The Internal Revenue Service has taken the General
Accounting Office’s advice to implement management
controls, deliver certain business applications and
balance the pace of its attempts to modernize with
management capabilities, but significant challenges and
serious risks remain, the General Accounting Office has
said.
It said IRS needs to strengthen the management of its
business system modernization program by implementing
and institutionalizing management processes and controls
for cost and schedule estimating.
In an earlier report GAO said IRS inadequately defines
system requirements, sometimes increases the scope of
its projects in mid-execution and underestimates project
complexity, and that such deficiencies impair its ability
to make systems investment decisions and operate efficiently.
GAO recommended continued oversight from Congress and the
Office of Management and Budget as well as ongoing
independent assessments of the BSM program.
IRS responded to GAO’s latest assertions by identifying 46
issues to be resolved, 27 of which it says have been completed.
