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Home > Executive Report > Case Studies
Hundreds of government IT managers are learning the basics of project management and becoming PMI-certified thanks to a five-week training program that began in September 2001 at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The results: Better proposals and planning, clearer communication, and a deeper pool of project management talent available to run costly and complex IT investments.
The critical need for certified project managers in government agencies is underscored with every cost overrun, expensive and needless program duplication, and Washington Post investigation, says Chris Niedermayer, the USDA’s associate CIO for information and technology management. With a job description that includes responsibility for capital planning within a $1.6 billion IT investment portfolio, Niedermayer is well-aware of the need to improve government efficiency. In 2004, studies show, $55 billion was spent across government on failed or canceled projects.
The USDA, with its 29 agencies and staff offices worldwide has 300 separate investments in information technology at any given time. “With such a huge investment in IT projects, there is an inherent risk that those dollars could be not managed well if you don’t have people with good project management skills in charge,” Niedermayer says.
In 1996, with the passage of the Clinger-Cohen Act (also known as the Information Technology Management Reform Act), Congress began requiring agencies like the USDA to develop more robust project management structures.
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