The Bureau is relying on contractors to develop the EA,
but “it has not employed effective contract management
controls,” or used performance-based contracting, required
by federal acquisition regulations when practicable,
according to the report.
It said the Bureau is not following relevant acquisition
guidance to track and oversee contractors.
FBI officials said the agency manages contractors by working
with them on iterations of deliverables until the product is acceptable, but GAO
said that approach “is not effective and efficient.”
FBI officials responded to the report by noting that they
have been successful with fixed-price contracting for EA
contractor support, relying on a “firm fixed price,” to
provide a financial incentive to the contractor to stay
on schedule and provide the deliverables specified in
work statements.
The FBI said this spread out the risk of cost overruns,
but added that it is continuing to develop its EA
architecture into a mature framework.
“Until effective contractor management policies and
procedures are defined and implemented on the EA program,
the likelihood of the FBI effectively and efficiently
producing a complete and enforceable architecture is
diminished,” said GAO.
