VA One + One Policy Improves Accountability, Avoids Millions in Costs

As a steward of taxpayer dollars and Veterans’ trust, VA takes careful steps to manage its own resources responsibly and more efficiently. Thanks to the new VA IT One + One Device Policy, which improves how VA manages its IT hardware and licenses, we have the potential to realize millions of dollars of cost avoidance that frees up resources we can reinvest to improving the Veteran experience.

On August 31, 2018, OIT implemented the VA IT One + One Device Policy tomore efficiently allocate equipment and reduce the number of devices or licenses to purchase and manage. The policy leverages a matrix that sorts user roles and needs, and then tailors IT hardware or VA-provided cell phones accordingly. Although some targeted exemptions are permitted, this policy standardizes the way VA equips employees and contractors to perform their work on behalf of VA and our Veterans. This approach also enables OIT to better predict and plan for customer support needs, and contributes to substantial cost avoidance. For example, OIT has a current inventory of approximately 350,000 laptops and workstations assigned to unique users. Reducing that inventory by just five percent could enable VA to avoid approximately $12M in hardware costs alone.

The One + One policy adds up to big benefits that directly support VA’s mission. For VA employees and contractors, the policy tailors our IT resources to their role-specific needs and improves our customer service so we can better equip them to offer the seamless, unified experience that our Veterans have earned.