ADP Planning

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) automated data processing (ADP) report, focusing on whether the report contained sufficient information for evaluating future SSA budget requests for increased ADP spending authority.

GAO found that the SSA report: (1) showed how the SSA 1990 information technology budget supported its larger mission, but did not identify specific long-term ADP activities, the object of each activity, the personnel, equipment, and financial resources needed to accomplish them, or their milestones; and (2) stated that SSA expected to increase its telecommunications services over the next 5 years through a reliable computer network, but did not identify the specific telecommunications projects, the staff needed to accomplish them, their costs, or their milestones. GAO also found that: (1) although SSA acknowledged that it did not have all the information necessary for developing a detailed plan at the time it prepared the report, it needed to implement a new agencywide planning and budgeting development process in order to produce the report; and (2) the Commissioner requested alternative approaches for implementing the new process and did not plan to make a decision concerning the implementation until November 1989.