and development programs

Information technology management

1. Demonstrate achievement of stage 4 of GAO’s Enterprise 

Architecture Management Maturity Framework (that is, completing 

and using an enterprise architecture for targeted results)

2. Establish and implement information technology (IT) investment 

management best practices

3. Establish and implement IT system acquisition management 

processes

4. Show progress in implementing the IT strategic human capital plan

5. Demonstrate for at least two consecutive investment increments that 

cost and schedule performance is within the established threshold 

baseline for major investments

6. Enhance the security of internal IT systems and networks
Appendix I: Summary of Actions and 

Outcomes for Addressing the Implementing 

and Transforming the Department of Homeland 

Security High-Risk Area

Page 15 GAO-12-1041T 

Management integration

1. Implement actions and outcomes in each management area

2. Revise management integration strategy to address characteristics 

we previously recommended, such as set implementation goals and a 

timeline to monitor progress

3. Establish performance measures to assess progress made in 

achieving departmentwide management integration

4. Promote accountability for management integration among 

department and management chiefs through the performance 

management system
Related GAO Reports

Page 16 GAO-12-1041T 

Homeland Security: DHS Requires More Disciplined Investment 

Management to Help Meet Mission Needs. GAO-12-833. Washington, 

D.C.: September 18, 2012.

Department of Homeland Security: Oversight and Coordination of 

Research and Development Should Be Strengthened. GAO-12-837. 

Washington, D.C.: September 12, 2012.

Homeland Security: DHS Has Enhanced Procurement Oversight Efforts, 

but Needs to Update Guidance. GAO-12-947. Washington, D.C.: 

September 10, 2012.

Information Technology: DHS Needs to Further Define and Implement Its 

New Governance Process. GAO-12-818. Washington, D.C.: July 25, 

2012.

Federal Emergency Management Agency: Workforce Planning and 

Training Could Be Enhanced by Incorporating Strategic Management 

Principles. GAO-12-487. Washington, D.C.: April 26, 2012.

Department of Homeland Security: Preliminary Observations on DHS’s 

Efforts to Improve Employee Morale. GAO-12-509T. Washington, D.C.: 

March 22, 2012.

Department of Homeland Security: Continued Progress Made Improving 

and Integrating Management Areas, but More Work Remains.

GAO-12-365T. Washington, D.C.: March 1, 2012.

Information Technology: Departments of Defense and Energy Need to 

Address Potentially Duplicative Investments. GAO-12-241. Washington 

D.C.: February 17, 2012.

DHS Human Capital: Senior Leadership Vacancy Rates Generally 

Declined, but Components’ Rates Varied. GAO-12-264. Washington, 

D.C.: February 10, 2012.

Department of Homeland Security: Additional Actions Needed to 

Strengthen Strategic Planning and Management Functions.

GAO-12-382T. Washington D.C.: February 3, 2012.

Department of Homeland Security: Progress Made and Work Remaining 

in Implementing Homeland Security Missions 10 Years after 9/11.

GAO-11-881. Washington D.C.: September 7, 2011.

Related GAO Reports
Related GAO Reports

Page 17 GAO-12-1041T 

High-Risk Series: An Update. GAO-11-278. Washington, D.C.: February 

2011.

Information Security: Federal Agencies Have Taken Steps to Secure 

Wireless Networks, but Further Actions Can Mitigate Risk. GAO-11-43. 

Washington, D.C.: November 30, 2010.

Department of Homeland Security: Assessments of Selected Complex 

Acquisitions. GAO-10-588SP. Washington, D.C.: June 30, 2010.

Information Security: Agencies Need to Implement Federal Desktop Core 

Configuration Requirements. GAO-10-202. Washington, D.C.: March 12, 

2010.

Financial Management Systems: DHS Faces Challenges to Successfully 

Consolidating Its Existing Disparate Systems. GAO-10-76. Washington, 

D.C.: December 4, 2009.

Department of Homeland Security: Actions Taken Toward Management 

Integration, but a Comprehensive Strategy Is Still Needed. GAO-10-131. 

Washington, D.C.: November 20, 2009.

Homeland Security: Despite Progress, DHS Continues to Be Challenged 

in Managing Its Multi-Billion Dollar Annual Investment in Large-Scale 

Information Technology Systems. GAO-09-1002T. Washington, D.C.: 

September 15, 2009.

Department of Homeland Security: Billions Invested in Major Programs 

Lack Appropriate Oversight. GAO-09-29. Washington, D.C.: November 

18, 2008.

Department of Homeland Security: Better Planning and Assessment 

Needed to Improve Outcomes for Complex Service Acquisitions.

GAO-08-263. Washington, D.C.: April 22, 2008.

Homeland Security: Departmentwide Integrated Financial Management

Systems Remain a Challenge. GAO-07-536. Washington, D.C.: June 21, 

2007.

Information Technology Investment Management: A Framework for 

Assessing and Improving Process Maturity, version 1.1. GAO-04-394G. 

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Washington, D.C.: January 2003. 

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