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


Appendix 11

Office of the Inspector General Analysis and
Summary of Actions Necessary to Close the Report


Pursuant to the OIG's standard audit process, the OIG provided a draft of this audit report to the FBI on February 22, 2006, for its review and comment. The FBI's March 3, 2006, response is included as Appendix 10 of this final report. The FBI concurred with the seven recommendations in the audit report. Our analysis of the FBI's response to the seven recommendations is provided below.

Status of Recommendations

  1. Resolved. In response to this recommendation, the FBI stated that steps are being taken to ensure that the system security and Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) plans will be completed as soon as possible. Because the system security plan is dependent on the system design, the system security plan will not be finalized until the program's Critical Design Review. In the meantime, the Sentinel Program Manager has assigned an Information Officer and Information System Security Manager to coordinate system security requirements with the prime developer. For the IV&V plan, the FBI is nearing completion of its efforts to obtain the services of an independent contractor to support Sentinel and other projects. The FBI said it anticipates that an IV&V plan will be established during the design phase of development. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation demonstrating that the system security and IV&V plans have been completed.

  2. Resolved. The FBI's response states that the Sentinel Program Manager continues hiring critical government employees and support service contractors as authorized by the Sentinel staffing plan. The FBI states that as of February 2006, more than two thirds of the program staff was in place, including all necessary staff to initiate the contract award and commence Phase 1 development of Sentinel. Full staffing is projected to be completed by June 2006, with some of the transition and operations and maintenance positions being deferred until after commencement of the project's development. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation demonstrating that the Sentinel Program Management Office is staffed to fully support Sentinel.

  3. Resolved. In its response, the FBI stated that the Sentinel Program Management Office (PMO) is procuring a tool to effectively implement the Earned Value Management process, wInsight. According to the FBI, this tool will be fully compliant with the FBI's enterprise IT Portfolio Tool that is in the final stages of being certified and accredited by June 2006. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation demonstrating that the FBI has obtained and implemented a tool that will allow for the effective implementation of an Earned Value Management process.

  4. Resolved. The FBI's response to this recommendation states that the Sentinel PMO has a dedicated data architect working with the intelligence and law enforcement communities on information sharing capabilities. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation demonstrating that the FBI has discussed with other intelligence and law enforcement agencies their information sharing requirements to ensure compatibility with those systems in the requirements and design of Sentinel.

  5. Resolved. In its response, the FBI states that it has already implemented steps to ensure that all costs are authorized in advance, verified when delivered, and validated when invoiced. The Sentinel PMO has a dedicated Business Management Unit to track, monitor, and control all program and development costs. Additionally, a separate, dedicated cost code has been established by the FBI's Chief Financial Officer for Sentinel within the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) that allows for Sentinel, OCIO budget administration, and CFO teams to jointly track and control Sentinel costs through a Budgetary Evaluation and Analysis Reporting System tool and oversight process. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation demonstrating that the FBI has ensured that an effective system is in place to accurately track and control Sentinel's development costs.

  6. Resolved. The FBI's response states that the FBI has included extensive requirements in Sentinel's Statement of Work for Organizational Change Management to include training of all FBI staff at all locations. The development contractor is required to develop a Sentinel training plan as part of its tasking, and Sentinel cost estimates already include this activity. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation demonstrating that a comprehensive training plan with realistic schedule and cost estimates has been developed and that the training cost estimate is included in overall Sentinel project costs.

  7. Resolved. In response to this recommendation, the FBI said that it routinely evaluates the operational impact of any reprogramming. Such evaluations are included in the FBI's decision whether to submit a request to Congress for the necessary approval to reprogram resources, and all reprogramming proposals include statements summarizing the impact on current operations. This recommendation can be closed when we receive documentation on the FBI's method for monitoring the operational impact of a potential second reprogramming during Sentinel's development to identify for resolution any degrading of the FBI's mission-critical functions due to the diversion of funds to the Sentinel project.



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