The Department of Defense has made progress putting needed
business system modernization capabilities in place and
appears to have complied with legislation guiding that
process, but has a long way to go to effect true
transformation, the Government Accountability Office has
said.
DoD has been carrying out a series of efforts to transform
business operations, which have been marred by inefficiencies
and inadequate accountability across major business areas,
resulting in billions of dollars of wasted resources annually,
according to GAO-06-234T.
It said that DoD’s recently approved version 3.0 of its
architecture and associated transition plan – a first step
toward meeting the requirements of the 2005 defense
authorization act to develop an enterprise transition plan –
only partially satisfies the conditions of the act.
Version 3.0 includes a target-architecture as required,
but does not include a current architecture to enable DoD
to analyze the gaps between the plans, GAO said.
It said the transition plan also appears to be inconsistent
with the architecture, for example, by including certain
systems that are not in it and leaving others out, and does
not include system performance metrics in line with the
plan’s strategic goals and objectives.
“While DoD has delegated authority and largely established
review structures and processes as required, some of these
structures do not yet appear to be in place, and some reviews
and approvals to date may not have followed the criteria in
the act,” according to the report.
It said the department’s Business Transformation Agency could
help the situation if it can be properly organized, given
enough resources and authority, and is held accountable.
However, while DoD is taking some positive steps, it seems
to be focused on business system modernization rather than
business transformation, a broader, more encompassing
endeavor with a focus on management, planning and process
related to all key business areas, according to GAO.
It said a chief management official for business transformation
could provide needed executive leadership in this area.
