Audit of the Management and Administration of the Consular Systems Modernization Program

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA), in coordination with the Bureau of Budget and Planning, develop and implement a risk-based methodology to select programs for evaluation. CA should include the amount of funds invested and the risk to its portfolio as factors considered in the methodology.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Budget and Planning update 18 Foreign Affairs Manual 300 to specify which requirements (including what documentation is required) apply to Department of State bureaus and offices using Agile (or Agile-related) program or project management methodologies.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Consular Affairs, in coordination with the Bureau of Budget and Planning, develop and implement a plan to create documentation required by Department of State program and project management guidance (including 18 Foreign Affairs Manual 300) for the overall Consular Systems Modernization program and discrete projects related to the program. This documentation would include, but not be limited to, a program monitoring plan, a logic model, and a situational analysis.

OIG recommends that if, following implementation of Recommendation 6, the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) determines that its current program management methodology is not optimal, CA should develop and implement a plan of action, in coordination with the Bureau of Budget and Planning, to adopt a different program and project management methodology that aligns with Department of State program and project management guidance.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Consular Affairs, in coordination with the Bureau of Information Resource Management, develop and implement a mechanism to track required IT governance reviews to ensure that all governance reviews of IT systems have been completed.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Consular Affairs, in coordination with the Bureau of Budget and Planning and the Bureau of Information Resource Management, develop and implement a process to annually verify that designated project managers assigned to the Consular Systems Modernization program meet qualification requirements specified in 5 Foreign Affairs Manual 623.2 and the Federal IT Project Manager Guidance Matrix.

OIG recommends that the Under Secretary for Management establish and oversee a working group with officials from key Department of State bureaus, including the Bureau of Budget and Planning, the Bureau of Information Resource Management, and the Bureau of Administration, to assist the Bureau of Consular Affairs in executing the Consular Systems Modernization program and its efforts to modernize and consolidate consular legacy IT systems into a common technology framework.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, in coordination with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, take the following actions: (a) determine whether the questioned costs of $13,779,756, which were considered to be unsupported for the 10 invoices selected for testing from Task Order 19AQMM19F1686, were supported and allowable and (b) recover any costs determined to be unallowable, as shown in Table B.1.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, in coordination with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, develop and implement procedures to ensure that the Contracting Officer’s Representatives (COR) administering contracts related to Consular Systems Modernization maintain files in the mandated eFiling module of the Integrated Logistics Management System in accordance with 14 Foreign Affairs Handbook-2 H-142(b)(16)(b) and that the files include all required reports from contractors.

OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, in coordination with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, develop and implement procedures to ensure that Contracting Officers Representatives who oversee Consular Systems Modernization program task orders complete and submit reports in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System within the required 120 days.