Homeland Security. Oversight of Neglected Human Resources Information Technology Investment Is Needed
Human resources IT investments get stuck in management's lack of interest Although the Human Resources Information Technology (HRIT) investment was initiated about 12 years ago with the intent to consolidate, integrate, and modernize the department's human resources IT infrastructure, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made very limited progress in achieving these goals. HRIT's minimally involved executive steering committee during a time when significant problems were occurring was a key factor in the lack of progress. This is particularly problematic given that the department's ability to efficiently and effectively carry out its mission is significantly hampered by its fragmented human resources. DHS's ineffective management of HRIT, such as the lack of an updated schedule and a life-cycle cost estimate, also contributed to the neglect this investment has experienced. DHS will be limited in efficiently tracking and reporting accurate, comprehensive performance and learning management data across the organization, and could risk further implementation delays.
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FEMA Needs to Address Management Weaknesses to Improve Its Systems
Controls in emergency management GAO audited the agency of the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for federal efforts to mitigate, respond to, and recover from disasters. American auditors recommend that the agency fully define its investment board’s roles and responsibilities and procedures for selecting and overseeing investments, update its strategic plan and complete plans for IT modernization, and establish time frames for completing workforce planning efforts. The agency should also establish policies and guidance for implementing key IT management controls.
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Federal Agencies Need to Address Aging Legacy Systems
Be aware of legacy IT risks The US government spends about 75 percent of the total amount budgeted for information technology on operations and maintenance. GAO reviewed Office of Management and Budget and 26 agencies, covering years 2010 through 2017 and recommends to develop a goal for spending measure and finalize guidance to identify and prioritize legacy IT needing to be modernized or replaced.
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VETERANS’ HEALTH CARE - Preliminary Observations on VHA’s Claims Processing Delays and Efforts to Improve the Timeliness of Payments to Community Providers
Due to increases in expenditures and utilization of VA care in the community services in recent years, VHA has had difficulty processing claims in a timely manner. In planning to consolidate its ... existing VA care in the community programs, as required by law, the agency said it will examine strategies for improving the timeliness and accuracy of its payments to community providers.<br ... /> This statement, which is based on ongoing work, summarizes GAO’s preliminary observations about (1) VHA’s, Medicare’s, and TRICARE’s claims processing timeliness in fiscal year 2015; (2) factors that have impeded ... Data processing hold back by technology limitation, workload and administrative burden ... be failing not only because of technology, but also because of work-process design, staff and organisation. ... US GAO analyzed all factors of slower processing and user unfriendliness that occur sometimes to the veterans healthcare. The main focus is data processing - and it has been proved that it can
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Management of Information Resources of the Ministry of the Interior
works is being implemented7 and the Information Technology and Communications Department under the Ministry of the Interior was appointed one of the four public IT service providers. <br/> The purpose ... of 2016. For data analysis, data from other periods was used. The audit was conducted in the Ministry of the Interior. We also collected information at the Information Technology and Communications ... Many activities of the Ministry of the Interior require the use of information resources that are of great significance to the entire State, such as the state and departmental registers, and public ... ... Process maturity examination can help in IT audit ... Main risk areas in case of this audit were strategic and organisational - Ministry’s weak ownership of IT resources, insufficient audit and internal control function. SAI Lithuania auditors found ... also flaws in change management and security processes. But the finding, which gave them the key to the root cause of problems, was connected with maturity assessment of the auditee's IT processes.
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Federal Human Resources Data
Internal control weaknesses may put mission at risk GAO audited the Enterprise Human Resources Integration payroll data warehose. The American auditors pointed at problems that may impede 'leverage of these data to meet its mission and allow others to make full use' of them. The critical internal contols areas to be improved in this cas are: completeness, accuracy, and validity of information, authorization, documentation, monitoring, results' evaluation.
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OMB and Agencies Need to Focus Continued Attention on Implementing Reform Law
How to invest efficiently in IT IT investments are large and growing position in annual budgets. Historically, they have frequently failed, incurred cost overruns and schedule slippages, or contributed little to mission-related outcomes. GAO recommendations focus on the oversight and execution of the data center consolidation initiative, the accuracy and reliability of the IT Dashboard, and incremental development policies.
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The Shared Services Centre
The necessary environment for the efficient management of the Shared Service Center is lacking The department's administration of the Shared Services Centre (SSC) has been effective for sharing resources between the departments and delivering selected back-office services to a small client base. However, the governance arrangements established to oversight the SSC have not positioned it well for the future and the departments have not yet determined if the arrangement is efficient and resulting in savings. ANAO found instances where the advisory board of SSC was not consulted or involved in decisions relating to the strategic direction, financial arrangements and expenditure priorities. Information reported to the board did not focus on areas of strategic importance and the quality and completeness of this information could be improved. The mechanisms established for setting out responsibilities and obligations and ensuring transparency for services delivered by the SSC was weak. Service standards and levels were not fixed and can change. The delineation of responsibilities between the SSC and its clients was not clear and there was no commitment by the SSC to certify the quality of its control framework.
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