Sat, Sep 25, 2004
Agency performed well in planning, requirements management and
technical analysis
The GAO has issued a pair of reports
that point to problems with IT management and oversight at the
Federal Aviation Administration. specifically, the report states
that the FAA needs to improveme its software acquisition processes
and work to eliminate a series of weak points that will lead to
cost overruns, delays and other shortfalls.
The reports, according to Government Computer News, state that
the FAA is doing well in the areas of project planning,
requirements management and the identification of approaches to
resolve technical issues related to the acquisition of IT
technology.
However, it also found shortcomings in the agency's
verification, QA and performance measurement, as well as in needs
analysis. GAO also applauded the agency's adoption of the
Integrated Capability Maturity Model to analyze software
development skill maturity, but noted that project managers are
being given the option to use or ignore the Model in their
projects.
“The projects that have
adopted the model have demonstrated growth in the maturity of their
processes, and more and more projects have adopted the
model,” GAO said. “The recurring weaknesses we
identified in our project-specific evaluations are due in part to
the choices these projects were given in deciding whether and how
to adopt this process improvement initiative."
The report recommends that the FAA implements the model, or an
equivalent, in the entire Air Traffic Organization, and should
standardize its measurement and oversight processes throughout the
agency.
FAA officials expressed general agreement with the audit
findings and have begin implementing the recommendations.
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