Alissa Tabirian
NS&D Monitor
1/8/2016
An information technology initiative intended to provide the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) with network security, identity management, cloud-based computing, and collaboration capabilities is years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General’s Office (IG) found in an audit released last month.
The NNSA began implementing its Network Vision (2NV) initiative, consisting of four major projects, in 2010. The agency estimated it would complete implementation in 2012 at a cost of $17 million, but it changed the date to 2014, spent over $22 million, estimated an additional cost of $8.4 million, and has to date implemented one of the four components, the audit said. The NNSA also initially estimated 2NV would save the agency over $73 million per year, but officials later concluded the annual savings would actually be less than $175,000, the IG found.
The OneNNSA Network, one of the components meant to secure network infrastructure, was put to use over two years behind schedule and at a cost that exceeded its total budget by more than $3.3 million, the audit said. It was not fully used after implementation “because it was dependent upon other 2NV components that had not been implemented, including YOURcloud and ONEvoice,” it added, and “collaboration platforms, document management services, and assessment and oversight tracking applications” were not yet installed by the time of the IG’s review.
The YOURcloud component of 2NV, the NNSA’s cloud-based computing capability, was expected to be completed in 2012 but was not operational by the time of the review, the IG said. It said the NNSA has spent over $9 million and could spend an additional $6 million to make the system operational, “more than four times its original estimate” of $3.4 million. Moreover, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) received $5 million as part of YOURcloud development “to modify its existing cloud computing service,” but LANL’s final software was determined to be unusable due to “weaknesses in architecture, Web site implementation, and protection of information integrity,” the IG said.
ONEvoice, intended as a communication and collaboration tool for employees across the NNSA, was due for use by 2012 at a price tag of $3.7 million, the audit said. However, at the time of the audit this component was not yet operational, was not given a scheduled completion date, and has cost the NNSA more than $5.6 million, it said.
The IG said “ineffective project planning practices” led in part to these issues, as “essential components of a well-developed project management approach, such as charters, business cases, alternatives analyses, and implementation schedules, were often inadequate, outdated, or had not been developed in a timely manner.” The IG also noted a “lack of effective monitoring and oversight,” specifically “a high rate of turnover of senior project officials.” The audit recommended implementation of effective project management practices, effective monitoring, and proper operation of communication mechanisms to address the issues. NNSA management agreed and said it had begun implementing corrective actions, including standardizing project management practices for IT projects, establishing monitoring activities such as quarterly reviews and weekly status updates, and developing a communications plan to enhance project transparency.
