Justice IG finds inconsistencies in EVM data on Sentinel project

The Justice Department inspector general’s third audit of Sentinel, the FBI’s $305 million case management system, found progress in a number of management areas. But the IG also expressed concern about the program’s cost, schedule and performance metrics.

The IG said the FBI’s implementation of earned value management is not providing consistent data. Sentinel contractor Lockheed Martin’s price increased by $4.4 million, even though the EVM data showed the project was within budget, the IG said.

The IG also said the FBI missed one of its Phase 1 goals — data cleansing in preparation for migrating to Sentinel — and saw its schedule slip by two months.

Meanwhile, the IG said the FBI addressed most of the concerns it identified in previous audits, and the bureau implemented management controls and processes to manage the program’s
development.

“We believe that the lessons learned during Phase 1 [of Sentinel], combined with the processes the FBI has established to manage and control the Sentinel project, can help provide reasonable assurance of Sentinel’s ultimate success,” the IG report states.