Homeland Security seeking to save money

by YankeeJim | May 19, 2011 at 05:03 am

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They should be gangstalking themselves

On the face, this is ridiculous. Imagine spending $450 million integrating a financial system in the US government in which all systems should be already integrated for crying out loud. What have the contractors and government customers been doing with our money all these years and not have an integrated financial system. Somebody, a group of them, should be going to jail. They should be gangstalking themselves!

“DHS cancels $450M financial system modernization, considers cloud instead

Alternatives also could include component systems and non-integrated system

By Alice Lipowicz

May 18, 2011

The Homeland Security Department has done a complete 180 on its $450 million Transformation and Systems Consolidation (TASC) program to modernize and integrate its financial systems.

The department had awarded the contract to CACI International, but that award was pulled back in March because of a protest.

Now, DHS is said to be considering other solutions that include a cloud-based system, component-by-component development and non-integrated solutions.

Chris Ortman, a spokesman for DHS, confirmed the TASC cancellation in a May 16 e-mail message.

“The Department of Homeland Security is canceling the solicitation for its financial, asset and acquisition management systems, collectively referred to as the Transformation and Systems Consolidation program or the TASC program,” Ortman wrote. “Based upon a review and reevaluation of the solicitation, DHS is considering alternatives to meet revised requirements. The modernization of the department’s financial, acquisition and asset systems remains a key priority for DHS," he added.

Related story:

DHS Acting CFO Peggy Sherry gives an update on financial management goals

GAO upholds protest against CACI financial systems modernization contract

An executive source in DHS offered more details on what those choices might include and how requirements for a prospective new solicitation have changed. The details were presented in a written statement issued as a background briefing.

Because of the recent Office of Management and Budget guidance on cloud-first strategies, DHS is now considering a cloud solution for its financial systems modernization, the statement said.

“Housing the system solution in the DHS enterprise data center is no longer a requirement,” the statement said. “When evaluating options for new IT deployments, OMB requires cloud-based and service provider solutions be evaluated first and used whenever a secure, reliable, cost-effective option exists. With advances in IT security, DHS security architecture now expressly supports external services as an extension of the trusted internal environment. Thus, a cloud-based or shared services solution could meet the Department’s needs.””