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With the recent change of administration and renewed focus on efficiency and transparency through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), agencies are under increased pressure to quickly defend their budgets and ensure that investments are aligned with strategic imperatives. Federal agencies that rely on antiquated software and siloed, spreadsheet-based processes are suddenly finding themselves unequipped to rapidly respond to DOGE reviews.
The new administration is not the first to seek a boost in transparent and efficient government decision making. However, the prospect of severe budget cuts means agencies are under unprecedented pressure to ensure and convey that every dollar spent is aligned with the mission.
For years, agencies have turned to Decision Lens to modernize the government planning, prioritization, and funding processes through improved transparency and data-driven decision making. Today, we are rising to the challenge, partnering with agencies to urgently respond to DOGE reviews by helping to align, defend, and optimize their budgets on an accelerated, two-week timeframe.
Decision Lens Helps Agency Defend Their Budget During DOGE Reviews
Our rapid approach has already helped agencies engage in productive dialogues with DOGE landing teams. Recently, a major agency customer was required to defend their budget to incoming leaders and an evaluation team with little notice. The team lead, a well-respected leader who oversees large-scale transformation efforts, was responsible for producing cost saving recommendations to the leaders.
Their team knew that because these budget decisions would have a significant impact across the organization, input was needed from numerous key leaders and stakeholders with a two-week turnaround. The pace of change meant that they needed a way to bring together data in real time and immediately develop scenarios prepared for discussion with leaders. Leveraging Decision Lens, the team was able to solicit input from more than 25 stakeholders and transform disconnected datasets into a clear, defensible budget story in 16 days.
Communicating Efficiency and Mission Impact During Reviews
Agencies who have experienced efficiency reviews report substantial pressure to justify every dollar spent. Without a way to link projects to key strategic priorities and communicate the impact of that investment, critical projects risk losing funding – imperiling the mission.
A more productive internal review process requires creating a common data language, linking the planning, prioritization, and budget process with key objectives outlined by the new administration: increasing transparency, reducing waste, and modernizing the government through technology.
Over the years, we have helped agencies and groups across government achieve improved transparency, efficiency, and agility in decision making.
Objective: Increased Transparency
Agency Objective: Transparency. A lack of clear, consistent criteria for decision-making leads to misaligned investments. This can be solved by documenting every step—who advocated for a project, what trade-offs were made, and why certain projects were deprioritized.- US Army Customer: Seamlessly tracked 450 requests valued at over $1 billion, giving unparalleled visibility and control over budget allocation across 20 subordinate organizations.
- Large Federal Health Organization: Visualized, tracked, and optimized allocation across six multi-million-dollar portfolios through our data studio, establishing a foundation of trust and transparency.
Objective: Reducing Waste
Agency Objective: Efficiency. Misaligned investments often dilute resources and fail to advance organizational goals, reducing the return on taxpayer dollars. Through Decision Lens, leaders can focus resources on high-value initiatives while avoiding inefficiencies.- US Navy Customer: Tracked over $220m in savings (10% higher than the annual target) and reallocated $26m towards unfunded requirements—without risking mission readiness goals — as part of major maintenance and modernization projects.
- DoD Customer: Identified and corrected misaligned investment, ensuring that their $20b portfolio supported their Great Power Competition objectives across a three-year time horizon and beyond.
Objective: Modernizing the Government Through Technology
Agency Objective: Agility. Agency leaders are too often constrained by legacy processes and software. They need the ability to model, adjust, and execute prioritization and allocation strategies in real time, supported by modern tools that deploy and scale at 21st century speeds.- US Navy Customer: Boosted productivity and improved accountability with a modernized, audit-ready reporting framework that saved hundreds of labor hours annually.
- Major Federal Agency Customer: Rapidly defended their budget for an upcoming efficiency review in two weeks, incorporating siloed datasets into a clear, data-driven budget story.
Achieve Rapid Efficiency Preparedness with Decision Lens
Modern technology is not only transforming the speed at which government agencies can plan, prioritize, and fund, but also accelerating the time in which they can expect a return on their software investment.
Through our no cost, no obligation Efficiency Preparedness Pilot, we can help eligible agencies navigate the review process by helping to align, defend, and optimize budget and resource allocation in as little as two weeks.
As agencies navigate a sudden sea change in how public spending is defined, Decision Lens provides the tools and insights needed to eliminate waste, restore trust, and drive measurable impact. Together, we can empower government leaders to meet the challenges of tomorrow with clarity and confidence.
