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Confederation needs strong IT steering body
Bern, 2 July 2015 – The Federal IT Steering Unit (FITSU) is an important lever of the Federal Council's IT policy. However, this unit needs to perform that role fully. That is the message conveyed to the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) by the Federal Administration, a client of the FITSU. The SFAO has also submitted two audits on the FITSU's key ICT projects. These projects are progressing well, except for one case where delays can be expected.
Three years ago, changes were made to the Confederation's IT management and the FITSU's role was strengthened. This new organisation is effective and the key players of the Federal Administration are pleased with it, an opinion that almost seventy of them shared with the SFAO as part of an audit published today. In their view, the FITSU must be bolder in filling this new role, increase its effectiveness and stop giving in too quickly to compromises. The SFAO agrees with these findings.
The Federal Administration must be able to rely on an overview in the medium and long term in its IT projects so that synergies and interdependencies can be exploited at an early stage. This is also true for the architecture of information and communication systems, particularly for good decision-making, which is an effective way to make savings. The SFAO recommends that the FITSU fulfil its role fully in this area.
The SFAO also performed an audit on IAM Bund, one of the FITSU's key ICT projects. With a budget of over CHF 11 million, this project for managing identities and access to the Federal Administration is on schedule and on track financially.
The situation is different for the Unified Communication & Collaboration (UCC) project, which is also led by the FITSU and has a budget of over CHF 54 million. Already audited by the SFAO in 2014, UCC aims to replace the administration's fixed telephone network. The project has made considerable progress and administrative units are now using the new system. However, faced with a lack of human resources and job security issues, project improvement had slowed considerably at the time of the audit performed on the Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS).
Further details:
No additional information will be provided by the SFAO.- Details
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