Software Systems

SSA Encountering Significant Delays in Its Claims Modernization Project Gao ID: IMTEC-87-8 December 22, 1986

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Claims Modernization Project (CMP) to determine SSA progress in achieving the project's original objectives.

GAO found that: (1) although SSA has reduced the original scope of CMP, it has fallen 3 years behind schedule; (2) SSA completed no major portion of the software redesign, although it procured significant amounts of hardware; (3) SSA has not followed sound management practices in implementing reduced CMP; (4) because SSA has not followed good systems development practices, its systems are vulnerable to problems similar to those it experienced in the past; (5) without standards for testing, documenting, and validating software, future modifications could be difficult and costly; and (6) despite the delays and inadequate tests, SSA contracted to procure the hardware to support original CMP and is faced with renegotiating quantities and delivery schedules.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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