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The federal government's most disliked IT help desks
A survey of more than 270,000 federal employees shows DOD at the bottom when it comes to satisfaction with IT support and equipment.
The Department of Defense is at the bottom of the list of federal agencies for satisfaction with IT support and IT equipment according to a survey of more than 270,000 federal employees released Wednesday.
The news should come as no surprise to anyone who followed the "fix our computers" saga launched with a viral Twitter post in January 2022 by a defense official who complained of long login times, overtaxed processors and out-of-support applications.
According to the Mission-Support Customer Satisfaction Survey, fielded by the General Services Administration in the late spring of this year, DOD employees collectively reported middling satisfaction with IT support and equipment. Overall, more employees reported satisfaction with equipment and services than did not. Just over 26% of DOD respondents said they were dissatisfied with levels of IT support and just over 27% said they were dissatisfied with their tech equipment.
The results are somewhat less grim than survey results from Defense Business Board's report from earlier this year which found that 80% of Joint Services Provider customers put their user experience at average or below, but DOD's satisfaction scores when it comes to IT support and equipment are at the bottom of federal agencies.
The departments of State and Agriculture also scored low on satisfaction with IT equipment and support. State ranked next to last in both categories among the 24 agencies surveyed, with USDA just above.
The survey ranked satisfaction levels on a seven-point scale, with a score of one reflecting strong dissatisfaction and seven indicating high levels of satisfaction. The median score for government agencies on IT support was 5.67 and 5.51 for IT equipment.
Only a handful of agencies ranked above the median level. The National Science Foundation, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development were the only agencies to score six or higher on overall satisfaction with IT support. NSF, SBA and GSA showed the highest levels of satisfaction with IT equipment.
The Mission-Support Customer Satisfaction Survey has been fielded annually since 2015. The survey was released as part of a quarterly update of the President's Management Agenda on the Performance.gov website. The survey was sent to employees at 24 CFO Act agencies and drills in on satisfaction with a number of processes, including human resources, acquisition and financial management and information technology. The results include breakdowns by agency component, job function, length of federal service of respondents and more.