Information Technology

This report examines how five agencies--the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Defense (DOD), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Department of Labor--use commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) systems/applications to improve their human resource functions and the agencies' estimated costs and expected benefits from using COTS systems. Quantifiable benefits expected include requiring fewer employees to perform human resource functions, reducing manager time for transactions and data analysis, eliminating duplicative or multiple systems, and implementing self-service functions, such as employee changes to health and life insurance benefits. Nonquantifiable benefits expected include a more user-friendly environment, easier manager/employee access, better decision-making and data analysis, improved data accuracy, and better information sharing. Despite these expectations, four of the five agencies' systems efforts have encountered delays, while three of the four agencies have increased cost estimates. Three of the five agencies--DOD, Labor, and VA--have reportedly achieved quantifiable benefits, such as full-time equivalent reductions from their human resource COTS systems or related efforts.

GAO noted that: (1) the Department of Defense (DOD), the General Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Labor, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) all have efforts underway to use COTS systems and applications to improve their HR functions; (2) quantifiable benefits expected included requiring fewer employees to perform HR functions, reducing manager time for transactions and data analysis, eliminating duplicative or multiple systems, and implementing self-service HR functions, such as employee changes to health and life insurance benefits; (3) nonquantifiable benefits expected included a more user-friendly environment, easier manager/employee access, better decision-making and data analysis, improved data accuracy, and better information sharing; (4) despite these expectations, four of the five agencies' systems efforts have encountered delays, while three of the four agencies have increased cost estimates; and (5) to date, three of the five agencies--DOD, Labor, and VA--have reportedly achieved quantifiable benefits, such as full-time equivalent reductions from their HR COTS systems or related efforts.