To ensure this occurs, program units in agencies must carefully analyze the processes or procedures that are being modernized. When processes are reengineered in concert with the power of information technology, significant results can be achieved. When the system becomes operational in 1999, HCFA expects it to process over 1 billion claims annually and be responsible for paying $288 billion in benefits per year. Consistently Applying Management Practices Is Important to Success

It is important that federal executives learn from leading organizations that have been successful in applying and managing technology to thorny business problems as well as opportunities for change. Table 2 illustrates the set of management practices we found in the leading organizations we studied. And when used, they can help produce repeatable success. First, government leaders must facilitate success. The second key factor affecting long-term improvement to IT management in government is reinforcing accountability for results. This Subcommittee can play an important role in promoting new, effective management practices throughout the government by: providing oversight and guidance to federal agencies in implementing the IT-management related provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Information Technology Management Reform Act—similar to the very effective role you have played in overseeing the implementation of the Chief Financial Officers Act; focusing oversight attention on high risk IT projects and initiatives, such as your upcoming hearing planned on IRS’s financial management reforms and Tax System Modernization project; identifying and focusing agency attention on new systems development efforts that are demonstrating signs of managerial or technical problems early in their life cycle before huge sums of money have been spent, such as your recent hearing on HCFA’s Medicare Transaction System; and highlighting the importance of emerging information technologies and management techniques that can be effectively applied to the federal government.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO discussed how leading organizations' best practices can be effectively used to improve information technology (IT) management in the federal government.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) federal IT-related expenditures total over $25 billion per year, but the benefits from IT are unknown; (2) IT can be used to improve organizational performance, but risks of failure must be carefully managed to ensure successful decisions and project completions; (3) organizations that have successfully implemented IT projects have found that with rapidly changing technological power and choices, sustainable and effective management practices are needed to achieve consistent success; and (4) federal agencies must facilitate success by implementing improved IT management processes and reinforce accountability to produce noticeable results with IT investments.