Report 2015-121 Recommendations

To ensure that it can demonstrate that it is acting in the best interest of the State, the Technology Department should, by December 2016, create a formal process to summarize its involvement and document key actions taken and decisions reached during agencies' contract disputes and negotiations for the termination of a contract and maintain those documents according to its records retention schedule.

To ensure accountability and independence between the provision of IPO and IV&V services, the Technology Department should, by December 2016, establish a written policy requiring departments that request and receive approval to contract for IPO services to use a different contractor than the one providing IV&V services.

Although the Technology Department indicated that its intent is not to outsource its statutory responsibility for IPO, in any instances where its staff conduct a portfolio review of a project's IPO, the Technology Department should, by December 2016, establish a process for its review of documents created by the agency's IPO contractor that includes verifying whether these reports include critical analysis of project progress and vendor performance so it can intervene when necessary.

To ensure that its project management of IT projects promptly identifies potential problems and develops resolutions, by September 2016 CalVet should define the project executive's and project manager's responsibilities to ensure that the individuals who fill those positions take an active role in each project.

To ensure that it adequately identifies and monitors problems in its future IT projects, by September 2016 CalVet should establish a formal process for its project executive to verify that the project team prepares all of the required project management and other required plans. This formal process should also include a process to periodically verify that the project team is adhering to all these plans.

To ensure accountability and independence between the provision of IPO and IV&V services on future IT projects, by September 2016 CalVet should establish a policy requiring it to use separate contractors for IPO and IV&V services when IPO services are not provided directly by the Technology Department.

To ensure that it complies with state contracting laws and can demonstrate the basis for its decisions when awarding contracts, by September 2016 CalVet should establish a process to periodically verify that its staff follow state contracting requirements and maintain all required contract documentation.

To ensure it maintains all documentation related to its IT contracts, CalVet should, by September 2016, establish a process to verify that all divisions comply with its policy requiring each division to submit a records retention schedule to its Office of Procurement and Contracting.

To ensure that it only accepts deliverables and pays for deliverables that are complete and that meet the contract requirements, by September 2016 CalVet should establish processes to ensure that the project executive verifies that individuals assigned to project roles are adequately qualified and experienced.

To ensure that it only accepts deliverables and pays for deliverables that are complete and that meet the contract requirements, by September 2016 CalVet should establish processes to verify and maintain documentation of receipt of all contract deliverables before approving payment.

To ensure that it only accepts deliverables and pays for deliverables that are complete and that meet the contract requirements, by September 2016 CalVet should establish processes to strengthen its contract management on all future projects by requiring the project manager to sign off on invoices along with the contract manager before approving payment.

To ensure that it maximizes its opportunity to successfully implement future IT projects, including its plan to replace its current system, CalVet should, by September 2016, establish a formal process to document the changes it makes as a result of the lessons-learned sessions it conducts.

To ensure that it maximizes its opportunity to successfully implement future IT projects, including its plan to replace its current system, CalVet should, by September 2016, establish a formal process to verify that its staff conducts lessons-learned sessions for all key phases of the next project.

To ensure that it maximizes its opportunity to successfully implement future IT projects, including its plan to replace its current system, CalVet should, by September 2016, establish a formal process to incorporate the recommendations identified in its Post Implementation Evaluation Report.