INS Investment Strategy

GAO reviewed the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) efforts to develop and implement an information technology (IT) investment strategy. GAO noted that: (1) INS has adopted leading private and public sector practices to improve mission performance and reduce costs; (2) because implementation of its IT investment strategy is in its early stages, INS needs to establish a fully functioning investment review board to ensure that senior managers are routinely involved in making IT decisions, explicitly define IT selection criteria, prepare cost-benefit analyses for all information system projects, and focus IT project performance goals and measures on mission-related outcomes to ensure mission benefits; and (3) INS should incorporate its IT investment strategy into its policies and procedures to ensure clarity in IT decisions and consistent application of the strategy.