HHS FITARA MILESTONES REVIEW

As of Date: January 31, 2024

Agency Actions and Milestones Table

Milestone ID Milestone Desc Milestone Target
Completion Date
Milestone Status Milestone Status Desc Common Baseline Area DCOI Area
1 A1/A2:
Beginning in the latter part of the FY 2017 budget formulation cycle and phasing in fully in FY 2018 budget cycle, the HHS CIO will collaborate with the HHS CFO and define the IT-related information required and the overall IT approach. This will build upon current processes in use to identify and report on IT spending represented in the IT Portfolio (in the former Exhibits 53 and 300).
2016/09/30 Complete Updated the HHS CPIC Policy.
Incorporated IT budget requirements into Departmental budget guidance.
Budget Formulation Non Data Center
2 A1/A2:
Beginning in the FY 2017 budget formulation cycle and phasing in fully in FY 2018 budget cycle, the HHS CIO and CFO will jointly approve the overall HHS IT budget and the IT budget for investments over $20 million annually/$100 million over 5 years.
2016/11/21 Complete Updated IT governance framework.
Performed joint budget review.
Budget Formulation Non Data Center
3 A1/A2:
Building upon current processes in use for IT capital planning and investment control reporting, Division CIOs and CFOs will jointly review, approve and submit a Division IT Budget for submission to HHS consistent with the process and information requirements established by the HHS CIO and CFO.
2016/11/21 Complete Incorporated IT budget requirements into Departmental budget guidance.
Performed Joint Budget Reviews.
Budget Formulation Non Data Center
4 B1/B2:
HHS will use the President’s budget development process in conjunction with the existing IT capital planning process to ensure comprehensive identification of IT spending including programmatic IT and the associated justifications for the budget amounts.
2016/09/30 Complete Updated HHS CPIC policy. Budget Formulation Non Data Center
5 B1/B2:
The HHS CIO will leverage the recently established HHS IT Steering Committees and the HHS CIO Council to identify and review anticipated new IT investments over $20 million prior to formal budget formulation processes. This will better inform the HHS IT budget decision making and engage discussions earlier than current practice.
2016/10/30 Complete Updated IT governance framework and perform IT budget formulation process.
Performed review of IT portfolio review of overall budget and new investments.
Budget Formulation Non Data Center
6 C1:
HHS will strengthen its recently established IT governance structure and enhance its management authority through development and implementation of specific and clearly delineated roles and responsibilities of the HHS CIO and the Division CIOs. The HHS CIO will focus on review and approval through the HHS governance structure of the overall HHS IT portfolio, for IT investments of over $20 million annually/$100 million over 5 years, and for specific Department-wide special initiatives (e.g., cybersecurity).
2017/05/31 Complete Issued OpDiv specific Delegation of Authority memorandums. Budget Formulation Non Data Center
7 C1:
Division CIOs with delegated authority from the HHS CIO will be responsible through Division IT governance processes for the review and approval of the Division IT portfolio, IT investments under $20 million, and for assuring transparency to HHS of investments over $10 million annually/$50 million over 5 years.
2017/05/31 Complete Issued OpDiv specific Delegation of Authority memorandums.
OpDiv CIOs provided annual budget submission and certification of review.
Budget Formulation Non Data Center
8 Develop a well-established set of policies, instructions, and processes for capital planning, project management, governance, and reporting. 2015/12/31 Complete Developed and applied criteria to determine magnitude, importance, and risk of IT investments. Budget Formulation Non Data Center
9 C1:
The HHS IT Steering Committees, chaired by the CIO along with two co-chairs representing the programmatic aspects of the Domain, will develop and apply criteria to determine magnitude, importance, and risk of IT investments and assist the HHS CIO in assessing the health of the Agency’s portfolio. These criteria will be applied in strategic assessments of the IT investments to allow for a more consistent and rigorous HHS review of investments.
