Veterans Affairs
Continued Focus on Critical Success Factors Is Essential to Achieving Information Technology Realignment Gao ID: GAO-07-844 June 15, 2007The 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.
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. 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. 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.
RecommendationsOur 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.
Director: Team: Phone:GAO-07-844, Veterans Affairs: Continued Focus on Critical Success Factors Is Essential to Achieving Information Technology Realignment
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Report to Congressional Requesters:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
June 2007:
Veterans Affairs:
Continued Focus on Critical Success Factors Is Essential to Achieving
Information Technology Realignment:
GAO-07-844:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-07-844, a report to congressional requesters.
Why GAO Did This Study:
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 Found:
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.
Table: Summary of VA's Actions Addressing Critical Success Factors:
Critical success factor: Ensuring commitment from top leadership;
Addressed: yes;
Progress: Secretary approved the new IT organization structure and the
transfer of employees.
Critical success factor: Establishing a governance structure to manage
resources;
Addressed: partially;
Progress: Secretary approved the IT governance plan but VA has not
established IT governance boards or process descriptions for centrally
managing IT.
Critical success factor: Linking IT strategic plan to organization
strategic plan;
Addressed: no;
Progress: 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.
Critical success factor: Using workforce strategic management to
identify proper roles for all employees;
Addressed: partially;
Progress: VA has identified workforce management responsibilities but
has not established a knowledge and skills inventory.
Critical success factor: Communicating change to all stakeholders;
Addressed: partially;
Progress: VA has addressed staff concerns about the realignment through
memorandums and conferences but has not fully staffed offices that will
facilitate communication.
Critical success factor: Dedicating an implementation team to manage
change;
Addressed: no;
Progress: VA does not plan to establish a realignment implementation
team.
Source: GAO.
[End of table]
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.
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.
[Hyperlink, http://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.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Results in Brief:
Background:
VA Realignment Plans Include Critical Success Factors:
Centralized Control of IT Budget Has Not Yet Been Clearly Established:
Conclusions:
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Table:
Table 1: Summary of VA's Actions Addressing Critical Success Factors:
Figures:
Figure 1: Office of Information and Technology Organizational Chart:
Figure 2: Timeline of Key Events for VA IT Realignment:
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:
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 reported[Footnote 1] that a
contributing factor to VA's challenges in managing projects was the
department's decentralized management structure, in which its
administrations[Footnote 2] and headquarters offices[Footnote 3]
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.
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.
Results in Brief:
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 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 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.
Background:
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.
In reporting on VA's IT management over the past several years, we have
highlighted[Footnote 4] challenges the department has faced in
achieving its "One VA" vision,[Footnote 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 well-established 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
money is spent.[Footnote 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.
Centralized IT Organization:
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.
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.
Figure 1: Office of Information and Technology Organizational Chart:
[See PDF for image]
Source: VA.
[End of figure]
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.
Figure 2: Timeline of Key Events for VA IT Realignment:
[See PDF for image]
Source: GAO analysis of VA data.
[End of figure]
IT Management Processes:
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 processes[Footnote 7] were recommended by the
department's realignment contractor and were based on industry best
practices.[Footnote 8] According to the contractor, they are a key
component of the realignment effort as the Office of Information and
Technology moves to a process-based 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 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 past[Footnote 9] 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.
VA Realignment Plans Include Critical Success Factors:
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: Ensuring commitment from top leadership;
Addressed: yes;
Progress: Secretary approved the new IT organization structure and the
transfer of employees.
Critical success factor: Establishing a governance structure to manage
resources;
Addressed: partially;
Progress: Secretary approved the IT governance plan but VA has not
established IT governance boards or process descriptions for centrally
managing IT.
Critical success factor: Linking IT strategic plan to organization
strategic plan;
Addressed: no;
Progress: 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.
Critical success factor: Using workforce strategic management to
identify proper roles for all employees;
Addressed: partially;
Progress: VA has identified workforce management responsibilities but
has not established a knowledge and skills inventory.
Critical success factor: Communicating change to all stakeholders;
Addressed: partially;
Progress: VA has addressed staff concerns about the realignment through
memorandums and conferences but has not fully staffed offices that will
facilitate communication.
Critical success factor: Dedicating an implementation team to manage
change;
Addressed: no;
Progress: VA does not plan to establish a realignment implementation
team.
Source: GAO.
[End of table]
Top Leadership Has Committed to the Realignment:
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 maintaining organizationwide commitment to
new ways of doing business.[Footnote 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.
Governance Structure to Manage Resources Not Yet Complete:
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, responsibilities, and decision-
making authority among the different levels of leadership.[Footnote 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.
IT Strategic Plan Is to Be Updated to Reflect New Organization:
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.[Footnote 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 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.
IT Workforce Aligned under CIO, but Staff Roles Have Yet to Be Defined:
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.[Footnote 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.[Footnote 14] In addition,
industry documentation notes that workforce strategic management should
be supported by well-defined 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.
