Land Management Systems: Actions Needed in Completing the Automated Land
and Mineral Record System Development (Letter Report, 05/15/1998,
GAO/AIMD-98-107).
This report discusses the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) efforts to
complete the Automated Land and Mineral Record System/Modernization, a
project intended to improve BLM's ability to record, maintain, and
retrieve land description, ownership, and use information. At an
estimated cost of $594 million, it is the largest system development
project that BLM has ever undertaken. In a March 1997 report
(GAO/AIMD-97-42), GAO found that BLM had encountered problems that
increased the risk of degraded system performance and capability. GAO
also reported significant management and technical risks and made
recommendations to BLM to reduce them and strengthen project management.
This report assesses BLM's actions to address the recommendations in
GAO's March 1997 report and identifies the status of BLM's efforts to
test, deploy, and implement the Automated Land and Mineral Record
System's initial operating capability.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: AIMD-98-107
TITLE: Land Management Systems: Actions Needed in Completing the
Automated Land and Mineral Record System Development
DATE: 05/15/1998
SUBJECT: Land management
Geographic information systems
Management information systems
Systems design
Systems conversions
Strategic information systems planning
IDENTIFIER: Y2K
BLM Automated Land and Minerals Record System
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GAO/AIMD-98-107
Cover
================================================================ COVER
Report to the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on
Interior and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, House of
Representatives
May 1998
LAND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS - ACTIONS
NEEDED IN COMPLETING THE AUTOMATED
LAND AND MINERAL RECORD SYSTEM
DEVELOPMENT
GAO/AIMD-98-107
ALMRS Development
(511429)
Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV
ALMRS - Automated Land and Mineral Record System
BLM - Bureau of Land Management
DOI - Department of the Interior
GCDB - geographic coordinate database
GIS - geographic information system
IOC - initial operating capability
IRM - information resources management
OAT&E - operational assessment test and evaluation
OMB - Office of Management and Budget
Letter
=============================================================== LETTER
B-278054
May 15, 1998
The Honorable Ralph Regula
Chairman
The Honorable Sidney R. Yates
Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on Interior
and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
House of Representatives
This report discusses the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) efforts
to complete the Automated Land and Mineral Record System
(ALMRS)/Modernization. This project is intended to improve BLM's
ability to record, maintain, and retrieve land description,
ownership, and use information. At an estimated cost of about $594
million, it is the largest system development project BLM has ever
undertaken.
In March 1997, we reported\1 that BLM had encountered problems that
increased the risk of degraded system performance and capability. We
also reported significant project management and technical risks and
made recommendations to BLM to reduce them and strengthen the
management of the project.
As a follow-on to that assignment, you asked that we assess BLM's
actions to address the recommendations contained in our March 1997
report and identify the status of BLM's efforts to test, deploy, and
implement ALMRS initial operating capability. To meet these
objectives, we reviewed ALMRS project management, technical, and
planning documents; observed testing at the ALMRS/Modernization pilot
site offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Farmington, and Taos, New
Mexico; and discussed the project with prime contractor officials,
contractor officials involved with testing, and BLM and Department of
the Interior (DOI) officials. Our work was performed from July 28,
1997, through February 20, 1998 in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards. Further details on our objectives,
scope, and methodology are provided in appendix I. We requested
comments on a draft of this report from the Director of the Bureau of
Land Management. He provided us with written comments that are
discussed in the "Agency Comments" section and reprinted in appendix
II.
--------------------
\1 Land Management Systems: BLM Faces Risks in Completing the
Automated Land and Mineral Record System (GAO/AIMD-97-42, March 19,
1997).
RESULTS IN BRIEF
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1
BLM has not yet fully implemented our recommendations to mitigate
risks and help ensure a successful transition and operating
environment for ALMRS. Specifically, BLM does not have a security
architecture and sound security plan, complete transition plans, and
complete operations and maintenance plans for ALMRS. BLM has
developed a draft configuration management plan and has been
implementing a configuration management program. However, BLM has
not developed a credible project schedule. These tools are essential
to manage the remainder of the project, help ensure system
availability and performance, and avoid security and operational
problems.
