Veterans Benefits

Acquisition of Information Resources for Modernization Is Premature Gao ID: IMTEC-93-6 November 4, 1992

The Department of Veterans Affairs' desire to invest in new information technology to improve service to veterans is laudable. Yet the plan by the Veterans Benefit Administration to proceed in acquiring $94 million in computer hardware and software, while at the same time grappling with basic changes in its business processes, is clearly premature for several reasons. First, it does not yet fully understand what managerial, operational, or technical problems need to be corrected. Second, effective leadership--capable of bringing together program managers and information technology specialists to reach consensus on problems and solutions--is lacking. Third, the agency's Chief Information Resources Officer does not have the authority to correct identified problems. To invest people, time, and money in acquiring information technology before fully understanding what the Veterans Benefit Administration's future business operation will look like risks a system that may not work as intended. Delaying further modernization procurement until the Veterans Benefit Administration has a clearer idea of where it is headed is the prudent, preferable alternative.

GAO found that VBA: (1) has not sufficiently analyzed its business processes to determine how information technology can best be used to modernize its operations and improve service to veterans; (2) lacked detailed information on the specific activities used to deliver benefits to veterans; (3) has not established specific service goals or performance indicators to measure modernization efforts; (4) planned to buy information technology components without first defining its new information architecture; (5) did not have an organization-wide process to involve all program and information resources management (IRM) office senior managers in its modernization effort; (6) lacked effective communication and cooperation between its program and IRM offices; and (7) chief information resources officer (CIRO) lacked the authority to resolve problems and had no active role in ensuring that VBA-proposed acquisitions would deliver improved service.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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