A Report on Analysis of Quality Assurance Team Projects
May 2016
Report Number 16-026
Overall Conclusion
At the request of the State's Quality Assurance Team (QAT), the State Auditor's Office assisted QAT by performing an analysis of six major information resources projects at five agencies. The QAT selected those six projects because it identified the projects as high-risk.
It is important to note that the agencies self-reported the information in this report, and the State Auditor's Office did not independently verify that information.
At the time of the State Auditor's Office analysis, one of the six projects was complete, two were nearing completion, and three were in progress. The six projects were:
- The Department of Aging and Disability Services' (DADS) State Supported Living Center (SSLC) Electronic Health Record/Electronic Life Record (EHR/ELR) project.
- The Department of Family and Protective Services' (DFPS) Information Management Protecting Adults and Children in Texas (IMPACT) System Modernization project.
- The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles' (TxDMV) Registration and Titling System (RTS) Refactoring project.
- The Department of State Health Services' (DSHS) Integrated Business Information System (IBIS) project.
- The Health and Human Services Commission's (HHSC) Balancing Incentive Program—No Wrong Door (BIP-NWD) project.
- The Health and Human Services Commission's (HHSC) Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) project.
As Table 1 and Table 2 in the report show:
- One project was completed under budget and one month later than originally anticipated (HHSC's BIP-NWD project).
- Two projects were nearing completion:
-- One project exceeded its original budget and was later than originally planned (DSHS's IBIS project).
-- One project exceeded its original budget; however, it is expected to be completed on time (TxDMV's RTS Refactoring project).
- Three projects were in progress:
-- One project is within its budget; however, it extended the project's time line (DADS's SSLC EHR/ELR project).
-- One project's budget was revised to increase funding and extend the project's time line (HHSC's EDW project).
-- One project's budget and time line remain unchanged (DFPS's IMPACT project).
Management of the projects reviewed reported that the following practices positively affected project outcomes:
- A strong and engaged project team.
- A high degree of executive management involvement in the project.
- A thorough and successful knowledge transfer between project managers and cross-training of project staff.
- Use of a phased implementation.
- Regular vendor oversight.
In analyzing the six projects, auditors also noted the following:
- Some agencies did not always fully complete or submit monitoring reports to the QAT in a timely manner.
- Turnover in key project staff caused delays or hindered reporting to the QAT.
- A lack of clearly defined system requirements resulted in defects that caused time line extensions.
- Issues with vendor performance caused delays on some projects.
A list of best practices for system development is included in the QAT's annual reports at http://qat.state.tx.us/pubs.htm.