During beta testing\2 of the ALMRS initial operating capability (IOC)
and validation testing of converted data, BLM identified computer
workstation configuration and software problems. The testing also
surfaced operational concerns that had not been adequately addressed,
such as how ALMRS will support public information needs and data
exchanges between BLM and other organizations. BLM is revising its
project plan and schedule to address these problems before entering
the final testing and certification phase. BLM may not be able to
maintain the modified schedule, however, because it (1) is being
developed without analyzing human resource usage and task
relationships for predeployment activities and (2) contains
optimistic time frames for completing activities, leaving little time
to deal with unanticipated problems that are likely to arise.
Finally, recent and potential future delays in implementing ALMRS
place BLM at risk that existing systems supporting mission-critical
business processes, which are to be replaced by ALMRS, will be
subject to the Year 2000 computer problem. While BLM is planning to
provide the upgrades necessary to allow for the continued use of
these systems if ALMRS is not fully deployed by the year 2000, it has
not yet completed the requisite assessment to determine how to do
this.
--------------------
\2 Beta testing is testing of a prerelease version of software by
selected cooperating users.
BACKGROUND
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2
BLM's mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity
of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future
generations. It manages approximately 264 million acres of public
land in 28 states--about one-eighth of the land in the United States.
It also manages the subsurface mineral resources on another 300
million acres of lands administered by other government agencies or
owned by private interests. Public resources managed by BLM include
rangelands, timber, minerals, watersheds, wildlife habitats,
wilderness and recreation areas, and archaeological and historical
resources. The bureau has 210 state, district, and resource area
offices that manage over 1 billion paper documents, including land
surveys and surveyor notes, records of land ownership, mining claims,
and oil and gas leases. According to BLM, most of the paper
documents are deteriorating and becoming increasingly difficult to
read.
During the energy boom in the early 1980s, BLM found that it could
not handle the case processing workload associated with a peak in the
number of applications for oil and gas leases. It recognized that to
keep up with increased demand, it needed to automate its manual
records and case processing activities. Thus, in the mid-1980s, the
bureau began planning to acquire an automated land and mineral case
processing system. The scope and functionality of the planned system
changed over the years, ranging from a system to automate paper
documents and records and case processing activities to a system that
would provide improved efficiency for recording, maintaining, and
retrieving land description, ownership, and use information and
provide geographic information system (GIS)\3 capabilities.
In 1993, BLM decided on the scope and functionality of the
ALMRS/Modernization. The bureau designated it a critical system for
(1) automating land and mineral records and case processing
activities and (2) providing information to support land and resource
management activities. The ALMRS/Modernization is expected to more
efficiently record, maintain, and retrieve land description,
ownership, and use information to support BLM, other federal
programs, and interested parties. It is to do this by establishing a
common information technology platform,\4 integrating multiple
databases into a single geographically referenced database,
shortening the time to complete case processing activities, and
replacing costly manual records with automated ones.
The ALMRS/Modernization consists of the ALMRS IOC, geographic
coordinate database (GCDB),\5 and modernization of BLM's computer and
telecommunications infrastructure and rehosting of selected
management and administrative systems.\6 These components are
described more fully below.
-- The ALMRS IOC is the flagship of the ALMRS/Modernization. With
new software and upgraded hardware, it is to provide (1) support
for case processing activities, including leasing oil and gas
reserves, recording valid mining claims, processing mineral
patents, and granting rights-of-way for roads and power
corridors and (2) information for land and resource management
activities, including timber sales and grazing leases. ALMRS
IOC is to replace various manual and ad hoc automated BLM
systems currently operating on older mainframe computers.
-- GCDB\7 is the database that is to contain geographic coordinates
and survey information for land parcels. Other databases, such
as those containing land and mineral records, are to be
integrated with GCDB. ALMRS IOC will tie BLM's records and land
and mineral resource data to the legal descriptions of specific
land parcels.
-- The information technology modernization and rehost component
consists of installing computer and telecommunications equipment
and office automation applications, and converting selected
management and administrative systems to a relational database
system to be used throughout BLM.
Some elements of the ALMRS/Modernization, such as new computer and
telecommunications equipment, e-mail, and office automation, were
installed at BLM offices from fiscal years 1994 through 1996. The 12
administrative applications have been rehosted and are operational.
According to BLM's latest estimates, the ALMRS/Modernization is
expected to cost about $594 million through fiscal year 2002, about
47 percent more than the $403 million estimate provided to the Office
of Management and Budget in 1993. According to the Assistant
Director for Information Resources Management (IRM), the increase is
largely due to costs that were not included in the original agreement
with OMB, including almost $105 million for technology refreshment.
