The Department of Veterans Affairs IT office has failed to install and activate many of the 300,000 encryption software licenses it purchased at a cost of about $3.7 million, the VA inspector general has said after following up on an employee’s allegations.
The IT office subsequently purchased another 100,000 licenses in 2011, but as of July 2012 it had only installed and activated just 65,000, or 16 percent, of the total 400,000 licenses.
According to the IG, this was the result of poor planning in the IT office as well as inadequate management in not allowing time to test the software, ensuring sufficient staff were allocated to the project, adequately monitoring the project, and assuring the remaining licenses were compatible in the current computer environment.
As a result, 84 percent of the total 400,000 licenses procured, totaling about $5.1 million in costs, remain unused as of the end of fiscal 2012.
The department’s assistant secretary for IT agreed with recommendations to complete an assessment of the encryption software project to determine whether the software is compatible with VA’s operating systems and continues to meet its needs. Following the review the VA plans to either terminate the project or develop a plan including adequate HR and project monitoring to ensure the remaining licenses are activated, the IG said.
