Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on its Shared Resources Project, a cooperative effort among GAO divisions and offices to test and evaluate audit-related automatic data processing (ADP) applications using computer networks. GAO noted that: (1) almost 80 percent of project staff used a local area network (LAN) and 23 percent performed over half of their work on LAN; (2) units used LAN for assignment conduct, assignment management, and unit management; (3) LAN use improved information flow and access and allowed managers to make better decisions regarding job direction and to meet milestone and audit standards; (4) lack of on-demand access severely restricted network use, and slow data transmission hindered modem users; (5) only 9 percent of surveyed users connected by modem made heavy use of LAN, and about 31 percent of those who had to share a computer in a common work area used LAN; (6) almost 61 percent of surveyed staff felt that system reliability limited their use of the network; (7) the operating software would not allow for easy file sharing and transfer, resulting in limited staff use of the software; (8) over 33 percent of system users reported inadequate access to software; and (9) 32 percent of LAN users believed that training was inadequate, and 24 percent believed that technical support was inadequate.