Concerned that BLM might deploy the system prematurely, the House and
Senate appropriations committees in fiscal year 1996 directed BLM to
(1) test, verify, and validate that ALMRS operates as specified and
(2) certify to them that it performs accurately and effectively and
provides the expected capabilities prior to deployment. BLM retained
a contractor to conduct the independent verification and validation
testing and an operational assessment, testing, and evaluation and
expects to base its certification to the committees on these tests.
In our March 1997 report,\8 we stated that BLM would not be ready to
deploy ALMRS until it has completed essential management plans,
policies, or procedures to help ensure a successful transition and
operating environment.
--------------------
\3 A geographic information system is computer technology designed to
assemble, store, manipulate, and display geographically referenced
data, (i.e., data that are associated with specific places on earth,
such as the geographic location of a lake or oil well).
\4 An automated information systems environment that consists of
interoperable hardware, systems software, and communications.
\5 We previously reported significant cost overruns and milestone
slippages on an earlier project to develop GCDB. See Land Management
Systems: Extensive Cost Increases and Delays in BLM's Major Data
Base Project (GAO/IMTEC-91-55, Aug. 5, 1991).
\6 BLM converted selected management and administrative software from
COBOL, a third-generation programming language that uses flat data
files, to INFORMIX, a fourth-generation query language and relational
database system. There were 13 such software applications; however,
BLM canceled the Fire Management System on January 21, 1997.
\7 GCDB is composed of information from the National Public Land
Survey System that is the basis for defining the legal boundaries of
all public land parcels.
\8 See footnote 1.
BLM HAS NOT FULLY IMPLEMENTED
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS TO REDUCE
RISKS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3
As of February 20, 1998, BLM had not fully implemented the
recommendations contained in our March 1997 report. BLM's efforts to
develop a security plan and an architecture, transition plans, and
operations and maintenance plans were incomplete. BLM had taken
substantial action to establish a configuration management program,
but it had not yet produced a credible project schedule. These
management tools are essential to manage the remainder of the
project, help ensure system availability and performance, and avoid
security and operational problems.
SECURITY PLANNING IS
INCOMPLETE
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :3.1
Security focuses on the ability to ensure the confidentiality,
integrity, and availability of stored and processed data. Unsecured
or poorly secured systems are highly vulnerable to external and
internal attacks and unauthorized use. Security planning includes
the identification of high-level security requirements, including
mission, management, and technical security requirements; functional
security requirements that cover users' security needs;
data-sensitivity analysis to identify data requiring special
protection; and a security architecture that describes the security
controls and relationships among the various system components. The
ALMRS/Modernization security plan should define the policies and
procedures for operating and maintaining a secure environment. In
our March 1997 report, we recommended that before deploying ALMRS
IOC, BLM develop a system security architecture and plan, including
security policies and procedures; disaster and recovery plans; and
security test, evaluation, and certification plans to reduce risks to
the availability and integrity of stored and processed data.
BLM has not yet developed a security architecture. It has developed
a security plan, finalized some policies--such as those governing
user access to ALMRS/Modernization components--and has been working
to complete contingency plans for the state offices and their
subordinate district and area offices. Also, in October 1997, BLM
conducted a risk assessment for the planned deployment of ALMRS IOC
to the New Mexico State Office. In January 1998, ALMRS IOC was
certified for operation in New Mexico by the Department of the
Interior's Information Technology Security Manager.
Our review of BLM's security plan and related documents shows that
the plan is not based on a documented risk assessment of ALMRS and
does not provide sufficient detail to manage the security of ALMRS
and its databases. Because BLM has no documented risk assessment of
the ALMRS, it has no basis for asserting that the system is secure or
the plan adequately addresses the various vulnerabilities and risks
attendant to a nationwide client-server system. Also, the risk
assessment performed at the New Mexico State Office focused on
policies, procedures, and conditions at that office but did not deal
with the security of, or assess the vulnerabilities of and risks to,
ALMRS.
