OMB cuts number of IT projects on high-risk list

The Office of Management and Budget reported on Wednesday that it had again reduced the number of federal information technology projects deemed high risk because of their complexity and cost. The agency also noted a significant drop in the number of IT projects on its management watch list.

Comment on this article in The Forum.For the third quarter of fiscal 2008, OMB reported that 477 projects were deemed to be high risk, down from 489 the previous quarter. The projects represent more than $15 billion in fiscal 2009 IT budget requests.

OMB places IT projects on the high-risk list because they are costly, have governmentwide impact or have raised management concerns. Agencies must evaluate and report on the status of high-risk projects to OMB every quarter.

"Projects on the high-risk list are those requiring special attention from the highest level of agency management," OMB said, "but aren't projects necessarily 'at risk' of failure."

The Treasury Department had 77 projects on the list, more than any other agency. Many are related to the department's efforts to comply with the Bush administration's lines of business initiatives. Veterans Affairs was second with 59 projects on the list. Most of those were on the management watch list at the end of fiscal 2007 and continue to warrant heightened scrutiny in OMB's judgment.

OMB trimmed the management watch list to 352 major IT projects, down from 473 in the second quarter. The 352 projects still represent more than $23 billion in fiscal 2009 IT spending requests. Projects are placed on the management watch list when their business cases demonstrate one or more planning weaknesses. Agencies are supposed to follow up on OMB's recommendations to correct perceived weaknesses.

The Defense and Commerce departments had the most projects on the management list, with 63 and 61, respectively. The projects include the Census Bureau's highly controversial Field Data Collection Automation contract with Harris Corp., which the agency currently is renegotiating.