IG:GSA lacks evidence to support its claims that its RPA program is generating savings. Image: TippaPatt/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe GSA’s claim that robotics process automation saves more than 240,000 work hours annually “was inaccurate and unreliable,” an inspector general report has said.
The report touches on an issue common among agencies as they increasingly seek to save on staffing by turning to bots, which the report defines as “rules-based software that simulate human actions on a computer, such as copying data, filling in forms, signing into applications, and analyzing data.” The GSA has reported using more than 70 such bots for such tasks.
However, the IG said the GSA “lacks evidence to support its claims that its RPA program is generating savings. We found that GSA is not verifying the actual work hours saved with end-users of its bots”—but instead relies on estimates from the programs using them, even though its own guidance calls for assessing that in evaluating their effectiveness.
In a sample of 10 bots that accounted for more than 107,000 claimed hours saved in 2020, it found for example that one did not save any time, two were discontinued after four months of the year yet their savings were projected across the full year, and that estimated savings for one were based on the task taking 90 minutes manually when in fact it took only 30 minutes.
“We also found that GSA is not tracking the costs associated with its bots, which precludes GSA from determining whether the bots are generating cost savings and a return on investment,” the report said, noting that an internal survey of operators “indicated 74 percent of bots resulted in no cost avoidance.”
GSA management agreed with recommendations directed toward those findings and said it has started acting to carry them out, although the IG said it could not verify when actions have occurred.
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