The Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs have established policies that address incremental IT development, but the policies typically do not fully address three key components for implementing OMB guidance, GAO has said.
According to the OMB guidance, key components of incremental delivery are to require delivery of functionality every six months, define functionality, and define a process for enforcing compliance. OMB is trying to get agencies to commit to shorter time frames and break up large IT acquisitions into smaller chunks. However, its guidance is wanting, according to GAO-14-361.
The departments GAO looked at all said the six-month mandate is arbitrary, and they added that the guidance did not identify what agency policies are to include or time frames for completion. GAO agreed somewhat and called on OMB to develop and issue more realistic and clear guidance but OMB is holding out and wants agencies to continue using it – seeing value in delivering defined functionality in shorter increments.
