Multiple Agencies
An Audit Report on The Integrated Statewide Administrative System at Selected Agencies
January 2001
Report Number 01-013
Overall Conclusion
According to agency 2000-2001 biennial operating plans, approximately 24 agencies will be using the Integrated Statewide Administrative System (ISAS)/PeopleSoft software by fiscal year 2003, with cumulative implementation costs in excess of $160 million. To varying degrees, the ISAS projects at the Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) are behind schedule and over budget; therefore, the systems have yet to fully provide the expected benefits for which ISAS was selected as the internal financial management system.
As the State Auditor's Office previously reported, agencies have historically had difficulty managing software development projects. The ISAS projects at TWC and TDHCA provide best practices and lessons that may benefit other state agencies or universities undergoing similar software installation projects.
Although the installations of the ISAS software at these two agencies are not yet complete, the portions of the software that are installed appear to be functioning correctly and reliably. For instance, the software appears to be correctly and reliably exchanging information with other software applications such as the Uniform Statewide Accounting System.
Key Facts and Findings
- We identified several key issues from the projects at TDHCA and TWC that
may not only affect the success of future ISAS projects, but also the success
of software projects at state agencies and universities in general.
- At the time of our review, the biennial operating plan for fiscal years
2000-2001 of TDHCA and TWC incorrectly reflected that the TDHCA ISAS software
installation project is complete and that the TWC software installation project
is on schedule.
- The contracting and managing issues identified in this report are similar
to issues previously reported by the State Auditor's Office on other software
development projects.
- Project management and contract administration at state agencies continue to be areas of concern.
Contact the SAO about this report.
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