NASA has yet to follow through on IEMP, GAO reports

NASA must show connections among its myriad management systems before it can integrate them, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

GAO said NASA has yet to draft high-level plans for its efforts to modernize its management systems and integrate them under a single umbrella program dubbed the Integrated Enterprise Management Program (IEMP).

Originally announced in 2006, IEMP is an integrated business environment that will consolidate automated business systems, use single data sources and reporting systems, and provide oversight.

IEMP currently includes several business systems, such as NASA's core financial capabilities, the Executive Management Information System and contract management. The program will also include the agency's online workforce environment, an information technology investment management system and shared services.

GAO said the lack of plans has created problems with developing requirements and project scheduling.

"Ideally, a concept of operations should be completed before system development begins so that it can serve as a foundation for system planning and requirements development," GAO stated in a report released Aug. 20.

GAO said such a plan would need to state how all of these business systems relate to one another and how information would flow among them. It also wants to know how NASA would measure progress and create a road map for future expansion.

Wade-Hahn Chan writes for Federal Computer Week, an 1105 Government Information Group publication.