Telecommunications: Full Adoption of Sound Transition Planning
Practices by GSA and Selected Agencies Could Improve Planning
Efforts (06-JUN-06, GAO-06-476).
With the current governmentwide telecommunications contracts set
to expire, the General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal
Technology Service (FTS) and its customer agencies must prepare
to transition their services to a new contract vehicle. The
previous federal effort to transition telecommunications services
proved to be a large, complex task. GAO was asked to determine to
what extent (1) selected agencies used sound practices in
preparing for the transition and (2) GSA's FTS has prepared for
the transition by addressing previous lessons learned and
providing agencies with guidance on sound transition planning.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-06-476
ACCNO: A55180
TITLE: Telecommunications: Full Adoption of Sound Transition
Planning Practices by GSA and Selected Agencies Could Improve
Planning Efforts
DATE: 06/06/2006
SUBJECT: Contract administration
Federal procurement
Federal procurement policy
Government contracts
Telecommunications
Strategic planning
Lessons learned
Interagency relations
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GAO-06-476
* Recommendations
* Agency Comments
* Appendix I: Briefing to the Staff of the Committee on Govern
* Appendix II: Comments from the General Services Administrati
* Appendix III: Comments from the Department of the Interior
* Order by Mail or Phone
Report to the Chairman, Committee on Government Reform, House of
Representatives
United States Government Accountability Office
GAO
June 2006
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Full Adoption of Sound Transition Planning Practices by GSA and Selected
Agencies Could Improve Planning Efforts
GAO-06-476
Contents
Letter 1
Recommendations 4
Agency Comments 5
Appendix I Briefing to the Staff of the Committee on Government Reform,
House of Representatives, March 24, 2006 7
Appendix II Comments from the General Services Administration 56
Appendix III Comments from the Department of the Interior 58
Abbreviations
BLM Bureau of Land Management DOE Department of Energy DOI Department of
the Interior DOJ Department of Justice FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
FTS Federal Technology Service GSA General Services Administration IMC
Interagency Management Council RFP Request for Proposal
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separately.
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
June 6, 2006
The Honorable Tom Davis Chairman, Committee on Government Reform House of
Representatives
Dear Mr. Chairman,
As you know, the previous effort by federal agencies to transition
telecommunications services to a new contract proved to be difficult. We
reported in 20011 that the transition to the current federal
telecommunications contracts, known as FTS2001, encountered delays and
increased telecommunications costs. The effort took more than 24 months
and lost an estimated $74 million in savings. As a result, we noted that
the process of planning and managing future telecommunications
acquisitions will be improved by applying lessons learned from the
transition to FTS20012. We also noted the need for comprehensive program
management, accurate inventories, and defined contractor and government
responsibilities.
As the FTS2001 contracts approach expiration, General Service
Administration's (GSA) Federal Technology Service (FTS) and its customer
agencies have begun to prepare for the transition to new contracts, known
as Networx. Past experience has shown that the importance of this planning
process should not be underestimated.
At your request, we reviewed the extent to which (1) selected agencies
used sound practices in preparing for the transition and (2) GSA's FTS has
prepared for the transition by addressing previous lessons learned and
providing agencies with guidance on sound transition planning.
To achieve our first objective, we obtained FTS2001 billing information
and identified the 50 departments and agencies with the highest total
charges for 1 month billed. From these, we selected six that would ensure
a representation of (1) departments, bureaus, and head agency/subagency
relationships; (2) complexity based on the number of current vendors used;
and (3) varying levels of attendance in an agency forum that is assisting
FTS in its efforts to plan for the transition. The departments and
agencies selected for review were the Department of the Interior, the
Bureau of Land Management (within the Department of the Interior),
Department of Energy, Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (a component of the Department of Justice), and GSA.
1GAO, FTS2001: Transition Challenges Jeopardize Program Goals, GAO-01-289
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 30, 2001).
2GAO, FTS2001: Contract Transition Delays and Their Impact on Program
Goals, GAO-544T (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 26, 2001).
We then researched available literature on telecommunications transitions
and interviewed those with experience in telecommunications transitions,
including industry experts, telecommunications vendors, and private sector
companies. We analyzed the results of our research and interviews,
synthesized common themes and issues, and identified five sound transition
planning practices against which agency efforts could be measured:
o establishing a telecommunications inventory,
o performing a strategic analysis of telecommunications
requirements,
o establishing a structured transition management approach,
o identifying resources, and
o developing a transition plan.
Once compiled, we provided these practices to the industry experts
and FTS for comment and general agreement.
