The Treasury Department and Its Bureaus Can Better Plan for and Control Computer Resources

Highlights

GAO reviewed the Department of the Treasury's and its bureaus' use of computer resources in achieving their missions. The objectives of the review were to: (1) evaluate how effectively these resources are managed by Treasury and its bureaus; (2) determine if they could be better used; and (3) recommend improvements where needed.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should limit the senior official's duties and responsibilities to those required by the Paperwork Reduction Act to ensure that the official can devote sufficient time and attention to enforcing the act, ensure the independence and objectivity of the official, and impress upon Treasury and bureau management the critical importance of the position.	Closed – Implemented Treasury Directive 81-009, dated July 2, 1985, assigned the Deputy Assistant Secretary (Management) for Information Systems responsibility for developing information system management policy and procedures. The report's scope was limited to ADP aspects of the act.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should provide the senior official with sufficient rank to demonstrate the importance of the position and to facilitate the implementation of policies and procedures that are issued by the official. At a minimum, the official should be the Assistant Secretary or equivalent rank so that it is clear to all levels of management that the official is the direct representative of the Secretary in all matters regarding information management.	Closed – Implemented The senior official, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, within Treasury is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Systems. This official reports directly to the Assistant Secretary for Management who has primary oversight of all internal Treasury operations. This provides sufficient rank to demonstrate the importance of the position and to implement policies.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should ensure that the senior official has adequate staff resources to meet the responsibilities imposed by the Paperwork Reduction Act.	Closed – Implemented With the establishment of the Office of Electronic Systems and Information Technology, Treasury has significantly enhanced the staff resources devoted to the responsibilities imposed by the Paperwork Reduction Act. Similar resources have now been provided to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Systems.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should have each bureau, and other offices where appropriate, name an individual to report directly to the bureau head and assist the senior official in implementing the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act within the bureau. These individuals should have the authority and staff necessary for implementing the policies and procedures established by the senior official.	Closed – Implemented Treasury has issued TD-81-02, Organizing the Information Systems Function, which implements this recommendation.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the designated senior official to ensure that each of Treasury's bureaus establish computer resource steering committees consisting of user and data processing management, and chaired by the bureau head or deputy, and charge these committees with responsibility for assessing computer resource needs on a periodic basis and formulating an effective growth strategy.	Closed – Implemented Treasury has issued TD-81-02, Organizing the Information Systems Function, which implements this recommendation.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the designated senior official to ensure that Treasury's bureaus develop and implement standardized and formalized systems development procedures that provide a logical and systematic approach for developing systems.	Closed – Implemented Treasury has issued TD-81-30, System Development Life Cycle, which implements this recommendation.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the senior official to require that the development and installation of computer resource accounting systems be expedited in Treasury's bureaus.	Closed – Not Implemented Given the adaptation of consolidated Information Resources Management concepts within Treasury, it believes the requirement for installation of computer resource accounting systems is not necessarily valid.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the designated senior official to ensure that Treasury's bureaus develop and implement standardized and formalized systems development procedures that assure agreement and understanding between users and systems development staff as to what the end product will provide.	Closed – Implemented Treasury has issued TD-81-30, System Development Life Cycle, which implements this recommendation.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the designated senior official to ensure that Treasury's bureaus develop and implement standardized and formalized systems development procedures that provide the steering committee and management at all levels with a mechanism for reviewing progress and problems at key decision points.	Closed – Implemented Treasury has issued TD-81-30, System Development Life Cycle, which implements this recommendation.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the designated senior official to have each of Treasury's bureaus establish a performance management program for computer resources that should focus on developing performance standards based on specific user requirements but within the limits of overall capacity and capability.	Closed – Implemented Treasury has issued TD-81-05, Information Systems Capacity Management and Performance Measurement, which implements this recommendation.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the designated senior official to have each of Treasury's bureaus establish a performance management program for computer resources that should focus on periodic and routine monitoring of the efficiency and effectiveness of the bureaus' computer resources in meeting these requirements.	Closed – Implemented Treasury has issued TD-81-05, Information Systems Capacity Management and Performance Measurement, which implements this recommendation.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the designated senior official to have each of Treasury's bureaus establish a performance management program for computer resources that should focus on consistent and uniform reporting to management of performance trends and areas needing improvement.	Closed – Implemented Treasury has issued TD-81-05, Information Systems Capacity Management and Performance Measurement, which implements this recommendation.
Department of the Treasury	The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the designated senior official to have each of Treasury's bureaus establish a performance management program for computer resources that should focus on developing and implementing a long-range strategy for improving performance.	Closed – Implemented Treasury has issued TD-81-05, Information Systems Capacity Management and Performance Measurement, which implements this recommendation.

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Topics

Auditing and Financial Management

Computer resourcesExecutive agenciesFederal records managementInformation resources managementIT acquisitionsPaperwork reductionPerformance managementStrategic information systems planningComputer resources managementStandards (information technology)