TRANSITION PLANS DO NOT
FULLY ADDRESS KEY ISSUES
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :3.2
The process of deploying a major information system that people will
use to do their jobs requires careful planning. Many of the 210 BLM
offices nationwide that will receive ALMRS/Modernization--designed to
automate many manual functions--have little or no experience
implementing client-server systems.\9 The transition from automated
capabilities provided by a centrally managed mainframe system\10 to a
locally managed client-server environment requires changes in
organizational roles, responsibilities, and interrelationships among
the units and people using the system. A transition plan should
address these issues and guide BLM in defining new operational
procedures. In our March 1997 report, we recommended that before
deploying ALMRS IOC, BLM develop transition plans outlining the
changes in organizational roles, responsibilities, and
interrelationships among the units and people using the
ALMRS/Modernization system to reduce the risk associated with those
changes.
BLM's National Information Resources Management Center developed the
ALMRS Transition/Deployment Plan, dated September 2, 1997, to be used
as a guide for deploying the needed upgrades for the hardware and
software and transitioning to the ALMRS/Modernization platform and
ALMRS IOC. According to a senior program analyst for the ALMRS
project, 4 of the 12 state offices have prepared transition plans for
their operations and the offices under their jurisdictions. BLM
provided a copy of the 4 state offices' plans.
Our review of the ALMRS Transition/Deployment Plan showed that while
the plan generally addresses transition, its primary focus is on
deployment activities. BLM notes that subsequent versions of the
plan will provide more transition information to help each state
office make use of ALMRS in the most effective and efficient way.
The Assistant Director for IRM told us that the ALMRS
Transition/Deployment Plan will be updated to incorporate the recent
work of user advisory teams and lessons from final ALMRS testing.
Our review of the 4 state offices' plans showed that only 1 of them
identified and addressed transition issues, such as how the state and
subordinate offices will deal with oil and gas, mining, and solid
mineral business process changes resulting from the implementation of
ALMRS. Unless BLM ensures that the revised plans adequately address
transition issues, BLM faces increased risks of disruptions to its
work processes and impairments to its ability to (1) conduct its land
and mineral management business and (2) use ALMRS most effectively.
--------------------
\9 Distributed systems that split software tasks between client
computers and server computers and allow clients and servers to work
cooperatively on a network.
\10 A large computer that generally supports multiple users connected
via terminals.
OVERALL OPERATIONS AND
MAINTENANCE PLAN DOES NOT
ADDRESS SITE FUNCTIONS
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :3.3
Operations and maintenance of information systems based on a
client-server architecture require a large number of highly skilled
people. Unlike the centrally managed legacy mainframe systems that
have been supporting BLM operations, the ALMRS/Modernization will
require management and technical support at each major BLM site.
This support includes UNIX system managers, database administrators,
user support and telecommunication specialists, and security
officers. In our March 1997 report, we recommended that before
deploying ALMRS IOC, BLM develop operations and maintenance plans
addressing the acquisition, management, and maintenance of managerial
and technical support for the ALMRS/Modernization to help ensure
successful operations.
BLM has developed a draft operations and maintenance plan for the
National Information Resources Management Center. This plan
describes the (1) routine operations and maintenance services that
the National Information Resources Management Center will provide and
(2) approach that will be used to provide management and technical
guidance necessary for the operations and maintenance of ALMRS. The
plan, however, does not address how BLM will provide for operations
and maintenance functions at the major BLM sites that will be
responsible for operating and maintaining ALMRS on a daily basis.
This is critical because BLM will be relying on ALMRS to conduct its
business and maintain its official records. The Assistant Director
for IRM stated that the state offices are being contacted to
ascertain whether they need additional or more specific guidance to
meet these responsibilities. Due to the many sites involved and the
complexities of the systems, sites will need operations and
maintenance plans that clearly describe how they are to fulfill their
responsibilities and how these responsibilities will be handled when
there are unexpected shortages of qualified staff.
CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM IS BEING IMPLEMENTED
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :3.4
Configuration management plans, policies, and procedures are a set of
management controls over the composition of and changes to computer
and network systems components and documentation, including software
code documentation. Configuration management is essential to
successfully manage complex information systems and ensure integrity
throughout their life cycles. System modifications without the
safeguards imposed by the discipline of configuration management
could lead to undesirable consequences. For example, they could
cause system failures, endanger system integrity, increase security
risks, and degrade system performance. In our March 1997 report, we
recommended that before deploying ALMRS IOC, BLM establish a robust
configuration management plan and related policies and procedures for
establishing a program focused on managing the components of and all
changes to all BLM information systems, including systems not related
to the ALMRS/Modernization, to ensure successful management and
integrity of the ALMRS/Modernization.
