	Conclusions

The current schedule for the full implementation of the Full Service  program has been delayed by almost 10 months, and key functionality that  was originally intended to be delivered in the program has been deferred  indefinitely. As a result, program officials lack an  accurate total cost estimate. A key cause of the program’s acquisition  management weaknesses in the areas of project planning, risk  management, and product integration is that USPS organizational policies  do not set forth sufficient requirements for establishing effective practices  in these areas. Weaknesses exist in the program monitoring and control  area because the program management contract creates a conflict of  interest by requiring that the contractor assess the quality of its own  deliverables and oversee the program’s schedule, issues, and risks. This initiative is intended to     build a system that improves the visibility into end-to-end mail processing operations  through the use of new barcodes,     gather more comprehensive and detailed service performance information and  measure it against established performance standards, and     create efficiencies by streamlining and automating certain aspects of the process  USPS uses to verify mail from commercial mailers. As agreed, our objectives were to determine     the current status and plans for the Intelligent Mail® Full Service program and    if the Postal Service has capabilities in place to successfully acquire and manage the  Intelligent Mail® Full Service program. The  second release is expected to be implemented by the end of November 2009. However, the life cycle cost estimate that program officials prepared does not capture all  the costs associated with the acquisition and implementation of the program, such as  costs to integrate approximately 30 systems with the Full Service program. 8   While the Full Service program has implemented initial acquisition management activities,  it does not have the full set of capabilities it needs to fully manage the acquisition. In 2003, USPS initiated the Intelligent Mail® program, which is intended to use  information-rich standardized barcodes to track mail and thus provide USPS and mailers  with better and timelier information about the mail. Table 2 provides a summary of the key functionality of the program. Moreover, the first deployed release is currently  experiencing operational problems, thus requiring program officials to develop patches to  resolve the issues. Until USPS implements the full set of controls essential to effectively managing the  program, it increases the risk that the Full Service program will continue to encounter  problems in meeting its performance, schedule, and cost objectives.
Why GAO Did This Study

In 2003, the United States Postal Service (USPS) initiated the Intelligent Mail program, which is intended to use information-rich standardized barcodes to track mail and thus provide USPS and mailers with better and timely information. A major component of this program is the Full Service program, which, among other things, is intended to build a system that improves the visibility into end-to-end mail processing operations through the use of new barcodes, and create efficiencies by streamlining and automating certain aspects of the process. GAO was asked to determine (1) the current status and plans for the Intelligent Mail Full Service program and (2) if the Postal Service has capabilities in place to successfully acquire and manage the Intelligent Mail Full Service program. GAO obtained and analyzed USPS documentation, reviewed previous GAO reports, interviewed officials, and compared acquisition best practices with USPS's practices.

What GAO Found

Program officials have completed key activities for implementing the Intelligent Mail Full Service program, such as deploying the first phase of the program; however, the current schedule for the program has been delayed by almost 10 months. As a result, the second phase of the program is not expected to be implemented until the end of November 2009. In addition, key functions of the program that were originally intended to be delivered have been deferred. Moreover, the life-cycle cost that program officials prepared does not capture all the costs associated with the acquisition and implementation of the program. As a result, program officials lack an accurate total cost estimate. Finally, the first deployed phase is currently experiencing operational problems. While the Full Service program has taken steps to implement acquisition management activities, it does not have the full set of capabilities it needs to fully manage the acquisition. A key cause of the program's acquisition management weaknesses in the areas of project planning, risk management, and product integration is that USPS organizational policies do not set forth sufficient requirements for establishing effective practices in these areas. Weaknesses exist in the program monitoring and control area because the program management contract creates a conflict of interest by requiring that the contractor assess the quality of its own deliverables and oversee the program's schedule, issues, and risks. Without these management capabilities in place, USPS increases the risk that this program will continue to encounter problems in meeting its performance, schedule, and cost objectives.