DHS continues to develop its acquisition oversight function and is making progress implementing a revised acquisition management directive, but the majority of 15 large programs DHS looked at are reporting cost and schedule growth, GAO has said.
It said the department has developed a database to capture and track program data and that at the component level oversight officials are establishing new acquisition executive positions to manage acquisition processes, but departmental leadership has limited their decision authority due to staffing levels and inconsistencies between component- and department-level acquisition policies.
Further, DHS acquisition management processes do not inform budget decisions as required by DHS policy, and as a result DHS is at risk of failing to maximize resources and ultimately meet critical mission needs, according to GAO-10-588SP.
It said however that DHS acquisition oversight officials have raised concerns about the accuracy of cost estimates for most major programs, making it difficult to assess the significance of the reported cost growth.
Still, programs have experienced other acquisition planning challenges, such as staffing shortages, and lack of continuity planning, as well as execution challenges related to technical capability, partner dependence, and funding issues, said GAO.
