VA software management woes linked in part to CIO vacancy, watchdog says

The Department of Veterans Affairs has not fully implemented proper planning and management practices for two software programs, partially due to lack of oversight and no permanent chief information officer, the Government Accountability Office reported Wednesday.

The VA’s Enterprise Software Asset Management (eSAM) program and software license inventory project were lacking in governance frameworks, license management, stakeholder engagement and life cycle management planning, the report said, in an audit spanning July 2025 to this month.

“Until VA fully implements the selected practices for eSAM and the inventory project, it may not achieve department-wide software asset management,” it said. “As such, it is also at risk of missing opportunities to achieve significant cost savings possible from analyzing department-wide software license data to make informed investment decisions.”

The GAO said VA officials highlighted that high turnover in the department’s IT management — including the absence of a permanent CIO since January 2025 — has “impacted” VA’s oversight of eSAM and the project.

“VA officials anticipated that, once a permanent CIO is on board, VA would consider implementing a new (1) IT governance board to oversee programs such as eSAM and (2) IT governance process,” the report said.

Gary Shatswell, the current CIO nominee, said in a hearing last month that instituting a program management office would be one of his first tasks, if confirmed. The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee has not yet scheduled a confirmation vote.

Shatswell said at the time that there is “a lot to fix” in the “target-rich environment” that is the VA’s IT portfolio, but using an agile Scrum project management process at the office will “drive accountability at the individual worker level and it will drive visibility at the stakeholder level.”

Specifically, the report said the VA did not establish a business use case for the eSAM program, did not establish a program governance plan and has not defined the program’s training needs, plans or program office. For the software licensing inventory project, the VA did not document authorization for the project and did not fully flesh out management plans.

The report noted that the department planned to spend about $985 million on software in fiscal 2025, including commercial software licenses. 

The GAO said effective software management helps avoid spending too much or too little on software, and has previously testified and reported on software management at the VA. Over a decade ago, it said it first identified IT acquisitions and operations as a high risk area, and since recommending better software management, federal agencies have counted $4.6 billion in cost savings.

The department concurred with all 18 recommendations to address the management and planning issues.