Agencies have not followed standardardized policies and procedures in acquiring IT resources due to internal conflicts in correctly defining requirements and political infighting. This has resulted in IT acquisition failures and budget excesses. The CIO/IT acquisition function has often been relegated to an administrative level, with little or no power to control the acquisition process. The CTO/CIO function needs to be at the Secretary level, working directly for the national CTO, to ensure standard practice in acquiring and implementing IT systems.