Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Social Security Administration's (SSA) implementation of the Systems Modernization Plan (SMP).

GAO found that: (1) although SSA had made some progress in implementing the plan, it had not fulfilled the plan's initial objectives to upgrade existing software; (2) improvements in three of the four modernization plan programs increased system capacity, improved response time, and enhanced data access; (3) progress in software engineering was seriously behind schedule; (4) software development standards were incomplete because of inadequate management attention and staff constraints; and (5) important software improvement projects have been delayed or cancelled because software standards were incomplete. GAO also found that: (1) SSA shifted its emphasis to building new systems instead of first developing a proper software environment and improving its existing systems; (2) there was no proper foundation for software redesign projects without a software upgrade in place; (3) the current database architecture concept called for technology beyond the state-of-the-art and ultimately delayed the plan's implementation; (4) there was a lack of effective planning, control, and monitoring of system projects; (5) SSA did not effectively use some contractor products, which contributed to the contract's cost increasing from $6 million to over $22 million; and (6) SSA personnel resources constraints adversely affected the software upgrade activities.