Report 2015-117 Recommendation 5 Responses

Report 2015-117: California Department of General Services' Real Estate Services Division: To Better Serve Its Client Agencies, It Needs to Track and Analyze Project Data and Improve Its Management Practices (Release Date: March 2016)

Recommendation #5 To: General Services, Department of

Until the division implements its planned project management system, it should, by September 2016, develop a process to, at a minimum, identify project status and reasons for project delays as well as cost overages. Using these data, the division should modify its project management processes to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of projects.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2018

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Will Not Implement

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2017

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Will Not Implement

1-Year Agency Response

RESD's Project Management and Development Branch (PMDB) reviewed options to implement an interim solution via an Excel spreadsheet. However, given the complexity of its projects, PMDB determined that an interim solution would only be partially effective in capturing the data necessary to appropriately track projects. Therefore, as discussed under Recommendations # 2, 3 and 4, PMDB determined that a better option would be to expedite the implementation of the new project management system (Primavera). PMDB has launched Primavera in January 2017, six months ahead of the July 2017 FI$Cal launch discussed in the state auditor's report.

Response Date: May 2017

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Will Not Implement

In following-up with General Services, we learned that it did not in fact launch Primavera in January 2017; rather, it conducted training for Primavera in January 2017 and rolled the actual software out to users in April 2017. Further, General Services indicated that the report it needs for division-wide project management will not be complete until June 2017. We will continue to follow-up on the division's progress in implementing Primavera through recommendation number 4.

6-Month Agency Response

RESD's Project Management and Development Branch (PMDB) reviewed options to implement an interim solution via an Excel spreadsheet. However, given the complexity of its projects, PMDB determined that an interim solution would only be partially effective in capturing the data necessary to appropriately track projects. Therefore, as discussed under Recommendations # 2, 3 and 4, PMDB determined that a better option would be to expedite the implementation of the new project management system (Primavera). PMDB is currently on track to launch Primavera in January 2017, six months ahead of the July 2017 FI$Cal launch discussed in the state auditor's report.

Estimated Completion Date: January 2017
Response Date: September 2016

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Will Not Implement

As indicated in the division's response to this recommendation, it has decided not to implement this recommendation and instead wait until the implementation of Primavera to track project status and reasons for project delays.

60-Day Agency Response

By September 30, 2016, RESD will implement an interim system that allows the identification of project status and reasons for project delays as well as cost overages. As part of this system, a management reporting component will be implemented that allows common themes in the causes for project delays and cost overages to be identified and addressed in a timely manner.

Estimated Completion Date: September 2016
Response Date: May 2016

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2015-117

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.