Next, we obtained and reviewed documentation-including strategic
plans, telecommunications inventories, and transition related
plans-and interviewed officials from each of the selected
agencies. We assessed this information against the five sound
transition planning practices.
To achieve our second objective, we reviewed transition guidance
and other Networx documentation3 developed by FTS and the
Interagency Management Council4. We also interviewed FTS Networx
program officials to identify any planned guidance or activities
for the Networx transition. We assessed this information against
the published lessons learned from the FTS2001 transition, and
determined whether FTS was providing guidance to agencies that
correlated with the identified sound transition planning
practices.
We performed our work from June 2005 through March 2006 at the
Washington, D.C., area offices of the selected agencies in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
On March 24, 2006, we provided your office with a detailed
briefing on the results of this work, which is included as
appendix I. The purpose of this letter is to provide the briefing
slides to you and officially transmit our recommendations to the
Administrator of General Services, the Attorney General, and the
Secretary of Energy.
In summary, the agencies we reviewed were generally planning to
employ the five sound planning practices in their transition
management efforts. However, officials at two of the agencies
stated they did not plan to fully identify necessary resources.
Specifically, officials from the Department of Justice indicated
they would not need additional financial resources for the
transition, even though they could not provide an analytical basis
for their decision, and officials from the Department of Energy
believed that because the agency's transition will be
straightforward, identifying human capital resource needs would
not be necessary. However, without addressing all of the sound
practices, agencies risk entering into a complex transition
without the level of preparation necessary to ensure a smooth
transition.
FTS, in preparing for the transition, has addressed the 21 out of
27 lessons learned from the previous transition. For example, it
has made efforts to clarify which parties are responsible for
transition costs and to ensure that contractors have adequate
operations support systems in place before the transition begins.
FTS has not yet addressed lessons pertaining to securing incumbent
contractor cooperation and developing guidance on establishing
inventory management and validation processes. FTS stated that it
plans to address the remaining lessons prior to contract award.
Specifically, FTS stated it is currently working with the
incumbent contractors to ensure cooperation and that high-level
guidance on inventory maintenance will be provided in the last few
months leading up to contract award.
FTS has also provided agencies with guidance on performing a
strategic analysis of telecommunications requirements and
identifying necessary resources for the transition, two of the
five sound transition planning practices. However, it did not
provide comprehensive guidance on the remaining three practices
(establishing a telecommunications inventory, establishing a
structured management approach, and developing a transition plan).
The specific aspects of the practices that its guidance does not
address are establishing an inventory maintenance process, using
key management processes (project management, configuration
management, and change management), developing measures of
success, and performing transition-specific risk assessments. As
stated above, FTS plans to provide high-level guidance on
inventory maintenance in the last few months leading up to
contract award.
Enough time remains for agencies to effectively address all the
issues we identified, but they need to identify telecommunications
inventories and conduct strategic analyses soon because these
practices provide inputs for other sound practices. Further,
although principal responsibility for the transition rests with
individual agencies, FTS has an important program-level
responsibility to plan and coordinate the transition. As a result,
it is important that FTS work with its customer agencies to ensure
that they fully and consistently address the full range of sound
transition planning practices.
Recommendations
To ensure that the agencies we reviewed adequately prepare
themselves for the transition, we recommend
o that the Attorney General ensure that the Department of
Justice's planning efforts include an analysis of the extent to
which current financial resources will be sufficient to conduct an
effective transition;
o that the Secretary of Energy ensure that the department's
planning efforts include identification of human capital resources
needed to conduct an effective transition.
To ensure that agencies are adequately prepared for the
transition, we recommend that the Administrator of General
Services, in working with the Interagency Management Council,
develop and distribute guidance to ensure that our identified
sound practices of transition planning are utilized. In
particular, FTS should ensure that guidance addresses
o the use of project management, configuration management, and
change management processes in transition planning efforts;
o the establishment of measures of success to help agencies'
managers assess progress toward the objectives stated in their
plans; and
o the development of a transition-specific risk assessment that
would allow an agency to lessen problems and delays during the
transition.
Agency Comments
In comments on a draft of this report, officials from the General
Services Administration and the Departments of Justice, Energy,
and the Interior generally agreed with our recommendations.
The GSA's acting Administrator, in written comments, stated that
the agency will work with the IMC to address our recommendations.
The acting Administrator also stated that GSA has initiated
discussions and planning activities to address our recommendations
and that processes and guidelines for these issues will be
included in a transition planning guide expected to be distributed
to all agencies before December 2006. These comments are
reproduced in appendix II.
