Execs learn how to get funding for technology projects

A finely honed business case with special attention to capital planning is vital to securing funds for technology projects, according to four high-level government officials who spoke at the Government Technology Leadership Institute Wednesday in Washington. "As IT becomes a central part of program delivery, the size of the federal IT budget is growing," said Joseph Leo, chief information officer at the Agriculture Department and co-chair of the CIO Council's committee on capital planning and IT management. "As a result, the issue of capital planning is taking on a bigger role." In addition to Leo, officials from the General Services Administration, the General Accounting Office and the Office of Management and Budget revealed the best ways to climb and shake the money tree. These days, executives pushing new IT projects have to get approval from a number of gatekeepers, including the agency or department CIO, OMB and Congress. Leo said the gatekeepers are looking for a business case that explains "the why" of the project and are looking to ensure that the project is not "IT for IT's sake." Agencies should include detailed information about return on investment in their business cases, Leo said, and they should consider that some agency or project activities might not have a quantifiable rate of return. Agencies should also include information on risk management by identifying whether they have the skill level or the staff for proposed projects. Finally, a successful business case should include performance measures. David McClure, GAO's director for IT management issues, counseled agencies to get all parties who play a role in funding decisions involved in the process. McClure encouraged agencies to be midful of the political dimension of project funding and its unique challenges. Daniel Chenok, the information and technology branch chief at OMB, agreed, saying that if agencies don't go through the process of creating a business case, proposals will only be looked at through a political lens.