Over the last 15 years, the federal government's increasing demand for IT has led to a dramatic rise in operational costs to develop, implement, and maintain systems and services. Annually, the federal government spends more than $80 billion on IT. While the use of IT has the potential to greatly improve service for federal employees and American taxpayers, it has also led to federal agencies' reliance on custom IT systems that can-and have-become risky, costly, and unproductive mistakes.