VA Launches IT Project Policing Site

The Veterans Affairs Department has test-launched a Web site that details the performance of information technology projects summarized on the federal IT Dashboard site, which tracks the progress of IT investments governmentwide.

The "Veterans Affairs IT Product Delivery Dashboard" went live about a month ago but has not been publicized yet, said Roger Baker, the VA chief information officer, at a Monday briefing on the fiscal 2011 budget.

The VA site uses traffic light colors to grade certain aspects of 82 IT projects the department monitors monthly. For example, a red box indicates the project is more than 44 days behind schedule, while a green box means the project is either on track or less than 30 days behind.

The information on the governmentwide IT Dashboard is limited to capital asset plans, known as Exhibit 300s, that agencies submit annually to the Office of Management and Budget. The Veterans Affairs dashboard, which is currently a simple PDF table, adds monthly updates on the variance between the project's planned budget and schedule and actual progress.

Also, the department-specific site shows whether projects have been halted under VA's new project assessment method. Boxes in a column labeled "PMAS," for Project Management Accountability System, are colored red for "paused" - meaning suspended, yellow for "deferred" - or given one more chance to meet milestones or green for "cleared" - meaning approved. All the projects on the current dashboard, dated Dec. 31, are good to go but the department this summer suspended 45 other IT projects not listed on the site.

The new evaluation system temporarily stops projects that miss incremental, 6-month milestones to determine whether to spend more money rejuvenating them or permanently end them. VA has cut funding or ended at least 15 projects, as a result of this policing.

"I am more focused on PMAS than the Web site, I will admit," Baker said in an interview with Nextgov. The department plans to upgrade the site with more user-friendly navigation in the coming months.