OIRM officials estimate that by consolidating and optimizing FTS 2000 telecommunications services at many of these sites, the Department could save $5 million to $10 million a year. Although OIRM has identified these and other cost-savings opportunities over the past 2.5 years, OIRM senior management has not carried out its responsibility to reduce departmentwide telecommunications costs where possible. Moreover, although the Secretary has begun restructuring agency field offices to consolidate operations at 2,531 new Field Office Service Centers, USDA has no operational plan or time frame for consolidating and optimizing telecommunications at these centers to ensure the most cost-effective use of FTS 2000 services. However, OIRM has not demonstrated this leadership. At a minimum, the Assistant Secretary should: advise appropriate Under Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries immediately about all opportunities identified by the Office of Information Resources Management and the Telecommunications Services Division to reduce telecommunications costs; work directly with the Under Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries to develop a plan for (1) consolidating and optimizing FTS 2000 telecommunications at USDA’s new Field Office Service Centers and (2) identifying additional USDA headquarters and field office sites where it is cost-effective to consolidate and optimize FTS 2000 telecommunications services; establish, in cooperation with the Under Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries, an implementation team consisting of OIRM and agency staff who have the technical capabilities and resources necessary to implement departmentwide FTS 2000 cost-savings solutions based on the established priorities; oversee implementation of all telecommunications cost-savings initiatives and report progress to the Secretary periodically as deemed appropriate; and preclude USDA component agencies and offices from obtaining and using redundant FTS 2000 telecommunications services by requiring that OIRM technical approvals be made contingent on the component agencies having considered and sufficiently addressed departmentwide consolidation and optimization of FTS 2000 services.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed whether the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is consolidating and optimizing Federal Telecommunications Systems (FTS) 2000 services across the department to maximize savings.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) USDA has identified opportunities to significantly reduce telecommunications costs by consolidating and optimizing its FTS 2000 services, but it has not acted on all the identified opportunities and is wasting millions of dollars each year; (2) USDA field offices are failing to coordinate their FTS 2000 acquisitions and are often purchasing redundant systems; (3) USDA could save up to $10 million a year if its field offices consolidate and optimize FTS 2000 services; (4) the USDA Office of Information Resources Management (OIRM) has not effectively carried out its responsibility to reduce telecommunications costs; (5) some USDA agencies are independently consolidating and optimizing FTS 2000 services and reducing telecommunication costs; (6) senior USDA officials state that leadership transitions have made it difficult for OIRM to implement FTS 2000 consolidation plans; and (7) although USDA is reducing and consolidating its field offices, it has no operational plan or time frame for consolidating and optimizing telecommunications at the centers or to ensure that FTS 2000 is cost-effectively used.