Project Management

A Computerworld investigation reported that delays in overhauling the federal tax system have cost the U.S. government approximately $50 billion a year in uncollected taxes. Although the IRS has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in an attempt to modernize its computer systems, critics claim that much of that money has been wasted because of mismanagement and primitive development practices. Government and private groups believe that there are several reasons for the problems:

1. Failure to redesign the business processes before beginning systems development
2. No overall systems architecture or development plan
3. Primitive and sometimes "Chaotic" software development methodologies
4. Failure to manage information systems as investments
5. Lack of information security

Both Congress and the General Accounting Office have directed the IRS to carry out the following recommendations:

1. Put in place a rigorous process for selecting, prioritizing, controlling, and evaluating major information systems investments
2. Improve system development practices from ad hoc to ones that can be repeated and improve the likelihood of success.
3. Develop organization-wide plans that focus on an integrated systems architecture, security, data architecture, and configuration management.

Select one of the numbered or lettered items above, research the issue, and write and a concise providing further commentary on the item you selected. Be sure to include a citation for the resource(s) you use in your research.