Additional management improvements are needed to address IT and financial control issues at the Department of Labor, GAO has said.
Labor has established a process to oversee, manage, and modernize the department’s IT investments, but it has not fully developed certain management controls, which could hinder the ability of its systems to maximize mission performance and realize expected IT benefits, according to GAO-11-157.
For example, it said the department has established an IT governance structure and system development processes, but needs better representation from program managers with expertise of business operations.
Labor has provided guidance to its program agencies and offices on developing performance measurements, but system performance measures for selected investments did not comprehensively link to mission and expected outcomes, according to the report.
It said Labor has also established an investment management process that tracks cost and schedule variances for IT investments, but that it did not ensure that a major IT investment had sufficient business representation and adequate testing before department-wide implementation
GAO recommended that Labor strengthen its IT planning and discretionary grant management by further developing guidance, procedures, and processes.