2016/12/02 Complete Completed Affirmation statement of IT portfolio. Budget Formulation Non Data Center
10 E1:
The HHS CIO will review the existing stage gate review processes in the EPLC to implement changes for better program/IT engagement. Divisions will incorporate program centered processes into Division EPLC frameworks.
2016/08/09 Complete Updated the HHS EPLC Policy - Addendum. Budget Execution Non Data Center
11 E2:
The HHS CIO will work with the CFO and CAO to provide clear, compelling and meaningful performance metrics within IT investments.
2016/09/30 Complete Developed best practice on performance. Provided access to COR/PPM Training for Staff professionals. Budget Execution Non Data Center
12 E2:
The HHS CIO will leverage the HHS CIO Council to define strategies and performance measures for Department-wide technology investments.
2016/09/30 Complete Updated HHS IT strategic plan to align with developed performance measures. Budget Execution Non Data Center
13 E2:
The HHS CIO will develop and provide guidance to Divisions on best practices in determining high quality performance metrics within the HHS EPLC framework.
2016/05/03 Complete Leveraged EPLC community of practices to share best practices. Budget Execution Non Data Center
14 E2:
Division CIOs will develop enhanced coordination processes among program managers and CIO staff to incorporate metrics that support Division mission, goals and objectives.
2016/12/30 Complete Created communities of practices to allow for information sharing and best practices, including the use of the CIO Council to better understand and support the mission diversity of HHS Budget Execution Non Data Center
15 F1/F2:
The HHS CIO will work with the HHS CFO, CAO, and Divisions to assess current IT expenditure reporting to determine critical FITARA data needs, how to best integrate the data, and how to improve the quality and utility to better support visibility and accountability. The HHS CIO will also determine how to better integrate disparate data reporting and analytics from a variety of Department-level systems to better inform decision-making.
2017/07/30 Complete Defined and access agency-wide report. Review planned IT expenditures for investments $20 million annually/$100 million over 5 years, using tolls such as Porfolio Management Tool (PMT) and business intelligence systems, to improve visibility, data quality and automate sharing of data to better support decision making. Budget Execution Non Data Center
16 G1:
The HHS CIO will review the landscape of policies and processes to ensure they comprehensively cover all FITARA requirements to include but not limited to incremental development, publicly posting and sharing with OMB.
2016/12/31 Complete Created inventory of IT policies.
Performed internal analysis of HHS FITARA implementation and its impact and communicated closely with OMB and GAO.
Created Plan to update affected policies. EPLC policy (new template) was updated November 2016.
Updated affected policies.
Budget Execution Non Data Center
17 H1:
The HHS CIO will notify OMB of all governance boards he/she is a member of at the beginning of each fiscal year.
2016/11/30 Complete A list of HHS CIO Governance Board membership can be found at http://www.hhs.gov/digitalstrategy. Budget Execution Non Data Center
18 H1:
HHS Divisions will be required to document their governance and decision-making processes and submit to the HHS Deputy Secretary and HHS CIO as part of the delegation process. With authorities delegated by the HHS CIO, Division CIOs will focus attention on the overall Division IT portfolio, the planning and execution of Division major investments, and all other Division investments.
2016/06/23 Complete Gathered information and supporting evidence [Pre-FITARA] and drove the content of the initial Delegation of Authority Memos created in 2016. Budget Execution Non Data Center
19 J1:
Continuing the use of TechStats for major IT investments, the HHS CIO has the authority to recommend to the Agency head or her designee the continuation, modification, pause, or termination of a reviewed acquisition, investment, or activity with significant IT component. The HHS Deputy Secretary will be engaged in the resolution, in the event the Division head or Division CIO disagrees with the HHS CIO recommendation.
2016/11/30 Complete Established and conducted investment review process. Budget Execution Non Data Center
20 L1/L2:
HHS CIO will approve any future movement of funds for IT resources that requires Congressional notification.
2016/11/30 Complete Developed a process for the HHS CIO to approve IT resources that requires Congressional notification. This effort, which began in 2015, has matured due to FITARA. Budget Execution Non Data Center
21 I1:
The EPLC process will implement improvements in the cost estimation review process consistent with established thresholds, and incorporate into the business case review during the planning phase.
