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Federal Agencies Need To Better Complete IT Reinvestment Plans, GAO Report Finds

Twenty-four of the 26 federal agencies participating in Office of Management and Budget IT reform initiatives reported achieving an estimated total of $3.6 billion in cost savings and avoidances between FY 2011 and 2014, a GAO report released Tuesday said.…

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More than half of the savings, about $2 billion, were from data center consolidation and optimization efforts, it said. Almost 70 percent of the savings, $2.5 billion, were savings and avoidances from the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Treasury and the Social Security Administration, it said. The goal of the report was to determine how savings from OMB’s IT reform efforts were being invested, but most agencies didn’t fully meet OMB requirements to submit reinvestment plan information for varied reasons, the report said. GAO recommended agencies complete their IT savings reinvestment plans and improve tracking, and that OMB clearly “define targets for agency reinvestment and require that agencies complete their plans and track actual reinvestment performance.” OMB and 12 agencies agreed with the GAO recommendations, one agency didn't say whether it agreed or disagreed, three agencies had no comments, and one agency partially agreed.