Our review of the latest configuration management guidance and
discussions with project officials show that BLM has taken action to
establish a configuration management program. BLM has developed a
draft configuration management plan and associated policies and
procedures and has taken action to implement them. BLM's
configuration manager estimated that implementation of the
configuration management program is about 85 percent complete. Since
BLM's plan is still in draft and actions are not fully completed, we
have not yet reviewed the configuration management program.
ALMRS PROJECT SCHEDULE RISKS
CONTINUE
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :3.5
In March 1997, we reported that in its latest schedule, BLM planned
to deploy ALMRS IOC in its Arizona, Idaho, and New Mexico offices by
the end of fiscal year 1997 and complete the deployment to the
remaining states in fiscal year 1998. We stated that BLM might not
be able to maintain this schedule because it continued to allow
insufficient time between critical milestones to deal with problems
that were likely to arise.\11 At that time, BLM's own project
management plans cited concern that milestones were overly
optimistic, listed them as a major risk, and stated that the short
time frames were influenced by BLM's desire to begin deploying the
system in fiscal year 1997. We recommended that BLM fully update the
project schedule, including analyzing human resource usage and task
relationships to establish reliable milestones and a critical path to
complete the project.
Although a complete, current, and accurate project schedule is
essential to adequately manage and control the hundreds of tasks
remaining to complete the project, BLM has not linked available staff
resources to those tasks in developing the ALMRS project schedule.
BLM revised the project schedule again in September 1997 without
implementing our recommendation and was not able to meet critical
milestones. BLM is again revising its plans and milestones, but
although it is planning to analyze human resource usage and task
relationships in establishing milestones for deployment activities,
it is not planning to do so for its schedule to complete, test, and
certify ALMRS.
Table 1 shows the acceptance testing and deployment milestones BLM is
anticipating pending formal revision of its plans and schedule.
According to the anticipated milestones, initiation of deployment
will be about 9 months behind the schedule in place at the time of
our March 1997 report. This represents more than a 2-year delay from
the schedule delivered to OMB when the project was approved in 1993.
Table 1
ALMRS IOC Final Testing and Deployment
Milestones
Milestones as of Milestones as of
January 15, 1997 February 17, 1998
------------------------------ ------------------ ------------------
Complete acceptance testing 3rd quarter 3rd quarter
FY 1997 FY 1998
Begin deployment 4th quarter 3rd quarter
FY 1997 FY 1998
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------
\11 We also discussed this concern in our August 1995 report Land
Management Systems: Progress and Risks in Developing BLM's Land and
Mineral Record System (GAO/AIMD-95-180, Aug. 31, 1995).
STATUS OF THE
ALMRS/MODERNIZATION PROJECT
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4
BLM expected to certify to the Appropriations Committees in December
1997 that ALMRS performs accurately and effectively and provides
expected capabilities after completing beta testing in November 1997
and operational assessment test and evaluation (OAT&E) in December
1997. However, this milestone was not met because numerous problems
were encountered during beta testing that required correction before
BLM could begin OAT&E. Also, shortly after beta testing, BLM
discovered that data converted from its legacy systems for ALMRS were
not reliable because of errors in the conversion software. Since
then, BLM has been making corrections to resolve the software and
other problems and revising final testing plans and milestones.
Continuing delays in implementing ALMRS may place BLM at risk of
losing information technology support for core business processes
because of the imminent Year 2000 computer problem.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED DURING
BETA TESTING
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :4.1
The following problems emerged during the beta test of ALMRS.
-- BLM encountered unexpected workstation failures and slowdowns
caused by insufficient workstation memory and by problems
discovered in two BLM-developed software applications that had
not been sufficiently tested.
-- BLM had not yet determined with sufficient certainty how BLM
staff will use ALMRS and the expected workload that they will
generate in performing their day-to-day duties. A realistic
operational usage definition of ALMRS workstations is essential
for the design and conduct of OAT&E.
After beta testing, BLM converted data from legacy systems in the New
Mexico State Office's jurisdiction to the database management system
used in the ALMRS/Modernization and expanded the sample size for
testing and validating the data. BLM discovered that some of the
data were being converted incorrectly. BLM identified 43 software
errors that resulted in missing land descriptions, incorrect
associations, incomplete conversions to designated data elements, and
accurate conversions being written into error files. BLM estimated
that some of these errors will take up to 4 months to correct.