Certain Actions Have Been Taken to Address Communication:
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.[Footnote 15]
Furthermore, communication should 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.
VA Has Not Dedicated an Implementation Team to Manage the Realignment:
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.[Footnote 16]
Specifically, the implementation 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.[Footnote 17] 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.
Centralized Control of IT Budget Has Not Yet Been Clearly Established:
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,[Footnote 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.
Deputy Assistant Secretaries to Control Aspects of IT Budget:
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,[Footnote 19] and department
officials could not 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.
IT Governance Plan Identifies Boards to Assist in Management of 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:
* 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 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.
Two New Management Processes Are to Address IT Budget:
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,[Footnote 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 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.
Conclusions:
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 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.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
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:
* 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.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
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.
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.
Signed by:
Valerie C. Melvin:
Director, Human Capital and Management Information Systems Issues:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Scope and 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 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.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
The Deputy Secretary Of Veterans Affairs:
Washington:
June 8, 2007:
Ms. Valerie C. Melvin:
Director, Human Capital and Management Information Systems Issues:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street, NW:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Ms. Melvin:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reviewed the Government
Accountability Office's (GAO) draft report: Veterans Affairs: Continued
Focus on Critical Success Factors is Essential to Achieving Information
Technology Realignment (GAO-07-844), and generally agrees with its
findings. The GAO report recognizes that the Information Technology
(IT) Realignment Program is an ongoing program that will conclude July
2008. It correctly acknowledges the work VA has accomplished to date
and the continuing work that needs to be accomplished.
The IT Realignment Program is an immense task, and the Department has
laid a solid foundation for success. We have approved the VA Chief
Information Officer as the single IT leadership authority for all IT
activities within VA; approved the new organizational structure for the
Office of Information and Technology; approved an IT Governance Plan;
and developed 36 core IT processes that represent proven best business
practices. We are now implementing these IT processes in order to be
fully transitioned by July 2008.
Although we have made significant progress to date, VA acknowledges
that there are difficult challenges ahead of us. VA's leadership
remains committed to the IT Realignment Program and fully expects to
achieve all IT realignment objectives and goals on schedule by July
2008.
I appreciate your independent analysis of the progress of VA's IT
Realignment Program to date and your recommendations to increase its
chances of success. The enclosure outlines each of the GAO's
recommendations in detail and provides an update of our continued
progress since you provided us with your draft report.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
Gordon H. Mansfield:
Enclosure:
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) comments to Government
Accountability Office (GAO) draft report Veterans Affairs: Continued
Focus on Critical Success Factors is Essential to Achieving Information
Technology Realignment (GAO-07-844):
To ensure that VA's IT realignment is successfully accomplished, GAO
recommends that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs direct the Chief
Information Officer to take the following six actions:
* Develop detailed IT governance process descriptions that address how
the department will manage IT resources within the centralized
organization:
Concur - The Information Technology (IT) Governance Plan approved by
the Secretary April 12, 2007, establishes the processes,
responsibilities, and authorities required to manage the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) IT resources under a centralized organization.
The VA Chief Information Officer (CIO) has taken steps to establish the
necessary governance boards approved in the IT Governance Plan. The
Business Needs and Investment (BNI) Board convened on May 30, 2007. The
Planning, Architecture, Technology, and Services (PATS) Board convened
the week of June 4, 2007. The IT Leadership Board (ITLB) will convene
in mid-June. These boards, in conjunction with the Strategic Management
Council (SMC) constitute the decision making structure needed to
centrally manage IT resources. The IT governance plan will be fully
implemented over the next 4 months during the development of the VA IT
fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget. After the completion of the current
budget submission process, VA's CIO will assess the IT governance
procedures and make adjustments as required.
* 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:
Concur - A key component of the IT Realignment Program is the
development and implementation of an IT Human Resources Management Plan
and a Career Management Program. The Human Resources Management Plan
and its related processes will dictate the human resources management
administrative activities OI&T will use. The Career Management Program
is a component of the IT Human Resources Plan. It will guide the career
progression of IT personnel throughout their career in VA.
Additionally, it will contain the knowledge and skills inventory to
ensure that OI&T personnel are capable of delivering the services VA
requires. The Human Resources Management Plan and a Career Management
Program will be implemented fully by July 2008.
* Assess personnel requirements under the centralized management model,
including career paths and appropriate training requirements.
Concur - This is a key component of the IT Career Management Program
OI&T is developing. The OI&T has already established an office that is
responsible for refining the human resource management core IT process.
The IT Career Management Program is on schedule to be implemented by
July 2008.
* Fully staff all offices necessary for supporting the new
organizational structure.
