OMB clears up criteria to get to green

The Office of Management and Budget today gave agencies a clearer understanding of the criteria to meet green on the President’s Management Agenda scorecard.In a to agency CIOs, Karen Evans, OMB’s administrator for IT and e-government, detailed the information the administration expects from agencies for cost, schedule and performance, earned value management, and operational and data analysis.OMB is tracking 27 agencies as they work to meet the Bush administration’s management goals on human capital, competitive sourcing, financial management, e-government, and budget and performance integration. Using a color-grading scheme, OMB issues two grades for each of the agenda’s five management categories. One score rates overall status; the second rates progress on implementing specific programs. A green rating means an agency has met all of OMB’s requirements, yellow means it has met some criteria, and red means it has serious problems. The administration scores agencies every quarter and the next set of agency information for the evaluation is due Sept. 30.Evans said some of the things her office is looking for from agencies include:Agencies also must provide information on how the earned value management contract language meets industry standards and on how close the project is to meeting the original cost, schedule and performance goals.