Homeland Security communications network project at risk of delays
The department should have developed stronger controls before hiring a contractor to work on the project, report says.
Poor management increases the risk that cost overruns, schedule delays and performance shortfalls will stall the Homeland Security Department's deployment of a new counterterrorism communications system, the Government Accountability Office concluded in a report released on Wednesday.
DHS has failed to fully implement its plans for the launch of the new version of its computer-based Homeland Security Information Network, which will connect all states, territories and major urban areas, GAO reported. For instance, the department has yet to create a program office and assign staff roles and responsibilities. It also has not gathered, analyzed and validated the needs of network users, or managed risk appropriately, according to the report.
As a result the effort "will be at increased risk of operating in an ad hoc and chaotic manner," GAO stated.
The report comes one week after the Homeland Security inspector general's office released its own assessment of IT management weaknesses at the department, and two weeks after a hearing that blasted federal efforts to share information with state and local governments.
Homeland Security officials point to an aggressive schedule for acquiring and deploying the upgraded network as the reason for the weaknesses in program management. The department developed a phased approach that would transfer all users to the new system by September 2009. Up to 20,000 users from critical infrastructure sectors such as agriculture and transportation would join first. Then the department would move the more than 26,000 users of the existing system.
The department issued a task order in May 2008 worth up to $62 million for a contractor to acquire, deploy, operate and maintain the new system.
"In our view, engaging a contractor and commencing work before implementing mature controls is not a recipe for success," GAO reported. "Investing money, given the current state of management controls, puts the project at risk. Given what is at stake, it is extremely important that DHS direct its attention to … management issues, and mitigate the associated risks as soon as possible."
Homeland Security officials estimate it will cost $3.1 million to operate and maintain the existing network between now and September 2009.
The project dates back to September 2007, when DHS decided to halt enhancements to the current network and instead upgrade the system's software to better support security and information-sharing requirements, such as two-factor authentication and controls over what information users can access. The new network also would allow DHS to consolidate existing systems used to share sensitive but unclassified information with law enforcement, intelligence, immigration, and emergency and disaster management officials, according to the report.