Concur - Staffing of the new OI&T organization is a complex issue
involving numerous critical sub-tasks. First, OI&T needs to determine
its personnel requirements; second, funded FTE positions need to be
allocated based on required capability; third, vacancies need to be
filled within funding constraints; and fourth, physical space needs to
be obtained to house the additional staff. The CIO has taken steps to
ensure that all offices will meet minimum staffing requirements. IT
personnel are being reassigned and hired as quickly as possible to meet
minimum organizational requirements. This critical factor will be
considered successfully achieved once key leadership is in place and
OI&T is staffed at 95 percent of funded allocations. VA anticipates
meeting this goal by July 2008.
* Dedicate an implementation team responsible for change management
processes throughout the transformation to a centralized IT structure.
Concur in principle - In October 2005, VA developed a change management
strategy and implemented change management processes for the IT
Realignment Program across the Department. VA embraced an innovative
approach to achieve its goals and objectives by July 2008.
Specifically:
* The IT Realignment Office was the initial catalyst that directed
change management during Phase 1 of the transformation.
* During Phase 1, VA approved its OI&T structure, the IT Governance
Plan, and the 36 core IT processes. Additionally, VA consolidated all
IT activities and personnel under the VA CIO.
* At the start of Phase 2 in June 2007, the VA CIO integrated the IT
Realignment Office into the new OI&T organization. This approach
requires key OI&T leaders to implement and direct the change management
associated with the 36 core IT processes.
* Additionally, the CIO has established a Process Improvement Office
under the Quality and Performance Office that will spearhead IT
processes improvement within VA:
* To ensure continuity of the change management processes, the current
Director of the IT Realignment Office has been designated as the
Executive Director, IT Organizational Management. He will advise and
assist the CIO during the final transformation to a centralized IT
structure.
VA leadership remains committed to this strategy and anticipates
achieving all IT Realignment objectives and goals by July 2008. A
separate dedicated implementation team responsible for change
management throughout the transformation is not required.
* Expedite the development of performance metrics to track the progress
of the realignment.
Concur - VA has already initiated action to meet this critical success
factor. The CIO has established (1) Oversight and Compliance Management
and (2) Quality and Performance offices that will develop, manage and
ensure compliance with IT policies, directives and the 36 core IT
processes the OI&T is implementing. Key OI&T leaders are responsible
for developing performance metrics and for implementing each of the 36
core IT processes. The 36 core processes will be implemented by July
2008.
In addition, to ensure that centralized control of the IT budget is
established, GAO recommends 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.
Concur - The CIO initially filled these two positions with acting
members of the Senior Executive Service to provide immediate leadership
to these organizations. The Deputy Secretary approved a selection for
the Deputy Assistant Secretary for IT Resource Management position on
May 30, 2007, and directed that the second senior management position
be established, announced and competitively bid. It is estimated that a
permanent selection of an individual for this second position will be
made by September 30, 2007.
* Commit to a date for establishing the Business Needs Investment Board
and the IT Leadership Board.
Concur - The CIO has already established the governance boards approved
in the IT Governance Plan. The Business Needs and Investment (BNI)
Board convened on May 30, 2007. The Planning, Architecture, Technology
and Services (PATS) Board held its initial meeting June 5 and will
continue meeting through June 12. The IT Leadership Board (ITLB) will
convene June 23. These boards, in conjunction with the SMC constitute
the decision making structure to centrally manage IT resources.
* Establish a schedule for the implementation of the IT Portfolio
Management and Financial Management processes.
Concur - This recommendation is already being addressed as part of the
IT Process Implementation Program. The IT Portfolio Management and
Financial Management processes have been developed and assigned to the
Deputy Assistant Secretary for IT Resource Management for
implementation. With the establishment of the BNI Board and PATS Board,
the major decision-making aspects of these two processes will be fully
exercised over the next 4 months during the development of the VA IT FY
2009 budget. After the completion of the current budget submission
process, VA's CIO will assess these two IT processes and make
adjustments as required.
The CIO has taken two additional steps to ensure successful
implementation of these processes. First, he established a Quality and
Performance Office to oversee the implementation all 36 core IT
processes and to measure performance standards for these processes.
Second, he established the Office of Oversight and Compliance to ensure
VA compliance with these processes.
[End of section]
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Valerie C. Melvin, (202) 512-6304 or melvinv@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
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.
[End of section]
(310760):
FOOTNOTES
[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.
[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.
[6] Gartner Consulting, OneVA IT Organizational Alignment Assessment
Project "As-Is" Baseline (McLean, Virginia; Feb. 18, 2005).
[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.
[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).
[10] GAO-05-1017T.
[11] GAO, Health Information Technology: HHS Is Taking Steps to Develop
a National Strategy, GAO-05-628 (Washington, D.C.: May 27, 2005).
[12] GAO-03-293SP.
[13] GAO-03-293SP.
[14] GAO-03-669.
[15] GAO-03-293SP.
[16] GAO-03-669.
[17] The two processes are (1) risk management and (2) solution test
and acceptance.
[18] 40 U.S.C. §§ 11311-11313.
[19] Currently, 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.
[20] According to the process charter, these programs encompass cost,
benefits, prioritization within budget, a formal budgeting process and
management against the budget.
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