Summary

In July 1992, the Navy gave its Information Technology Facility consolidation plan to GAO to review. GAO concludes that the plan adequately considers the needs of Navy installations for information technology and meets the certification criteria in the fiscal year 1992 Defense Department appropriations act. The plan (1) limits duplications, achieving efficiency through reduced overhead and the transfer of mainframe computer work load onto fewer, more modern computer systems; (2) focuses on cost-effectiveness in the selection of consolidation sites; (3) will not impose hardships on military personnel as a result of transfers; and (4) will have an imperceptible impact on the economies of affected communities.

GAO found that: (1) the Navy's ITF consolidation plan supports the Navy's needs for information technology and meets the statutory certification criteria; (2) the Navy used verifiable data and a conceptually sound analytical rationale to ensure that the plan met these requirements; (3) the Navy used historical work loads to quantify the level of support capacity that would be needed to satisfy each installation's needs; (4) the Navy's plan defines how functional capability and responsibility can be consolidated to achieve efficiency through reduced overhead and the transfer of mainframe computer work loads onto fewer, more modern systems; (5) cost-effectiveness was a predominant criterion the Navy used in selecting the consolidated site configuration; (6) the Navy expects the plan to result in heightened mission effectiveness; and (7) the reductions in personnel positions and the involuntary separation of government employees will occur in or near metropolitan areas, where the relatively small number of positions involved will have an imperceptible impact on the economy.