Summary
Information technology (IT) plays a critical role in the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) ability to carry out its home ownership and community development mission, which was recently expanded under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Pursuant to a congressional mandate to study HUD's IT environment, GAO reviewed the adequacy of key IT management and modernization controls within the department, including strategic planning and performance measurement, investment management, human capital management, enterprise architecture development and use, and modernization program office establishment. To do so, GAO compared HUD policies, guidance, plans, reports, and other products and actions to relevant aspects of statutory requirements, federal guidance, and related best practices.
The department has to varying degrees established key IT management and modernization controls needed to help ensure that its existing IT environment adequately supports mission operations and that its efforts to modernize this environment are successful. However, these controls have not been fully implemented either in accordance with a statutory requirement, federal guidance, or related best practices. Specifically, HUD has (1) developed an IT strategic plan, with strategic goals and related activities and performance targets, but it has not assessed its IT performance since fiscal year 2007, and its assessment at that time showed performance shortfalls. For example, it reported that it was behind schedule or not making progress on about one-half of the activities needed to achieve its IT strategic goals. (2) established policies and procedures for creating portfolios of IT investments, but it lacks related practices to effectively control them. For example, criteria to evaluate the performance of its portfolio do not exist. (3) analyzed gaps in its IT workforce and developed a strategy for addressing them, but the analysis was based on an incomplete and outdated inventory of human capital skill levels, thus rendering its strategy unreliable. (4) established an enterprise architecture program--to connect strategic plans with individual programs and system solutions--that meets key aspects of related best practices, but its efforts to extend its architecture by adding the level of detail needed to implement modernization projects, referred to as segment architectures, are not sufficient. For example, while HUD has identified and prioritized segments to be modernized, it has not adhered to these priorities, and the segments developed do not reflect important elements of federal guidance, and most are out of date. (5) identified the need for a modernization program office with the responsibility for managing its modernization efforts but has not established this office. Department officials acknowledged these shortcomings and stated that efforts to address them have been constrained by such factors as turnover in IT leadership and, until recently, limited modernization resources and initiatives. Until it strengthens these IT management controls, the performance of its existing IT environment and the success of its recent and future efforts to modernize this environment will be at risk.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Randolph C. Hite
Government Accountability Office: Information Technology
(202) 512-6256
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: In order to ensure that HUD has an IT environment that effectively and efficiently supports its mission operations, the Secretary of HUD should ensure that recent and anticipated increases in IT resources be allocated to strengthening each of the IT management controls discussed in this report. To these ends, the Secretary should direct the Chief Information Officer (CIO) to develop a plan for developing and implementing the department's new performance management framework, including an implementation schedule of key activities and related resource needs, and to ensure that this plan provides for complying with the statutory requirement for annual reporting of progress in achieving IT strategic goals.
Agency Affected: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to ensure that HUD has an IT environment that effectively and efficiently supports its mission operations, the Secretary of HUD should ensure that recent and anticipated increases in IT resources be allocated to strengthening each of the IT management controls discussed in this report. To these ends, the Secretary should direct the Deputy Secretary, as the Technology Investment Board Executive Committee (TIBEC) chairperson, to develop and implement a plan to address the IT portfolio investment management weaknesses that we identified. This plan should address the following: (a) instituting policies and procedures for reviewing, evaluating, and improving the performance of the department's portfolio of investments; (b) establishing resources for reviewing the investment portfolio, including people, funding, and tools and ensuring board members are familiar with the process for evaluating and improving portfolio performance; (c) developing criteria for assessing portfolio performance and reviewing and modifying them at regular intervals to reflect current performance expectations; (d) defining and collecting IT portfolio performance measurement data consistent with the portfolio performance criteria; and (e) executing adjustments to the IT investment portfolio in response to actual portfolio performance.
Agency Affected: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to ensure that HUD has an IT environment that effectively and efficiently supports its mission operations, the Secretary of HUD should ensure that recent and anticipated increases in IT resources be allocated to strengthening each of the IT management controls discussed in this report. To these ends, the Secretary should direct the CIO to establish and execute IT human capital gap closure strategies that are based on a complete and current inventory of its existing IT workforce skills.
Agency Affected: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to ensure that HUD has an IT environment that effectively and efficiently supports its mission operations, the Secretary of HUD should ensure that recent and anticipated increases in IT resources be allocated to strengthening each of the IT management controls discussed in this report. To these ends, the Secretary should Direct the Deputy Secretary, as the TIBEC chairperson, to (a) report to the Secretary on actions planned to address our prior enterprise architecture (EA) recommendations on defining a security architecture and performing independent verification and validation, and (b) develop a plan for reexamining segment priorities and updating and developing segment architectures in accordance with these priorities and relevant guidance.
Agency Affected: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to ensure that HUD has an IT environment that effectively and efficiently supports its mission operations, the Secretary of HUD should ensure that recent and anticipated increases in IT resources be allocated to strengthening each of the IT management controls discussed in this report. To these ends, the Secretary should direct the CIO to direct the CIO to establish an enterprisewide program office with the responsibility and authority for managing the department's modernization efforts.
Agency Affected: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