According to the project comanager, BLM is analyzing the data
conversion problems, performing further testing and validation,
identifying those problems that must be corrected prior to performing
OAT&E, and correcting the data conversion software. BLM also plans
to reconvert and update the New Mexico database and analyze and
validate the new database prior to deployment.
BLM PLANS TO CORRECT
PROBLEMS
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :4.2
As a result of problems found during and after beta testing, BLM
slipped its schedule to allow time to correct and revise its strategy
and milestones for OAT&E and independent verification and validation.
In conjunction with its OAT&E and independent verification and
validation contractor, BLM agreed that 12 conditions need to be
satisfied before OAT&E can begin. The conditions include the
-- completion of training manuals and aids for BLM-developed
software components;
-- establishment of data sharing procedures and a public room\12
plan;
-- establishment of a national help desk;
-- development of a maintenance plan that delineates necessary
activities for maintaining the contractor- and BLM-developed
software components of ALMRS IOC; and
-- identification of automated access and training requirements for
the Mineral Management Service, another part of the Department
of the Interior that uses BLM land and mineral data.
At the end of our field work, most of the conditions had not been met
and BLM had not made the requisite database corrections for OAT&E.
BLM expected to conduct the OAT&E in March 1998, certify ALMRS IOC in
April 1998, and deploy ALMRS IOC to the first state office
jurisdiction in June 1998. However, the schedule estimates remain
unreliable because BLM had not provided for unexpected problems or
analyzed human resource usage and task relationships in establishing
critical milestones in revising the project schedule, as we
recommended in our March 1997 report.
--------------------
\12 BLM provides land and mineral records and reference information
to the public in public rooms at selected offices.
YEAR 2000 RISKS ARE
APPEARING
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :4.3
The recent and potential future delays in the ALMRS/Modernization
program introduce the risk that BLM will lose information technology
support for its core business processes because of the looming Year
2000 problem. The Year 2000 problem is rooted in the way dates are
recorded and computed in many computer systems. For the past several
decades, systems have typically used two digits to represent the
year, such as "98" representing 1998, in order to conserve electronic
data storage and reduce operating costs. With this two-digit format,
the year 2000 is indistinguishable from 1900, 2001 from 1901, and so
on. As a result of this ambiguity, computer systems or application
programs that use dates to perform calculations, comparisons, or
sorting may generate incorrect results when working with years after
1999.
BLM has identified two legacy systems supporting its core business
processes that are subject to the Year 2000 computer problem. These
two mission-critical systems, the Case Recordation System and the
Mining Claim Recordation System, are to be replaced with ALMRS IOC
implementation. BLM presently uses these two systems to create and
manage land and mineral case files. They capture and provide
information on case type, customer, authorizations, and legal
descriptions. Without these systems, BLM cannot create and record
new cases, such as mining claims, or update case data. BLM's initial
assessment of the two mission-critical systems shows that the older
computer mainframes on which these systems run are date-dependent and
may malfunction in the year 2000.
These two systems are to be replaced by ALMRS before the year 2000.
However, the delays in implementing ALMRS introduce the risk that BLM
will be forced to continue using these two systems beyond 2000. To
mitigate this risk, BLM is considering upgrading the mainframes on
which these two systems run. However, BLM has not yet completed an
assessment to determine what this upgrading would entail or developed
a contingency plan for key business processes to be supported by
these systems in the event that ALMRS is not fully deployed by the
year 2000. The BLM Year 2000 Program Coordinator expects the
assessment of this and the resulting contingency plan to be completed
in the near future, although we were told that no deadline has been
established for these actions.
CONCLUSIONS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :5
BLM has not fully implemented the recommendations we made in our
March 1997 report. It has not yet completed essential plans for
system security, transition, operations and maintenance, and
configuration management, exacerbating risks that ALMRS/Modernization
will not be successfully implemented and meet operational needs. BLM
understands the importance of these essential tools and has been
working to develop them. However, until our prior recommendations
have been implemented and necessary plans have been completed,
approved, and put into place, BLM will not be ready to deploy the
system. Continuing delays with the ALMRS/Modernization and the
looming Year 2000 computer problem place BLM at risk that core
business processes will not be supported beyond January 1, 2000.
