Information Technology Organizational Effectiveness

In 2008, the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) performed an audit (2007-11348, Information Services Organizational Effectiveness, March 27, 2008) on the effectiveness of the Information Technology (IT) organization and made several recommendations for improvements. In 2011, TVA OIG completed a follow-up audit (2010-13366, Information Technology Organizational Effectiveness, April 5, 2011) and determined the actions taken were not carried through year to year, and as a result, effectiveness in many areas decreased. Accordingly, recommendations in that audit report were focused on creating sustainable processes. In addition, TVA's former Chief Information Officer created a program titled 1,000 Days to Success (IT1K) to address findings from the 2011 audit as well as other observations he made as to the current state of IT.In December 2013, IT informed the OIG that management action plans to address recommendations from the 2011 audit were complete. Soon thereafter, IT informed us it had also completed implementation of the IT1K program. To assess the results of the management action plans, the IT1K program, and to determine the current state of IT's organizational effectiveness, a follow-up IT organizational effectiveness audit was scheduled. The objective of this audit was to evaluate the effectiveness of organizations within IT in meeting TVA's mission and values. To accomplish this, we evaluated (1) current effectiveness of operational groups within IT, (2) IT's alignment with TVA values, (3) the outcomes of IT1K initiatives, and (4) the outcomes of management action.We found operational maturity levels were generally trending upward; however, actions are needed to improve alignment with TVA values in two IT groups, and some IT1K initiatives and management action plans have not been completed or sustained. In addition, we found IT could make improvements in three areas that were not previously covered in our audits of the individual groups under IT-(1) progression planning, (2) support for critical applications, and (3) job descriptions.(Summary Only)