A Department of Justice Audit Liaison Specialist commented via
e-mail that the agency agreed with our recommendation and
findings.
A Department of Energy Deputy Associate Chief Information Officer
commented via e-mail that the agency will be in a position to
determine if additional human capital resources are warranted once
Networx has been awarded and a review and analysis of available
services have been completed.
The Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary of Policy,
Management, and Budget, in written comments, stated that the
agency generally agreed with our recommendations and findings. He
also expressed concern with the difficulty of the upcoming
transition and stated that the department relies on GSA actions in
order to timely allocate resources for this effort. These comments
are reproduced in appendix III.
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the
contents of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution
of this report until 30 days from the report date. At that time,
we will send copies of this report to interested congressional
committees, the Administrator of General Services, the Attorney
General, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of
Energy. We will also make copies available to others upon request.
In addition, the report will be available at no charge on the GAO
Web site at http://www.gao.gov .
Should you or your offices have any questions about matters
discussed in this report, please contact me at (202) 512-6240 or
by e-mail at koontzl@gao.gov. Key contributions to this report
were made by James R. Sweetman, Jr., Assistant Director; Jamey
Collins; Alison Holland; David Hong; Teresa M. Neven; Kelly Shaw;
and Amos Tevelow.
Sincerely yours,
Linda D. Koontz Director, Information Management Issues
Appendix I: Briefing to the Staff of the Committee on Government Reform,
House of Representatives, March 24, 2006
Appendix II: Comments from the General Services Administration
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of the Interior
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3These included presentations, meeting minutes, projected time lines,
FTS2001 lessons learned, the Networx Request for Proposals, and the
Networx Transition Guide (Pre-Award).
4The Interagency Management Council is a group of senior federal
information resource officials that was established in 1992 to provide a
forum and focal point for FTS to work with its customer agencies in
planning and overseeing FTS's long-distance telecommunications services.
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt? GAO-06-476 .
To view the full product, including the scope
and methodology, click on the link above.
For more information, contact Linda Koontz at (202) 512-6240 or
koontzl@gao.gov.
Highlights of GAO-06-476 , a report to the Chairman, Committee on
Government Reform, House of Representatives
June 2006
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Full Adoption of Sound Transition Planning Practices by GSA and Selected
Agencies Could Improve Planning Efforts
With the current governmentwide telecommunications contracts set to
expire, the General Services Administration's (GSA) Federal Technology
Service (FTS) and its customer agencies must prepare to transition their
services to a new contract vehicle. The previous federal effort to
transition telecommunications services proved to be a large, complex task.
GAO was asked to determine to what extent (1) selected agencies used sound
practices in preparing for the transition and (2) GSA's FTS has prepared
for the transition by addressing previous lessons learned and providing
agencies with guidance on sound transition planning.
What GAO Recommends
GAO recommends that the Attorney General and the Secretary of Energy
perform the analyses necessary to identify required transition resources
for their agencies.
In addition, GAO recommends that the Administrator of General Services
provide guidance to GSA's customer agencies that reflects all of the sound
transition planning practices.
In commenting on a draft of this report, the General Services
Administration, the Department of Justice, the Department of Energy, and
the Department of the Interior generally agreed with our recommendations.
The agencies GAO reviewed-Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management, Department of Energy, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and GSA-were generally planning to employ sound transition
planning practices (see table below). However, officials at two agencies
stated they did not plan to fully identify necessary resources.
Specifically, officials from the Department of Justice indicated they
would not need additional funding for the transition, even though they
could not provide an analytical basis for their decision, and officials
from the Department of Energy believed their transition planning efforts
would not require the identification of human capital needs. Without
addressing all of the sound practices, agencies risk entering into a
complex transition without the level of preparation necessary to ensure a
smooth transition.
FTS has addressed the majority of the lessons learned from the previous
transition. Areas that have not yet been fully addressed are securing
incumbent contractor cooperation and establishing guidance on inventory
management and validation processes. FTS plans to address all remaining
lessons prior to contract award. FTS has also provided agencies with
guidance that fully reflects two of the five sound transition planning
practices. However, guidance has not addressed all aspects of the
remaining three, including establishing an inventory maintenance process,
using key management processes, identifying measures of success, and
performing transition-specific risk assessments.
Although principal responsibility for the transition rests with individual
agencies, FTS has an important program-level responsibility to plan and
coordinate the transition. As a result, unless it works with agencies to
address the full range of sound transition planning practices, agencies
may not address the practices fully or consistently, which could, in turn,
affect their level of preparation.
Sound Transition Planning Practices
Source: GAO.
*** End of document. ***