RECOMMENDATION
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :6
To reduce the risk that BLM will lose information technology support
for core business processes, we recommend that the Director of the
Bureau of Land Management (1) direct that the two mission-critical
systems ALMRS is to replace be fully assessed to determine what
actions are needed to ensure the continued use of these systems after
January 1, 2000, and (2) develop a contingency plan to take those
actions in the event that ALMRS is not fully deployed by that time.
AGENCY COMMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :7
In comments on a draft of this report, the BLM Director stated that
he generally agrees with our observations and provided some updated
information. BLM agreed with our recommendation to perform a full
assessment of the two mission-critical systems to be replaced by
ALMRS and develop a contingency plan to take the needed actions in
the event that ALMRS is not fully deployed by the year 2000. BLM
stated that it (1) has taken significant steps to implement the six
recommendations in our March 1997 report and (2) will implement them
before deploying the system. BLM also described some efforts that it
believes are indicative of progress to date.
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :7.1
We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of the
Interior, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget, and interested congressional
committees. We will also make copies available to others upon
request.
Should you or your staff have any questions concerning this report,
please contact me at (202) 512-6253. I can also be reached by e-mail
at [email protected]. Major contributors to this report are
listed in appendix III.
Joel C. Willemssen
Director, Civil Agencies Information
Systems
OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND METHODOLOGY
=========================================================== Appendix I
Our objectives were to assess BLM's actions to address the
recommendations contained in our March 1997 report and identify the
status of BLM's efforts to test, deploy, and implement ALMRS initial
operating capability (IOC).
To review BLM's actions to address our recommendations (develop a
credible project schedule, configuration management plan, security
architecture and security plan, complete transition plans, and
complete operations and maintenance plans), we reviewed the ALMRS
Project Office's project management and scheduling procedures; BLM's
National Configuration Management Board's draft configuration
management plan; BLM information technology security plans, ALMRS
application security plan, and other security documentation; BLM's
Operations and Maintenance plan for the National IRM Center; and
BLM's Version 2.0 Transition and Deployment Plan and site-specific
transition/deployment plans for New Mexico, Idaho, Arizona, and
Colorado. We compared revised project milestones with past
milestones and remaining project risks. We also reviewed Carnegie
Mellon University's Capability Maturity Model for Software and site
readiness review results.
To ascertain BLM's efforts to test, deploy, and implement ALMRS IOC,
we reviewed ALMRS/Modernization project documents, weekly activity
reports and assessments by the independent verification and
validation contractor, system integration meeting minutes, BLM's exit
criteria for system certification, software problem reports, and
project management schedules. We also reviewed BLM's submission to
the Department of Interior's Year 2000 Master Plan and status reports
on BLM's Year 2000 efforts. We attended the Department of the
Interior's October 1997 quarterly review of the development project
at the ALMRS/Modernization project office in Lakewood, Colorado, and
observed alpha IV testing at the ALMRS/Modernization pilot site
offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Farmington, and Taos, New Mexico
and beta testing at the ALMRS/Modernization pilot site offices in
Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Taos, New Mexico. We also reviewed the
results of alpha IV and beta testing.
We discussed the project with prime contractor officials; contractor
officials responsible for independent verification and validation and
operational assessment testing and evaluation; a senior technical
analyst and the Acting Chief Information Officer at the Department of
the Interior; BLM's Assistant Director and Deputy Assistant Director
for IRM, and BLM's ALMRS budget analyst. We further discussed the
essential management plans with ALMRS project officials responsible
for project management and scheduling, configuration management,
security, deployment, transition, and operations and maintenance
planning; and discussed software development risks, performance
problems, planned system capabilities, software problem reports,
system testing, and technical complexity with project officials
responsible for systems engineering, software development, and
testing. We discussed BLM's Year 2000 efforts with the Bureau's Year
2000 Program Coordinator.
We performed our work at Interior's information resources management
headquarters in Washington, D.C.; BLM headquarters in Washington,
D.C.; the ALMRS/Modernization project office in Lakewood, Colorado;
the prime contractor's office in Golden, Colorado; ALMRS pilot site
offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Farmington, and Taos, New Mexico;
and the independent verification and validation contractor's office
in the ALMRS/Modernization project office in Lakewood, Colorado.
(See figure in printed edition.)Appendix II
COMMENTS FROM THE BUREAU OF LAND
MANAGEMENT
=========================================================== Appendix I
See comment 1.
