Response to OIG Audit of the FBI’s Sentinel Program

The following is in response to the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report, “Sentinel Audit V: Status of the FBI’s Case Management System.”

“The FBI appreciates the Inspector General’s review of the FBI’s Sentinel Program progress and recognition of the FBI’s efforts to resolve concerns identified in previous Sentinel audits. As the OIG notes, the FBI estimates that Sentinel is scheduled to deliver full capability within the $451 million budget in the fall of 2010. The FBI already has implemented measures to resolve all six recommendations identified in this report and has successfully closed 30 of the 31 recommendations from the four prior OIG Sentinel audits.

“The Sentinel program has steadily improved and refined its business practices. During Phase 1 of this project, the FBI and its primary contractor, Lockheed Martin, chose to redesign and re-baseline Phase 2 to be more efficient and deliver additional capability to users earlier than originally planned. This approach reduces overall program risk. It was carefully planned and incorporated a flexible aspect to the design to further mitigate risk by shifting requirements forward in the program’s development to meet user needs.

“The FBI is pleased the report concluded the revised Sentinel schedule is more realistic. By extending the completion of Phase 2 by three months, requirements from the latter phases will be delivered earlier, providing capabilities to users sooner than originally planned.

“The report correctly referenced a ‘risk reserve,’ historically built into an information technology project, to fund unanticipated re-engineering efforts. The FBI used $18 million dollars of its risk reserve during Phase 2 following the re-baseline of Sentinel to extend the length of Phase 2. This is not a cost overrun as previously indicated. The FBI is pleased to note the overall projected cost of the project remains unchanged. The FBI has also filled all vacancies in the Sentinel Program Management Office.

“The FBI has begun user testing of Sentinel’s Administrative Case Management system, including three electronic forms and automated workflows. Following a brief pilot in the FBI’s Richmond, Tampa, and Chicago offices, the FBI will deliver these capabilities across the FBI, marking the completion of Phase 2.”