White House slashes huge IT projects, more cuts coming

[babylonsister]

White House slashes huge IT projects, more cuts coming
By Gautham Nagesh - 09/15/10 11:52 AM ET


The White House announced more cuts on Wednesday to technology projects designed to replace the accounting systems used by federal agencies.

Office of Management and Budget acting director Jeffrey Zients and Controller Danny Werfel told reporters the White House will scrap or reduce several projects as a result of its ongoing review of federal financial management systems in hopes of saving millions of dollars and improving the return on taxpayer funds.

Prior to joining OMB "I spent all my time in the private sector and saw that the best companies constantly evaluate and revise important IT projects. Historically most government agencies have not done this," Zients said. "We're changing that and changing how the government does business" by cutting projects that are behind schedule or over-budget.

Efforts to update agencies' accounting systems have historically been plagued by delays and cost overruns due to the complexity and diversity of the accounting methods used by the government. The White House halted all modernization efforts in June in order to review the projects for possible reductions in cost and scope.

more...

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/118929-white-house-slashes-huge-it-projects-more-cuts-coming

[global1]

1. Really - To Make Government More Efficient They Need 21st Century Computer Systems.......

I hope the IT programs that they are scrapping are those that lagged behind and got past up with better technology and systems. I would hate to see them penny wise but pound foolish on this.

[toddwv]

2. Looks like that's the case

"Efforts to update agencies' accounting systems have historically been plagued by delays and cost overruns due to the complexity and diversity of the accounting methods used by the government. The White House halted all modernization efforts in June in order to review the projects for possible reductions in cost and scope.

Werfel said the White House is canceling a $113 million project to replace the Small Business Administration's loan management and accounting system and scaling back two similar projects at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The administration expects to save a total of $224 million on the latter two projects by cutting all system features that aren't mission-critical.

Those measures come in addition to the previously announced cancellation of a modernization effort at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is expected to save a total of $423 million. Werfel said the administration hopes to ultimately save roughly one billion dollars a year by canceling troubled or unnecessary information technology projects."

[Hawkowl]

3. Efficiency means less workers

Whizz bang computers may not be the answer right now with record setting unemployment. There's always two ways to solve a problem: add machines or add more workers.