NARA Is Working to Overcome ERA Schedule Delays through Parallel Development Projects, but Uncertainties Remain

In response to the delays that occurred in 2007 and their effect on the  Archives’ readiness to receive the presidential records of the Bush  Administration in January 2009, NARA developed a two-pronged strategy  for continuing ERA development. First, it has developed plans to achieve  IOC by June 2008 with somewhat reduced capabilities from those that had  been planned; it refers to the system to be delivered at IOC as the “base”  ERA system. Second, it is planning to pursue a parallel development of  another part of the ERA system that is to be dedicated initially to  presidential records from the Bush Administration; this part of ERA,  which is being developed using a different architecture from that of the  base system, is referred to as the “EOP (Executive Office of the President)  system.” When these developments are complete, NARA plans to merge  the two architectures into one ERA system. Officials also stated that  the contractor was independently funding research on issues related to  preservation, whose results would be applied to future work. NARA officials remain confident that  their testing will be completed and necessary fixes made in time for IOC at  the end of June. Unforeseen problems uncovered through testing could  lead to further delays. According to NARA, it is mitigating the risk of  delays by paying close and continuing attention to the testing process,  through such actions as the weekly meetings of NARA’s test team. EOP System Is Being Developed, but Completing the Development in Time for the Presidential Transition Is Uncertain

In September 2007, the contractor demonstrated to NARA a prototype for  the EOP system, designed to show the ability to address basic  requirements for processing presidential electronic records, such as rapid  ingest of records and ability to search content. Although the development is continuing, challenges remain. In particular,  because NARA and the contractor are still negotiating the detailed  development plans and specific system requirements, the IOC date for the  EOP system and specific details regarding functionality remain uncertain. The scope of work and requirements for the EOP are not settled. After review, NARA asked the contractor to respond to over 200  comments and provide a revised proposal. Among the difficulties of finalizing the negotiations are uncertainties  regarding the exact nature of the presidential records that will be  transferred to NARA in 2009. Although NARA and the Administration have  held meetings on this topic, according to NARA, the Administration has  not yet provided NARA with specific information required for it to plan for  reliable ingest, indexing, and accessing of the electronic records involved. According to NARA, if it cannot ingest the electronic classified and  unclassified records from the Bush Administration in a way that supports  the search, processing, and retrieval of records immediately after the  presidential transition, it will not be able to meet the requirements of the  Congress, the former and incumbent Presidents, and the courts for  information in these records in a timely fashion. In summary, NARA has developed a strategy to overcome the earlier ERA  schedule delays: it has developed the software and begun testing for the  base system, and it has begun development of the EOP system. However,  in the near term it faces the challenge of completing the testing of the base  system and the larger challenge of defining the requirements and scope of  the EOP system and completing its development. In the long term, NARA  also plans to merge the two architectures of the ERA base and EOP  systems into a coordinated whole. Continuing careful oversight by NARA  and the Congress will be important in achieving the ultimate aims for the  ERA system: to automate NARA’s records management and archiving life  cycle and preserve and provide access to all types and formats of  electronic records.
Why GAO Did This Study

Since 2001, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has been working to develop a modern Electronic Records Archives (ERA) system, a major information system that is intended to preserve and provide access to massive volumes of all types and formats of electronic records. The system is being developed incrementally over several years; the first system increment is to provide an initial set of functions, with additional capabilities to be added in future increments. However, in 2007, NARA's contractor acknowledged that it would not be able to meet the planned date for the initial operational capability of the first ERA increment. GAO was asked to provide information on the steps that NARA has taken to respond to the delays encountered in the development. To prepare this testimony, GAO reviewed its previous work in this area, as well as the preliminary results of an ongoing performance audit. For this ongoing audit, GAO analyzed NARA reports, contract documents, and other material related to the ERA development project, and interviewed agency and contractor officials.

What GAO Found

NARA is working to overcome the ERA schedule delays that occurred in 2007 by changing to a two-pronged development strategy, but uncertainties remain. First, NARA developed plans to achieve an initial operational capability for the ERA system in June 2008 with somewhat reduced capabilities from those that had been planned. For this initial system, known as the "base" system, software development deadlines have been met, and testing began on schedule. However, NARA has extended some test periods beyond what was originally planned, leaving less time at the end of the schedule for completing final activities. Although officials remain confident that the schedule changes will not affect the date of the initial operational capability, problems uncovered through testing could lead to its delay. Archives officials said they are mitigating the risk of delays by closely monitoring the testing process. Second, the development delays of 2007 put at risk NARA's plan to use ERA to receive the presidential records of the Bush Administration in January 2009. In response to this risk, NARA and its contractor are pursuing a parallel development of a separate part of the system that is to be dedicated initially to the Bush records; this part of ERA--referred to as the "EOP (Executive Office of the President) system"--uses a different architecture from that of the base system: it is being built on a commercial product that can provide basic requirements for processing presidential electronic records, such as rapid ingest of records and ability to search content. Pursuing this as a separate development decouples the EOP system from dependence on the base system. However, completing the EOP system in time for the presidential transition remains uncertain, primarily because NARA and its contractor are still negotiating the precise scope of work and system requirements. These negotiations are challenging because, among other things, NARA does not know the exact nature of the presidential records that it is to receive in 2009. Although NARA and Bush Administration officials have held meetings on this topic, according to NARA officials, the Administration has not yet provided specific information on the volume and types of data to be transferred. System development is nonetheless proceeding based on NARA's volume estimates and the information available so far. According to NARA, developing the EOP system in time for the presidential transition is critical so that it can respond in a timely fashion to the information requirements of the Congress, the former and incumbent Presidents, and the courts. Challenges remain for the ERA program in both the near and long term. In the near term, NARA has to finish testing the base system, define the scope and requirements of the EOP system, and complete its development. In the long term, it plans to merge the two architectures of these systems into an integrated whole. Meeting these challenges will be important to achieving NARA's ultimate aims for the ERA system: preserving and providing access to all types and formats of electronic records.