Former Federal CIO: Independent Verification & Validation is the Antidote to the Government’s Enduring IT Woes
Historically, many large IT projects fall flat due to insufficiencies in one or both of the two critical initial phases: discovery and design. Information missed or incorrectly documented in either of these two phases can spell disaster for a project and, without IV&V, the problems may not be identified until well after project launch and the expenditure of substantial resources.
- Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV (1888PressRelease) November 13, 2020 - While the Project Management Book of Knowledge provides a detailed and robust methodology and tools to manage business projects, it does not address a key project component that can literally make or break a project, particularly a large IT initiative: Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V).
In Fiscal Year 2021, the federal government’s IT spend was nearly $91 billion. And while estimates vary by source and year, it is widely acknowledged that only a fraction of large IT projects in both the federal and private sectors are completed on time, on budget, and/or adequately meet desired end user needs. Some estimates have put the partial or complete failure rate at nearly 85 percent.
The U.S. General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services stated recently that “only 13% of large government software projects are successful.” In any case, there can be no doubt that the federal government continues to waste billions of dollars annually due to failed systems implementations and other IT projects.
“Too often, project management and IV&V are mistaken as the same discipline, but it is important to understand the distinction,” explains Danny Harris, Ph.D., PMP, and former CIO of the U.S. Department of Education.
“IV&V is an independent assessment of the real-time and ongoing health of a systems implementation effort or other critical information systems project,” Dr Harris stated. “Beyond merely monitoring project schedules, costs, and risks, IV&V professionals evaluate the quality and efficacy of the various deliverables generated during each phase of the project.”
For more information on how IV&V can help protect government IT investments, see Dr. Harris’ recent blog at https://www.binarc.com/blogs/independent-verification-and-validation-ivv-helps-protect-it-investment.
BINARC is a small business delivering customized IT solutions to improve efficiency, security, and remote work capabilities for public and private sector entities across the nation. We are a Microsoft-certified Partner with a proven track record of utilizing best-of-breed products and tools to solve complex IT challenges. For more, visit us at www.BINARC.com.
###
space
space
Satisfied Users & 
Approved Press Releases
Print
Email
Report Spam