HUD relies on five main organizational components to carry out its  mission. HUD Has Begun Applying Key Practices for Its Modernization Efforts but Has Been Hindered by Inadequacies in Its Project Management Framework and Governance

For its FHA Transformation and NGMS modernization efforts, HUD has  taken initial steps toward applying key project management practices in  the areas of project planning, requirements management, and acquisition  planning. However, the department has not yet fully implemented any of  these practices in managing the 14 projects in our review. In this regard, none of the  documentation included all of the critical information that could facilitate  effective project management, such as full descriptions of the work  necessary to complete the projects, cost and schedule baselines, or  prioritized requirements. In addition,  appendix III provides our more detailed assessment against best  practices. However, guidance discussed in the framework did not always  include essential information called for by best practices. Compounding the issue of inadequate development and use of the  framework was the lack of evidence that the department’s governance  bodies had provided adequate oversight to ensure compliance with  project management practices. Until HUD has a PPM framework for managing its projects that  incorporates the abovementioned details, including clarifying the role of  the Technical Review Subcommittee, and is appropriately used in  managing its modernization efforts, the department increases the risk of  continuing to inadequately apply project management practices and will  not be positioned to effectively manage or report progress of its  modernization efforts. Contributing to these deficiencies is that the department has not  developed and used its project management framework in a manner that  ensured the quality or completeness of project management  documentation. Moreover, fully implementing  effective project management practices is critical not only for the success  of these modernization efforts, but also for that of the other five IT  Transformation Initiatives or any other projects under way or undertaken  in the future. Recommendations for Executive Action

To ensure that HUD effectively and efficiently manages its modernization  efforts aimed at improving its IT environment to support mission needs,  we recommend that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development  direct the Deputy Secretary to establish a plan of action that identifies  specific time frames for correcting the deficiencies highlighted in this  report for both its ongoing projects, as applicable, and its planned  projects, to include developing charters that define what constitutes project success and  establish accountability,  finalizing deliverable-oriented work breakdown structures and  associated dictionaries that define the detailed work needed to  accomplish project objectives,  completing comprehensive project management plans that reflect cost  and schedule baselines and fully incorporate subsidiary management  plans, establishing requirements management plans that include  prioritization methods to be applied and metrics for determining how  products address requirements,  completing matrixes to include requirements traceability from mission  needs through implementation, and establishing strategies to guide how acquisitions are managed in  accordance with other processes and that performance metrics are  established. Further, to improve development and use of the department’s project  management framework, we recommend that the Secretary direct  the FHA Transformation and NGMS steering committees to ensure  that project management expertise needed to apply the guidance  outlined in the framework is provided to execute and manage their  respective projects;   the Chief Information Officer to ensure that revisions to the framework  incorporate specific information to address the areas of deficiency in  project planning, requirements management, and acquisition planning  identified in this report; and  the Customer Care Committee to review the role and responsibilities  of the Technical Review Subcommittee and ensure that the  department’s governance structure operates as intended and  adequately oversees the management of all of its modernization  efforts. In commenting on our recommendations, the department discussed  actions it was taking on various aspects of the first recommendation, but  did not state whether or not it concurred with the entirety of the  recommendation; stated that our conclusion leading to the second  recommendation did not follow from the premises established in the draft  report; and concurred with our third and fourth recommendations. As  such, this report did not evaluate all of the department’s IT  investments. Appendix I: Objective, Scope, and Methodology

Our objective was to identify the extent to which the Department of  Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has implemented key project  management practices for the Federal Housing Administration  Transformation Initiative (FHA Transformation) and the Next Generation  Management System (NGMS) modernization efforts.
Why GAO Did This Study

HUD relies extensively on IT to carry out its mission of strengthening communities and ensuring affordable housing and has reported that efforts are under way to modernize its aging, duplicative, and poorly integrated systems. Committee report language mandated GAO to evaluate the implementation of project management practices for HUDs IT modernization efforts. The objective was to identify the extent to which the department implemented key project management practices for the FHA Transformation and NGMS modernization efforts. GAO assessed project management artifacts for 9 FHA Transformation and 5 NGMS projects in the areas of project planning (charters, work breakdown structures, and project management plans), requirements management (requirements management plans and traceability matrixes), and acquisition planning (acquisition strategies) against best practices. GAO also interviewed officials.

What GAO Found

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has taken initial steps toward applying key project management practices in the areas of project planning, requirements management, and acquisition planning for its Federal Housing Administration Transformation (FHA Transformation) Initiative to address performance gaps in housing insurance programs and its Next Generation Management System (NGMS) to improve management of its affordable housing programs. However, HUD has not yet fully implemented any of these practices in executing and managing the information technology (IT) projects associated with these efforts. Specifically, while the department had developed project management artifacts such as charters and requirements management plans, none of these documents included all of the key details that could facilitate effective management of its projects such as full descriptions of the work necessary to complete the projects, cost and schedule baselines, or prioritized requirements, among other things. Department officials attributed these deficiencies to a lack of project management expertise.
Because HUD has not taken these foundational steps to fully define its modernization efforts, the department is not well positioned to successfully manage or execute the associated projects. These incomplete documents limit the department's ability to fully understand the work to be completed or accurately report project progress. A major reason for these information deficiencies is HUD's inadequate development and use of its project management framework, which did not ensure the quality or completeness of artifacts developed. Specifically, the framework did not always include essential guidance and, in other cases, the projects did not always implement the guidance provided. Further, the governance structure did not consistently operate as intended to provide adequate oversight to ensure compliance with key project management practices. As a result, the department increases the risk of continuing to inadequately apply project management practices and may not be positioned to effectively manage or report progress of its key modernization efforts. Fully implementing effective project management practices is critical for the success of these two modernization efforts and others under way or planned.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that HUD establish a plan of action to fully implement best practices, provide needed project management expertise, and improve the development and use of its project management framework and governance structure. In written comments, HUD concurred with the recommendations to improve its framework and governance, but did not concur with the entirety of the recommendation to develop a plan of action, and contended that the need for project management expertise did not follow from the premises established in the draft report. GAO maintains that these actions are necessary as discussed in this report.