2016/12/31 Complete Updated the EPLC Policy (New Template). EPLC Update (under the New Template) was updated November 2016. Acquisition Non Data Center
22 I1:
The HHS CIO will work with the Division CIOs to validate that the acquisition strategies are included IT governance processes.
2017/07/28 Complete Included acquisition strategy reviews as a condition of the Operating Division CIO Delegation of Authority. Performed review of OPDIV level acquisition reviews. Acquisition Non Data Center
23 I1:
The HHS CIO will modify IT management policy to require adequate incremental development principles in IT investments.
2016/09/30 Complete Finalized the CPIC Policy. Acquisition Non Data Center
24 I2:
HHS CAO will use a phased approach for full implementation of all FAC P/PM level requirements and achieve certification. HHS is building internal capacity by developing staff to have the needed levels of experience and training as well as developing a strategic plan to enhance its ability to attract new hires with the expertise and experience required.
2017/06/30 Complete Increased the number of IT Professionals at HHS who hold Project and Program Management certification. Develop the IT acquistion workforce at HHS. Developed efforts in conjunction with IT Workforce Development initiatives. From FY16 to FY17, HHS doubled the number of certified Project and Program Managers from 170 to 337. As of Aug 9, 2018, total number of certifications: FAC-PPM (all levels): 905; total number of FAC-COR (all levels): 8,889. Acquisition Non Data Center
25 I2:
HHS has been expanding the use of incremental development approaches (such as agile); this also will continue to be phased in and may not be appropriate for all projects or systems. Generally new projects with less definition on specific IT requirements up front work best for this approach; however, criteria for incremental development are being refined as the Agency gains experience with these approaches.
2016/12/31 Complete Established working group to assess the methodologies used within each OpDiv. The monthly meetings highlighedt “best practices” to incremental development approaches (This is complete as of Dec 31, 2016). Updated EPLC Policy ( New Template). EPLC Policy (under the new template) was updated November 2016. Acquisition Non Data Center
26 K1:
When the threshold for HHS review is triggered (at $20 million annually/$100 million over 5 years in IT), the HHS CIO and CAO will review and approve the acquisition.
2016/09/01 Complete Updated the IT Acquisition Review (ITAR) Policy. This includes Acquisition Strategies and individual acquisitions (IT acquisitions and acquisitions with IT components) over $20 Million and over $150k submitted to ITAR for FITARA approval. Acquisition Non Data Center
27 K1:
Division CIOs with delegated authority from the HHS CIO and the Division Head (or designee such as the Division HCA) will approve acquisition strategies.
2017/05/31 Complete Issued Operating Division-specific Delegation of Authority Memos. Acquisition Non Data Center
28 K1:
Acquisition strategies approved at the Department level are expected to have related acquisition plans.
2017/06/30 Complete Updated the FITARA Approval guidance document (Memo). Acquisition Non Data Center
29 K2:
The HHS CAO will publish guidance to contracting officers regarding approval for processing and coding IT acquisitions.
2017/08/15 Complete Published guidance to contracting community. Acquisition Non Data Center
30 K2:
The HHS CAO will continue to refer planned acquisition strategies and acquisition plans that include IT resources over $20 million annually/$100 million over 5 years to the HHS CIO. The CAO will prevent initiation of a contracting action, or a modification for substantial change to a contract, or inter-agency agreements that include IT over $20 million annually unless the CIO jointly agrees or they are consistent with the acquisition strategy previously approved by the HHS CIO.
2016/09/01 Complete Updated the ITAR process with identified thresholds. Acquisition Non Data Center
31 M1:
The HHS CIO will be involved in the following recruitment activities for new Division CIOs: participating in the interview and selection process. The Division Head and HHS CIO will agree on the selection of the Division CIO.
