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Security Beat
DHS Making ‘Moderate’ Gains in Acquisition Management
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By Stew Magnuson
The Department of Homeland Security in 2009 made some improvements to the way it acquires technology and services, said the Office of the Inspector General in its annual report on DHS management challenges.
Overall, the department made “moderate” progress on managing its acquisition contracts, meaning “many of the critical success factors have been achieved,” the report said.
That is welcome news for a department that has suffered from a plethora of investigations and congressional hearings surrounding several high profile technology failures. Government Accountability Office reports have cited acquisition work force challenges as factors when there have been setbacks.
That’s not to say there isn’t room for improvement, Inspector General Richard Skinner wrote in the report. Organizational alignment is an area of concern with dual responsibilities for acquiring technology split between the office of the chief procurement officer, who retains central authority over all contracts, and the acquisition chiefs of the 22 agencies that comprise the department.
This “may sometimes create ambiguity about who is accountable for acquisition decisions,” the report said. DHS leadership maintains that this dual authority system works because procurement officers in agencies answer directly to the office rather than their respective agencies.
The department has only made “moderate” progress in beefing up its acquisition work force. A lack of qualified personnel has been cited as a key weakness at the department. DHS has instituted several initiatives to boost its personnel, but more time is needed for these plans to come to fruition, the report said.
“Personnel shortages will continue to hamper the department’s ability to manage its contracts and workload in an effective and efficient manner,” the report added.
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