At the request of the IRS Chief Technology Officer, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reviewed the 2009 re-engineering of the service’s End-User Equipment and Services organization, and declared it successful in a new report.

The EUES organization is the IRS’s “help desk,” resolving computer hardware and software problems over the phone or in person.  It completed a two-year re-engineering effort in August 2009.

TIGTA found that the IRS successfully restructured the EUES, but the agency must redouble its efforts to ensure that IRS employees use a self-service tool to resolve minor computer issues themselves.

TIGTA found that the EUES organization effectively planned its re-organization and worked with the National Treasury Employees Union to offer its employees appropriate options, including re-assignment or the ability to compete for vacant positions within the re-aligned organization. Employees also received training in the new organization’s duties and operations.

However, TIGTA found that EUES organization management could take additional steps to cut costs and increase efficiency.

IRS management agreed with both of TIGTA’s recommendations.