Agencies’ projected savings on IT projects over the last two years were drastically overstated, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, which found that expected savings through PortfolioStat reporting were overestimated by at least 66 percent.
When PortfolioStat was established in 2013, agencies projected $5.8 billion in savings through better efficiencies in IT spending. However, as of fiscal 2015, agencies have only realized approximately $2 billion in cost reductions.
Of the 26 agencies included in the report, only nine met or exceeded projected savings.
The biggest offenders are the Defense Department – which missed the mark by $2.6 billion – and Homeland Security – off by $925 million. The remaining federal agencies misestimated by a combined $206 million.
In 2013, DoD originally planned to save approximately $3.2 billion through 26 PortfolioStat initiatives. As of January, the department reduced that number to $560 million, only reporting savings through data center consolidation efforts.
“Though the department appears to be pursuing the other 25 initiatives it identified in 2013, its Office of the Chief Information Officer state that it no longer considers them to be part of PortfolioStat,” the report reads. “This is because, in its view, the initiatives are not well aligned with the commodity IT categories defined by OMB due to their scope, scale and complexity. In addition, the acting chief information officer stated that DoD’s systems are not capable of easily generating the data needed to track savings as required under PortfolioStat and that the costs of attempting to collect some of the information far outweigh any potential benefits.”
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At DHS, a miscalculation in 2013 led to a 23 percent decrease in expected savings.
According to officials, projected savings were misreported to GAO, taking into account cumulative reductions going back to 2011. DHS related this information to OMB, reducing their projected savings from $1.4 billion to $446.7 million.
Inconsistencies in reporting to OMB and GAO have also clouded the picture, making it difficult to determine just how far off the projections were.
One area where agencies might be able to make up some ground is in data center consolidation, where savings have largely gone underreported.
“Although the Office of Management and Budget made its data center consolidation initiative part of PortfolioStat in 2013, agencies have no consistently included planned savings from this initiative in their PortfolioStat reporting,” GAO wrote. “As a result, the total amount that agencies expect to save through fiscal year 2015 is understated … likely by hundreds of millions of dollars.”
More: Data center consolidation efforts hampered by poor inventories
GAO offered four recommendations:
- Ensure that OMB reports to Congress about the results of IT reform efforts accurately reflect savings generated from all PortfolioStat initiatives, including those associated with FDCCI;
- Track agencies’ planned savings and use them as a baseline for measuring reported actual savings;
- Require agencies to document specifically how the cost savings achieved from PortfolioStat have been reinvested; and
- Establish time frames for completing assigned PortfolioStat action items and hold agencies accountable for meeting those time frames.
GAO also recommended DoD take a second look at the 25 initiatives it is no longer reporting and identify whether actual savings can be achieved.
“OMB agreed with the four recommendations directed to it and DoD partially concurred with our recommendation to it,” the report notes.
