GAO. LAND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Major Software Development Does Not Meet BLM s Business Needs. Report to the Secretary of the Interior

Transcription

1 GAO United States General Accounting Office Report to the Secretary of the Interior April 1999 LAND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Major Software Development Does Not Meet BLM s Business Needs GAO/AIMD

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3 GAO United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C Accounting and Information Management Division B April 30, 1999 The Honorable Bruce Babbitt The Secretary of the Interior Dear Mr. Secretary: On March 4, 1999, we testified before the Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations, on the Bureau of Land Management s (BLM) efforts to develop and deploy the Automated Land and Mineral Record System (ALMRS). 1 In our testimony, we (1) reported that BLM spent over 15 years and invested about $411 million in planning and developing the ALMRS/Modernization, only to have the major software component known as the ALMRS Initial Operating Capability (ALMRS IOC) not meet its business needs and (2) recommended actions that we believe BLM should take to deal with the issues it now faces. This report transmits our recommendations to assist BLM in strengthening its information technology management practices and reducing the risks that future information technology efforts will result in a similar outcome. We are sending this report to you because of the significant investment BLM has made in the ALMRS/Modernization and the department s stated intent to use ALMRS as its land management system. Our testimony is reprinted in appendix I, and our objectives, scope, and methodology are presented in appendix II. As you know, we incorporated BLM s comments into our testimony before finalizing it. We performed our work from July 20, 1998 to March 3, 1999, in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Recommendations We recommend that the Secretary of the Interior ensure that BLM take the following specific actions, as stated in our March 4, 1999 testimony: Thoroughly analyze the ALMRS IOC software, reported to cost more than $67 million, to determine whether it can be cost-beneficially modified to meet the bureau s needs. This analysis should be part of an overall effort to identify and assess all viable alternatives, including (1) modifying ALMRS IOC software, (2) modifying existing land and recordation systems, (3) acquiring commercial, off-the-shelf software, or (4) developing new 1 Land Management Systems: Major Software Development Does Not Meet BLM s Business Needs (GAO/T-AIMD , March 4, 1999). Page 1

4 B systems. The alternatives analysis should clearly identify the risks, costs, and benefits of each alternative, and should be performed only after BLM is assured that it has fully verified its current business requirements. Assess and strengthen its investment management practices to help avoid future problems. The Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 seeks to maximize the return on investments in information systems by requiring agencies to institute sound capital investment decision-making. Under the act, agencies must design and implement a process for maximizing the value and assessing and managing the risks of information technology acquisitions. The act also requires agencies to (1) assess the knowledge and skills of their executive and management staff to meet agencies information resources management requirements, and take steps to rectify any deficiencies and (2) develop, maintain, and facilitate the implementation of a sound and integrated information technology architecture. Effectively enforcing a sound information technology architecture to guide and constrain a modernization program can preclude inconsistent systems design and development decisions, suboptimal performance, and excessive cost. Obtain an independent assessment of its systems acquisition capabilities, and ensure that it uses sound systems acquisition processes. Finally, we recommend that until such assessments are completed and corrective actions taken, BLM should not undertake any sizable systems acquisition or development efforts. This report contains recommendations to you. The head of a federal agency is required by 31 U.S.C. 720 to submit a written statement on actions taken on these recommendations to the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Government Reform not later than 60 days after the date of this report. A written statement also must be sent to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations with the agency s first request for appropriations made more than 60 days after the date of this report. We are sending copies of this report to Representative Ralph Regula, Chairman, and Representative Norman Dicks, Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations; and Senator Slade Gorton, Chairman, and Senator Robert C. Byrd, Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, Senate Committee on Appropriations. We are also sending copies of this report to The Honorable Jacob Lew, Director, Office Page 2

5 B of Management and Budget, and Mr. Tom Fry, Acting Director, Bureau of Land Management. Copies will also be made available to others upon request. Should you or your staff have any questions concerning this report, please contact me at (202) I can also be reached by at willemssenj.aimd@gao.gov. Major contributors to this report are listed in appendix III. Sincerely yours, Joel C. Willemssen Director, Civil Agencies Information Systems Page 3

6 Contents Letter 1 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Appendix II Objectives, Scope, and Methodology Appendix III Major Contributors to This Report Related Products Abbreviations ALMRS BLM IOC IRM OAT&E Automated Land and Mineral Record System Bureau of Land Management initial operating capability information resources management operational assessment test and evaluation Page 4

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8 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 6

9 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 7

10 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 8

11 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 9

12 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 10

13 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 11

14 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 12

15 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 13

16 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 14

17 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 15

18 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 16

19 Appendix I GAO s March 4, 1999 Testimony Page 17

20 Appendix II Objectives, Scope, and Methodology As requested by the Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations, our objectives were to discuss (1) the history of the ALMRS/Modernization project, (2) the results of our reviews, including key reasons for problems, and (3) where we believe BLM should go from here. To meet our first objective, we used our prior reports to compile a history of the ALMRS/Modernization project. We also reviewed ALMRS/Modernization project documents, weekly activity reports and assessments by the independent verification and validation contractor, software problem reports, and project management schedules. We attended the Department of the Interior s August 4-6, 1998, quarterly review of the development project at the ALMRS/Modernization project office in Lakewood, Colorado, and observed the independent operational assessment test and evaluation (OAT&E) conducted at BLM offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Farmington, and Taos, New Mexico. We also reviewed the results of the OAT&E. To meet our second objective, we reviewed our prior reports and briefings to the Subcommittee and summarized the major problems, causes, recommendations, and BLM s actions to correct problems. To meet our third objective, we formulated recommendations based on our analysis of the OAT&E results and our observations and analyses of the management of the ALMRS/Modernization project from March 1995 to March During our work we discussed the project with prime contractor officials; contractor officials responsible for independent OAT&E and verification and validation; a Department of the Interior senior technical analyst; Interior s Chief Information Officer; officials of the department s Office of Inspector General; BLM s Assistant Director and Deputy Assistant Director for IRM; and BLM budget analysts. We performed our work at Interior s information resources management headquarters in Washington, D.C.; BLM headquarters in Washington, D.C.; the ALMRS/Modernization project office in Lakewood, Colorado; the prime contractor s office in Golden, Colorado; ALMRS pilot site offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Farmington, and Taos, New Mexico; and the independent OAT&E and verification and validation contractor s office in the ALMRS/Modernization project office in Lakewood, Colorado. We requested and received comments on a draft of our testimony from the Deputy Director of BLM and incorporated BLM s comments as appropriate. We performed our work from July 20, 1998 to March 3, 1999, in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Page 18

21 Appendix III Major Contributors to This Report Accounting and Information Management Division, Washington, D.C. David G. Gill, Assistant Director Mirko J. Dolak, Technical Assistant Director E. Randolph Tekeley, Technical Assistant Director Elizabeth A. Roach, Analyst-in-Charge Michael P. Fruitman, Communications Analyst Page 19

22 Related Products Land Management Systems: Actions Needed in Completing the Automated Land and Mineral Record System Development (GAO/AIMD , May 15, 1998). Land Management Systems: Information on BLM s Automated Land and Mineral Record System Release 2 Project (GAO/AIMD R, June 6, 1997). Land Management Systems: BLM Faces Risks in Completing the Automated Land and Mineral Record System (GAO/AIMD-97-42, March 19, 1997). Land Management Systems: Progress and Risks in Developing BLM s Land and Mineral Record System (GAO/AIMD , August 31, 1995). Land Management Systems: Extensive Cost Increases and Delays in BLM s Major Data Base Project (GAO/IMTEC-91-55, August 5, 1991). (511749) Page 20

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