GAO said earned data trends of the investments it reviewed indicate that most are currently experiencing shortfalls against cost and schedule targets and that total lifecycle costs of these programs have increased by about $2 billion.
It said 11 programs would likely incur cost overruns that will total about $1 billion at contract completion – mostly because of two programs, a NASA telescope program and a veterans health information systems modernization project.
Overall, GAO estimated the total cost overrun to be about $3 billion at program completion.
However, with timely and effective management action, it is possible to reverse negative trends so that the projected cost overruns may be reduced, according to the report.
It called on the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, DoD, DHS and NASA to modify policies governing EVM to ensure that they address the weaknesses identified.
It also recommended that they direct key system acquisition programs to take action to reverse current negative performance trends, as shown in the earned value data, to mitigate the potential cost and schedule overruns.
