Since 1995, the Dept. of Defense's (DoD) multibillion dollar business systems modernization program has been designated as high risk, and it continues to do so today. To assist in addressing DoD's modernization challenges, the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2005 requires the DoD to, among other things, report specific information about business system investments, including: (1) milestones and actual performance against specified measures and any revisions; and (2) actions taken to certify that a modernization investment involving more than $1 million meets defined conditions before obligating funds. This report focused on the FY 2010 report's compliance with, these provisions of the act. Illus. This is a print-on-demand publication; it is not an original.

Business Systems Modernization: Scope and Content of DOD's Congressional Report and Executive Oversight of Investments Need to Improve

Since 1995, GAO has designated the Department of Defenses (DOD) multibillion dollar business systems modernization program as high risk, and it continues to do so today. To assist in addressing DODs modernization challenges, the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (the act) requires the department to, among other things, report specific information about business system investments, including (1) milestones and actual performance against specified measures and any revisions and (2) actions taken to certify that a modernization investment involving more than $1 million meets defined conditions before obligating funds. The act also directs GAO to review each report. As agreed, GAO focused on the fiscal year 2010 reports compliance with, among other things, these provisions of the act. To do so, GAO compared DODs report to the acts reporting requirements, interviewed DOD officials, analyzed relevant documentation, and leveraged prior GAO reports.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

Since 1995, GAO has designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) multibillion dollar business systems modernization program as high risk, and it continues to do so today. To assist in addressing DOD's modernization challenges, the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 requires the department to, among other things, report specific information about business system investments, including (1) milestones and actual performance against specified measures and any revisions and (2) actions taken to certify that a modernization investment involving more than $1 million meets defined conditions before obligating funds. The act also directs GAO to review each report. As agreed, GAO focused on the fiscal year 2010 report's compliance with, among other things, these provisions of the act. To do so, GAO compared DOD's report to the act's reporting requirements, interviewed DOD officials, analyzed relevant documentation, and leveraged prior GAO reports. GAO is recommending that future annual reports include additional information about investment performance measures and certification actions and that DOD guidance be revised to ensure that certification submissions disclose unresolved GAO findings and recommendations. DOD agreed with GAO's recommendations.

DOD Business Systems Modernization: Longstanding Management and Oversight Weaknesses Continue to Put Investments at Risk