The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Pre-Acquisition Planning for
and Controls Over the Sentinel Case Management System

Audit Report 06-14
March 2006
Office of the Inspector General

Objective The objective of the audit was to evaluate the FBI's planning for Sentinel, including the approach, design, cost and funding sources, timeframe, contracting vehicle, and oversight structure. Scope and Methodology The audit was performed in accordance with the Government Auditing Standards, and included tests and procedures necessary to accomplish the audit objective. We conducted work at the FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. To perform our audit, we interviewed officials from the FBI, DEA, ATF, DHS, and the Department of Justice. We also reviewed documents related to the planning for the Sentinel project, budget documentation, organizational structures, congressional testimony, and prior GAO and OIG reports. To evaluate the FBI's planning for Sentinel including the approach, design, cost and funding sources, timeframe, contracting vehicle, and oversight structure, we examined the FBI's compliance with its Life Cycle Management Directive. We did this by reviewing the FBI's plans for each completed phase of the directive. We also interviewed FBI division heads to determine if, in their opinion, the system requirements are comprehensive enough to meet user expectations. In addition, we reviewed the FBI's methodology for selecting the contracting vehicle and developing the system requirements. We examined the FBI's proposed funding for the project including the reprogramming request for the first phase. We also discussed with FBI officials the potential risk to the FBI's operations if a second reprogramming is necessary. We analyzed the FBI's staffing procedures for the management and oversight for Sentinel. To examine the issue of information sharing, we reviewed the Sentinel statement of work and the system requirements. We also discussed this issue with representatives from the CIO offices of the FBI, DEA, ATF, and the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.