Technology Business Management: OMB and GSA Want to Reinforce Initiatives to Guide Federal Adoption

What GAO Identified

The Place of work of Management and Funds (OMB) and Typical Companies Administration (GSA) have taken methods to guide authorities-large Technology Organization Administration adoption, but progress and results are restricted.

• OMB’s original 2017 strategies for government-extensive adoption necessary companies to report IT paying out applying categories in the to start with two layers. OMB continued to involve reporting of these two layers in subsequent strategies. Nevertheless, 5 many years following creating preliminary designs, OMB had not expanded on requirements to include the rest of the taxonomy—the types in layers 3 and 4, and subcategories for all layers (see figure).

Extent That the Office environment of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Strategies Tackled Factors of the Engineering Organization Administration Taxonomy Edition 3.

• OMB and GSA assisted company efforts to employ the Know-how Organization Management framework by, for instance, developing implementation guidance and a maturity model assessment resource. Nevertheless, OMB and GSA have not assessed company maturity. More, they have not analyzed the good quality of agencies’ knowledge claimed in the 1st two levels.
• OMB and GSA unveiled agency-documented data on the federal government’s IT Dashboard (levels 1 and 2), but did not disclose that about $31 billion in fiscal yr 2021 investments ended up excluded. More, they have not analyzed inconsistencies in fiscal calendar year 2022 details, or addressed use of benchmarking that would enable investing comparisons to businesses of identical measurement or mission.

OMB and GSA officials keep that Technologies Company Management implementation continues to be a priority. Even so, right up until OMB establishes documented plans and company expectations for the remainder of the taxonomy, uncertainty will cloud agency attempts. More, the continuing absence of OMB direction could protect against the federal federal government from absolutely acquiring supposed gains these types of as optimizing IT spending.

Why GAO Did This Review

The governing administration has faced longstanding challenges in IT administration and investing transparency. In 2017, OMB announced its intention to strengthen insights into IT shelling out via authorities-large adoption of the Technologies Enterprise Administration Council’s framework.

This framework presents a common taxonomy that is structured into four layers (price tag pools, IT towers, products and solutions and providers, and organization models and capabilities) meant to display an organization’s whole IT investing from different views. These four layers are comprised of investing groups and subcategories.

GAO was asked to report on Technologies Business Administration implementation. GAO’s goal was to recognize development OMB and GSA have produced in the federal government-extensive adoption exertion. To do so, GAO analyzed and in comparison designs towards applicable criteria, this sort of as Know-how Business enterprise Administration Council guidance. It also analyzed knowledge, as claimed by companies for fiscal several years 2021 and 2022, and interviewed relevant officers.