US Federal Government IT Projects

This paper shows how the PRINCE2 project management method supports US Federal government project managers as they deliver IT investments while satisfying requirements of the Clinger-Cohen Act and Capital Planning and Investment Control.

Since enactment of the Clinger-Cohen Act (CCA) in 1996, the US Federal government requires its agencies to improve their management, oversight and control of investments in information technology. Central to the CCA is an obligation for agencies to select, control, and evaluate their portfolio of IT projects in accordance with the principles of Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC), an approach to IT investment management referenced in the CCA.

In the same year the CCA was signed into effect, the UK government released PRINCE2™, a principles and themes based project management method designed to provide direction and oversight of government/contractor projects. Project managers can find it difficult to meet the requirements of CPIC while running a project. Industry leading project management guides suggest one approach, contractors have another, while investment oversight groups within the agency reinforce the additional requirements of CCA onto the project team.

The Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996, commonly referred to as the CCA, requires US Federal agencies to "identify and collect information regarding best practices" for managing IT related projects. The CCA identifies the government's approach to information technology investment management as Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC). Specifically, the CCA, through oversight from the President's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), requires each agency to institute effective and efficient capital planning processes for selecting, controlling, and evaluating their investments in IT projects. These projects represent the strategic investment in IT capital assets that define an agency's IT portfolio.

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