The FBI’s case management system update has overcome some initial hurdles but a December audit shows the project will likely be over budget and past deadline, according to an Office of the Inspector General report released Friday.
The case management system, known as Sentinel, was originally planned to be phased in by December 2009 at an estimated cost of $425 million, according to the report.
Starting in 2006, the bureau worked with private firm Lockheed Martin to implement the new system, but in doing so it ratcheted the cost up to $451 million and extended the completion date twice, the report said. The OIG’s last report on Sentinel stated the project “was at a crossroads.” The FBI stopped work on the project in July and August 2011 and continued with progress that September, the report states. With a new approach, the FBI assumed direct management of the project and greatly diminished the help from contractor Lockheed Martin. The FBI cut down on the number of contract workers from 135 to about 10 and subsequently spent fewer dollars per month, the report states.
Since then, the FBI has moved the roll out date twice, with its current projection at May 2012. The delays are partially attributed to a test run of the new system in October 2011. About 750 agents and analysts participated in the exercise, during which the program experienced two outages, according to the report. The bureau decided its current hardware was insufficient to power the new system and determined an upgrade was required to move forward. As of August 12, 2011, almost half of Sentinel’s project requirements still needed to be completed, the report states.
With the uncertainties surrounding the finish date and hardware purchases, the OIG writes that it “remain[s] concerned” about the FBI meeting its deadline and staying with its $451 million budget.