2023/12/31 In progress The Departmental CIO has, in the past, participated in the selection of Operating Division CIOs as requested. However, this practice has not been consistenly applied across the HHS enterprise. Organization and Workforce Non Data Center
32 N1/N2:
The HHS CIO and CHCO will work together to formally establish a new rating element for Division-level CIO performance plans and communicate this new requirement through a policy memorandum to be distributed to all Department and Division level leadership.
2016/05/05 Complete OCIO and OHR have issued a draft letter that allows the CIO to provide input on OPDIV CIO performance based upon the CIO work plan. Organization and Workforce Non Data Center
33 N1/N2:
The HHS CIO shall submit mid-year and annual input to the PMAP to Division heads regarding the performance of the Division CIOs. The Division Head will consider the input from the HHS CIO when determining the initial summary rating and will discuss the input with the Division CIO during progress reviews.
2016/05/05 Complete Developed a process that allows the Department CIO to contribute to the Division CIOs PMAP process. Organization and Workforce Non Data Center
34 N1/N2:
HHS CIO Work Plans will be a requirement across all HHS Divisions. The Division head or rating official (if other than the Division head) will determine the overall summary rating for Division-level CIOs.
2015/12/31 Complete Required HHS CIO Work Plans across all HHS Divisions. Organization and Workforce Non Data Center
35 O1:
HHS will publicly post the required Division IT Leadership Directory on the HHS CIO web site.
2015/12/31 Complete This action has been completed and can be found at the following locations:
• Bureau IT Leadership Directory
• An HTML version at [hhs.gov]/digitalstrategy/bureaudirectory.html.
• A JSON file version at [hhs.gov]/digitalstrategy/bureaudirectory.json. The Digital Strategy website has been updated with this information.
Organization and Workforce Non Data Center
36 O1:
The HHS CIO will include information about employees that hold the duties of a CIO but not the official title in their position description.investment needs.
2017/05/31 Complete The Digital Strategy website has been updated with information about CIO leadership across HHS. Organization and Workforce Non Data Center
37 P1/P2:
The HHS CIO and CHCO will work collaboratively to review and refine competency requirements for IT staff and leadership.investment needs.
2016/12/15 Complete HHS has several established workforce and career development programs. The HHS Acquisition Workforce (HHSAW) Program was established to comply with Federal mandates and enhance the professional knowledge and capabilities of personnel involved in various phases of the acquisition lifecycle, across the Department. Organization and Workforce Non Data Center
38 P1/P2:
The HHS CIO is working with the HHS CHCO on establishing career ladder and competencies for three IT cybersecurity positions.
2016/12/15 Complete A career path for IT Cybersecurity Project/Program Managers has been finalized; the vision is to ensure alignment with NICE, FITARA, and the Acquisition Workforce Development Strategic Plan. Organization and Workforce Non Data Center
40 In accordance with FITARA, publish a Strategic Plan to describe the agency’s consolidation and optimization strategy for fiscal years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. 2022/05/31 Complete The HHS DCOI Strategic Plan was completed as a part of the May 2022 IDC. Effective October 1, 2022, Congress has not extended the DCOI reporting requirements in FITARA that apply to the 24 Federal agencies covered by the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990. As a result, and effective February 2023, OMB no longer requires agencies to submit a data center inventory, report on data center metrics, or submit a data center strategic plan. Non common baseline Optimization
41 Consolidate number of valid data centers to 50 2022/09/30 Complete 34 data centers that meet the criteria of valid, agency owned, and not closing. Non common baseline Closures
42 Increase energy metering from 68.57% to >80% by Q4 2022. 2022/09/30 Complete Achieved 100% as of Q1 2022. 26 of 32 facilities are metered. Non common baseline Optimization
43 Cost savings and avoidance of > $100 million for DCOI by Q4 2022. 2022/09/30 In progress DCOI is achieving planned savings. To date, HHS achieved $363.251 million, an increase of $.260K over the prior quarter. Budget Formulation Cost Savings
44 Virtualization goal for FY22 - 1906 servers. 2022/09/30 Complete DCOI achieved 1496 virtualized servers in FY22. Non common baseline Optimization & Cloud migration

Also available - JSON