Department of Homeland Security: Better Planning and Assessment Needed to Improve Outcomes for Complex Service Acquisitions
Abstract
All service contracts for the eight major, complex investments we reviewed had outcome-oriented requirements, but the requirements were not always well-defined. Four of the eight contracts we reviewed did not have well-defined requirements, or a complete set of measurable performance standards, or both at the time of contract award or start of work. These service contracts experienced cost overruns, schedule delays, or did not otherwise meet performance expectations. In contrast, service contracts for the other four investments had well-defined requirements linked to measurable performance standards. Contractors had begun work on three of these four contracts and performed within budget meeting the standards. This finding is consistent with our prior work on service contracting, which has highlighted the criticality of sound acquisition planning to develop stable, well-defined requirements and measurable performance standards to achieving desired outcomes. Components conducted quality assurance surveillance for the contracts we reviewed. For the four contracts that had negative outcomes, surveillance helped DHS components to identify contractor performance weaknesses and corrective actions were taken. Prior GAO work has found that if acquisitions, including those that are performance-based, are not appropriately planned, structured, and monitored, there is an increased risk that the government may receive products or services that are over budget, delivered late, and of unacceptable quality.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA481281
Entities
People
- Alex Winograd
- Art James
- Don Springman
- Jeffrey Hartnett
- John Hutton
- Julia Kennon
- Karen Sloan
- Kenneth Patton
- Lynn Milan
- Marie Ahearn
- Sean Seales
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office