(See figure in printed edition.)
See comment 1.
See comment 2.
See comment 1.
(See figure in printed edition.)
See comment 3.
See comment 4.
See comment 5.
(See figure in printed edition.)
See comment 6.
See comment 7.
See comment 8.
See comment 1.
(See figure in printed edition.)
The following are GAO's comments on BLM's April 13, 1998, letter.
GAO COMMENTS
1. This information is summarized in the "Agency Comments" section
of the report.
2. In discussing BLM's comments, the Assistant Director for IRM told
us that a primary reason for the increased estimated cost from $403
million to $594 million is that $105 million of technology
refreshment costs were not included in the estimate provided to OMB.
We revised the report to clarify this point. We also note that
technology refreshment costs, as well as the other costs BLM
mentioned, are properly a part of life-cycle costs and should have
been included in the initially approved $403 million life-cycle
estimate provided to OMB.
3. In BLM's comments on the ALMRS project schedule, it stated that
GAO staff has supported placing emphasis on completing a successful
pilot as opposed to meeting an artificially derived schedule. We
agree that emphasis should be placed on successfully completing all
testing, including the pilot test. Testing is an essential part of
developing and deploying an efficient and effective system.
We also agree that BLM should not try to meet artificially derived
milestones. A complete, current, and accurate schedule with tasks
linked to available resources is an essential tool to manage and
control a large-scale project. This is the primary reason why we
have addressed the project schedule in this report and in our two
prior reports on ALMRS.\1 The project schedule should have been based
on tasks to be completed, resources associated with task completion,
and a critical path with sufficient time allotted to deal with
unanticipated problems. BLM has not done this.
4. BLM noted that the Configuration Management Plan and program were
fully implemented about a month after we completed our fieldwork. As
we note in the report, we did not assess the configuration management
program during our review because the plan had not been completed and
the program had not yet been fully implemented before the end of our
fieldwork.
5. As we discuss in the report, the risk assessment performed at the
New Mexico State Office focused on policies, procedures, and
conditions at that office. The risk assessment did not deal with the
security of, or assess the vulnerabilities of and risks to, ALMRS.
In addition, until a full risk assessment of ALMRS is completed and
documented, BLM has no basis for asserting that the system is secure
or that the plan adequately addresses the vulnerabilities and risks
attendant to a nationwide client-server system.
6. Our review of BLM's updated transition plans showed that only one
of the four plans identified and addressed transition issues. As we
discuss in the report, the transition from automated capabilities
provided by centrally managed mainframe legacy systems to the
locally-managed client server environment of ALMRS will require
changes in organizational roles, responsibilities, and
interrelationships among the units and people using the system. A
transition plan should address these issues and guide BLM in defining
new operational procedures. Our concern is that with the complexity
of ALMRS and the business process changes it will require, BLM needs
to ensure that its transition plans provide the necessary guidance
for successful transitions in its 210 state, district, and resource
area offices.
7. Operations and maintenance plans are essential for operating and
maintaining ALMRS on a daily basis. BLM noted that the states will
update the operations and maintenance plans for their sites. In
updating their plans, the state offices will need specific
information that clearly describes how they are to fulfill their
day-to-day responsibilities and how these responsibilities will be
fulfilled when there are unexpected shortages of qualified staff.
8. We agree. Beta testing is testing of a prerelease version of
software by selected cooperating users in order to uncover problems
that were not discovered during laboratory testing. According to
BLM, the beta test served that purpose. As we note in our report,
these problems along with data conversion errors required correction
before OAT&E could begin. Beta testing was conducted in November
1997 and OAT&E was scheduled to be completed in December 1997.
--------------------
\1 Land Management Systems: Progress and Risks in Developing BLM's
Land and Mineral Record System (GAO/AIMD-95-180, Aug. 31, 1995) and
Land Management Systems: BLM Faces Risks in Completing the Automated
Land and Mineral Record System (GAO/AIMD-97-42, March 19, 1997).
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS REPORT
========================================================= Appendix III
ACCOUNTING AND INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT DIVISION, WASHINGTON,
D.C.
David G. Gill, Assistant Director
Mirko J. Dolak, Technical Assistant Director
Keith Rhodes, Technical Director
Marcia C. Washington, Evaluator-in-Charge
*** End of document. ***