Effort to Consolidate Governmentwide Acquisition Data Systems Should Be Reassessed

Citation
Government Accountability Office, Effort to Consolidate Governmentwide Acquisition Data Systems Should Be Reassessed (GAO-12-429) (Mar. 15, 2012) (full-text).

Overview
The U.S. government spends more than $500 billion each year on contracts. To ensure contracts are managed effectively, the government has established policies and procedures for advertising, awarding, administering, and reporting on them. Historically, data systems used to implement these steps have been fragmented and duplicative, with multiple systems across different agencies providing similar services.

The Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE) was initiated in 2001 to bring together different data systems into a unified system. It is intended to reduce duplication and information technology costs, and create a more streamlined and integrated federal acquisition process.

GAO was asked to assess (1) the acquisition strategy being used to develop IAE; (2) progress that has been made in consolidating IAE systems; and (3) any challenges that may affect the completion of IAE.

GAO recommends that GSA reassess the IAE business case to determine whether the current acquisition strategy is the most cost effective alternative and if so, reevaluate the current hosting strategy and align contract payments with the program schedule.