I know a govt agency where it ran well, quite productive and efficient when it was under local control (the decision makers had offices in the building)...this not in DC.
Years later, a big DC “fish” swallowed this smaller, energetic and (for govt) quite effective agency and imposing top managers in DC, started “managing” it. The DC top managers seem to have a desire for newer shiny software packages, so DC mandated a move&shutdown of the smaller agency’s mainframe computer and forced a move to rent from the “cloud”. Without due diligence to see if the new rental mainframe (the “cloud”) was compatible with the smaller agencies software (it was not particularly compatible which messed up smaller agency projects), which never quite recovered. Relatively frequent software changes (out with the old, in with new shiny software!) without testing for compatibility in a small, isolated computer network, as the smaller agency had done, caused unnecessary heavy load on the agency’s technical help division, encouraging some of the most experienced to leave. Also, with the new software packages, the technical dept lacked knowledge on to help users having difficulty because the tech dept only knew how to install the new software packages, not how to problem solve incompatibilities or functional problems.
Then came covid, and the mandated covid “one size fits all” dosages, did not help...some of the most jabbed oddly enough had follow on health issues.
Next, since employees during covid, were allowed to work from home, and since the DC top mgt kicked employees out of their offices and mandated a form of “hot desking”, where one signed up for an office for the day but the computer equipment was removed, leaving only a desk, a chair and a phone, and the senior local managers were kicked out of their (highly desired) single offices into smaller shared “portacubicles”, morale dropped. Employees did not want to return to the local office building due to the lack of permanent offices and because those working from home, had home govt computer setups with PC (laptops replaced desktops) with multiple monitors, external keyboards, mice, speakers and a lot of wiring....which would have to be disassemble at home, loaded into a car, and re-assembled at whatever office the hot desking system allowed. And then disassembled and taken home at the end of the day because that day’s office was only for that day. A “homeless” type shopping cart needed to transport between vehicle and office (home and office building). A permanent office space (portacubicle) was only available if one committed to “full time presense” at the office building...and that in a less desirable and shared room...shared rooms being ok for the lower staff, but not for the local managers who desired their old single offices that allowed staff meetings.
The change from debugged, time testing software projects to forced conversion to new, untested “shiny objects” software continued to hurt productivity and employee morale.
Best one could tell, the top DC mgt was not in the habit of conferring with the local agency mgt as to impact of forced software changes.