1

20

21

23

40

Appendix I

Objective, Scope, and Methodology

Our objective was to assess whether SSA's planned $1.125 billion IWS/LAN investment is directed to supporting SSA's effort to improve service delivery to its increasing recipient base. Our work focused on SSA's progress in addressing the advice we provided in our March 30, 1993 letter. The House and Senate reports on SSA's 1994 appropriations stated that SSA should report the actions taken on this advice before obligating any further IWS/LAN funds.1

To meet our objectives, we met with agency officials responsible for
systems planning activities, agency operations, and budgeting. We also met
with budget and information resource management (IRM) officials from the
Office of Management and Budget, as well as officials from the Office of
Technology Assessment, who were conducting a review of SSA's
automation program. We reviewed relevant systems and strategic planning
documents, draft service delivery proposals, as well as the results of
IWS/LAN pilot tests. We also reviewed past GAO and other reports on SSA's
systems efforts.

To help determine the impact of IWS/LAN, we observed operations at a variety of pilot and non-pilot offices. This includes 21 district and branch offices, and 3 teleservice and 2 program service centers, and state disability determination services in the following states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia, Texas, and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia.

We conducted our review from October 1992 through June 1994, in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. We have discussed the contents of this letter with SSA officials, and have incorporated their views where appropriate.

'House Report 103-156 and Senate Report 103-143.

Appendix II

Past GAO Products Related to Inadequate

SSA Planning

1. Major Changes in ssa's Business Processes Are Imperative
(GAO/T-AIMD-94-106, Apr. 14, 1994).

We testified that SSA's April 1 proposal to redesign its disability determination process is a valid, credible attempt to address the major fundamental changes needed to cope with SSA's increasing disability workload. However, we said that SSA still needed to identify how, where, and when automation would be used to adequately support the reengineered process. Further, the concerns of SSA employees and state administrators would have to be addressed, including their natural resistance to changes in their roles and responsibilities.

2. Letter from the Director, Human Resources Information Systems,
Information Management and Technology Division, U.S. General
Accounting Office, to the Principal Deputy Commissioner, Social Security
Administration, Dec. 23, 1993.

We said that we did not fully support funding SSA's planned IWS/LAN acquisition, because SSA had not adequately addressed five key issues that we had identified in our March 30, 1993 letter to SSA. For example, although SSA identified its disability determination process as a key area to reengineer, it had not refocused its planned IWS/LAN deployment to support this effort. In addition, we suggested SSA reassess the number of computers it was purchasing, that is, whether its offices need to have a ratio of more than one computer per person.

3. Social Security: Sustained Effort Needed to Improve Management and Prepare for the Future (GAO/HRD-94-22, Oct. 27, 1993).

We reported that SSA had strengthened strategic management planning by
defining high-level service in its September 1991 agency strategic plan.
However, we noted that SSA had not fully implemented a strategic
management process to guide planning, implementation, and evaluation of
long-range strategic initiatives. It also had not completed a service delivery
or business plan that specified how and where SSA would provide service
in the future. Without such a plan, SSA lacked a prerequisite for its resource
and facility plans.

4. Letter from the Director, Human Resource Information Systems, Accounting and Information Management Division, U.S. General Accounting Office, to the Acting Commissioner of SSA, Mar. 30, 1993.

Past GAO Products Related to Inadequate
SSA Planning

We detailed five issues that we believed SSA must address to justify funding for its planned IWS/LAN acquisition. Specifically, that SSA needed to: (1) document the justification for its technical solution, (2) link technology system redesigns to a long-range business strategy, (3) better define SSA's need for IWS/LAN, including how a limited IwS/LAN deployment could best augment current operations until a long-range strategy is defined, (4) develop an accountability methodology to track and account for the cost and performance goals for its systems redesign efforts, and (5) better define state disability business requirements.

5. SSA Computers: Long-Range Vision Needed to Guide Future Systems Modernization Efforts (GAO/IMTEC-91-44, Sept. 24, 1991).

We reported that after 10 years of systems modernization

activities—without a long-range plan-SSA risked being overwhelmed by the huge increases in beneficiaries that loomed on the horizon.

6. Social Security Administration's Systems Modernization Plan (GAO/T-IMTEC-89-11, Sept. 28, 1989).

We testified that SSA believed that it could improve its service delivery methods through its agency strategic plan. However, the plan did not identify specific functions the agency would perform to support the type of service envisioned, the levels of service quality and timeliness to be achieved, and the level and type of resources needed. Without such information, SSA could not accurately determine the value of an enhanced information processing environment or its costs.

7. ADP Systems: SSA's Modernization Efforts Need Redirection (GAO/IMTEC-87-16, Apr. 10, 1987).

We reported that SSA's systems modernization efforts were proceeding without the benefit of a service delivery plan that sets service delivery goals and approaches, and defines the desired organizational structure.

8. Social Security Administration Needs to Continue Comprehensive Long-Range Planning (GAO/HRD-79-118, Sept. 20, 1979).

We reported that SSA had not established long-range plans to respond to future program needs and service level requirements, and to help design ADP systems that can support future as well as present agency operations.