A new report out by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that Federal agencies are failing to fully address the key statutory requirements for portfolio management in the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA).
Portfolio review was a staple grading category on the FITARA Scorecard – championed by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. – until the program underwent a makeover in categories in February, ultimately nixing portfolio review for agencies after eight years and 16 scorecards.
The 85-page GAO report issued on Nov. 14 was requested by Rep. Connolly.
The report found that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is not fully addressing eight key statutory requirements for FITARA. Specifically, for IT portfolio reviews, the Federal chief information officer (CIO) is failing to conduct an annual review with each agency’s CIO. The report also found that OMB is failing in all three categories of high-risk IT investment reviews.
“Until OMB adheres to FITARA’s portfolio management requirements, its oversight of agencies’ IT portfolios, including potentially troubled IT investments, will be limited,” GAO said. “As a result, the federal government will continue to expend resources on IT investments that do not meet the needs of the government or the public.”
The report notes that the Federal government invests more than $100 billion annually in IT.
According to GAO, agencies have also not fully addressed FITARA requirements for IT portfolio management. Specifically, none of the 24 agencies fully met the requirements for annual IT portfolio reviews. In addition, eight agencies with major IT investments rated as high-risk for four consecutive quarters did not follow the FITARA requirements for performing high-risk IT investment reviews.
GAO made 10 recommendations to OMB to improve guidance, processes, and reporting and 36 recommendations to 24 agencies to improve their IT portfolio processes.
OMB did not agree or disagree with its recommendations but stated that GAO’s recommendations “are based on incorrect interpretations and applications of FITARA, resulting in incorrect conclusions regarding the obligations of OMB and other agencies.”
GAO maintains that its recommendations are warranted.
