The Veterans Affairs Department office of information technology incurred more than $1.6 million in questionable costs because a contractor hired by its office of architecture, strategy and design did not effectively accomplish technical reviews for the incorporation of enterprise architecture standards compliance within its Project Management Accountability System, finds an Office of Inspector General report (.pdf) published Oct. 13.

The contract came under investigation following an allegation that ASD officials directed contractor personnel to prepare project management documents outside the scope of the task order, writes Belinda Finn, assistant inspector general for audits and evaluations. While that allegation was correct, it turns out that the contractor didn't perform the out-of-scope work. The bigger problem, finds the IG, was with work within the scope of the contract, but not fully completed.

"The contractor has not performed technical reviews of VA's major IT initiatives," writes Finn. As a result, not only has VA overpaid for work performed, the IG believes that VA's IT programs and projects "may be at an increased risk of noncompliance with VA's Enterprise Architecture standards."

Rather than continue the third and final year of the contract, Finn recommended VA cancel the contract in order to retain approximately $785,840 in funds. In a letter dated Sept. 26, VA's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for IT Stephen Warren said it will terminate the task order Dec. 30, 2011.

In order to ensure that the task does not fall by the wayside, Warren also said he would direct the product development office to implement a PMAS program management office. The PMO will coordinate the milestone reviews of major IT initiatives. "These Milestone Reviews will include technical reviews to determine alignment with the One VA Enterprise Architecture, engineering design principles, security policies and operational requirements," writes Warren.

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