IT-AAC Releases Its Second Report on 20 Year Continuing Financial Management Systems Modernization Failures at the Department of Homeland Security

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Information Technology Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-AAC), a non-profit research institute, today released its second in-depth, critical review of the United States Department of Homeland Security's 20 year pursuit of an enterprise Financial Management Systems Modernization initiatives and the hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds that have been wasted and squandered due to significant disconnect from real world best practices and lessons learned. This hard hitting report can be found here at IT-AAC.org or within the Publications Tab on our website www.IT-AAC.org/reports/.

IT-AAC is urging Congress and the Biden Administration to freeze the FMSM program and immediately halt the allocation of funding. We urge GAO to conduct of a more comprehensive review of these matters, including the findings and conclusions along with the recommendation provided in the IT-AAC Report to Congress: A Case Study in Strategic, Operational & Business Failure- 20 Years & Counting- DHS Financial Management Systems Modernization Effort.

The intent of this Report is to raise awareness in Congress and the Executive Branch and to drive a comprehensive review and immediate corrective action related to the continuing waste of taxpayer dollars being allocated to the ongoing flawed approach being pursued by the Department of Homeland Security to achieve an enterprise view of financial management, asset management, and procurement management across the Department.

In addition IT-AAC urges Congress to demand a thorough risk assessment to determine the root causes of these ongoing failures that have cost millions of dollars in wasted taxpayer provided resources, including a recent system transition failure at the United States Coast Guard that is reported to have cost an additional $1 billion dollars to maintain a manual system while attempting to reconcile that transition failure.

A new GAO Report just released on February 28, 2023 (DHS Financial Management: Actions Needed to Improve Systems Modernization and Address Coast Guard Audit Issues | U.S. GAO ) took a deeper look at the USCG failure. On the cover page of the Report it states:

"Although DHS identified, documented, and tracked metrics to assess Coast
Guard's system deployment, DHS found that the system was not achieving
expected capabilities. This is because DHS did not address and remediate
known issues identified in operational testing. DHS's subsequent operational
testing and evaluation of the system found that it was not effective, responsive,
or reliable. Therefore, DHS could not proceed to full operational capability of the
system. It is now in the process of developing a remediation plan to address
outstanding issues.

It is time to stop these repeated failure patterns, reassess and implement proven best practices supported by data-driven analysis and improve the opportunity to get this right once and for all. IT-AAC therefore calls on Congress to intervene right away and demand an independent investigation and review that would result in the creation of a strategy and implementation plan that is sustainable and will meet the needs and mission requirements of the various components and the Department at large. Such action is bold, but necessary. 

The Information Technology Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-AAC) is a non-profit, public-private partnership that was organized in 2007 at the urging of Members of Congress and leadership of the United States Department of Defense. IT-AAC is a trusted "Do Tank" that does not manufacture or sell any product, but rather, operates as an honest broker in the public interest working to improve government – industry collaboration on important matters such as IT modernization; digital transformation; procurement reform and agile acquisition; cloud computing migration and implementation; cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection; supply chain risk management; DevSecOps; and the application of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; among others to achieve improved efficiency, productivity, and cost-effectiveness, all in support of mission objectives and mission outcomes.

www.IT-AAC.org

SOURCE IT Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-AAC)