DHS agencies reluctant to consolidate human resources networks

The Homeland Security Department officials can't convince departmental agencies to consolidate human resources systems, and they lack the necessary authority to compel them to participate, according to a report the inspector general released on Thursday.

DHS has made progress in consolidating more than 144 human resources networks scattered throughout the department into five enterprisewide systems as required by the 2002 E-Government Act, according to the audit. The consolidated systems, which are hosted by and shared with other federal agencies, will be used to manage employee files, time and attendance records, personnel actions, recruitment and payroll.

As of February, nine DHS agencies had not completed migrating to the new systems, saying some of the systems failed to satisfy business requirements. They also said the Human Capital Business Systems unit, which is leading the consolidation initiative, has not provided details on how much money they would save by moving to the new systems.

"Consequently, components continue to use their existing systems in lieu of the DHS enterprisewide solutions," including Customs and Border Protection, Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Secret Service, the inspector general said.

To compel agencies to participate, DHS issued a memo on Jan. 15, 2010, prohibiting agencies from buying new or upgrading their existing human resources systems without the approval from their chief human capital officer or the chief information officer.

"The issuance of this memo will help [Human Capital Business Systems] to complete its human resource consolidation effort by providing additional oversight authority over components," the inspector general said. "[But the] lack of oversight authority over the components has also hindered HCBS' ability to implement the human resource consolidation initiative."

The business unit does not have the authority to review components' budgets to ensure they have the necessary resources, and according to HCBS officials, some components have not fully participated in required planning and implementation.

"During the formative stages, components are willing to participate and engage in system planning and requirements analysis activities," said the IG. "However, once HCBS begins the implementation and acquisition activities, components often withdraw from the initiative, stating that they are not ready to begin the migration effort, they do not have sufficient resources to support the migration, or the enterprisewide solutions do not meet their mission or business requirements."

Leadership changes in the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer and component agencies also have slowed the migration because new management often has different priorities.

"Components are required to standardize the information technology assets used to access, store, process and manage its information," the inspector general said. "To achieve this goal, including standardization of its human resources assets, DHS must provide [the chief human capital officer] with adequate oversight authority; otherwise it will be restricted from consolidating information systems and infrastructure used to support the department's human resource operations."

DHS agreed with the report's recommendations to develop specific performance metrics to help track overall progress of the consolidation effort and improve communication and coordination with agencies to address functionality and convey potential cost savings.