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DFAS Telecommunications: DFAS Has the Opportunity To Reduce Its Telecommunication Line Capacity

AIMD-97-100 Published: Aug 01, 1997. Publicly Released: Aug 01, 1997.
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Highlights

GAO reviewed the use of the 50 data communication lines that the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) leases from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to connect its operating locations (OPLOC) and finance centers and the DISA megacenters through one of DISA's common user data networks, the N-level (Unclassified-but-Sensitive) Internet Protocol Router Network, focusing on whether these data communication lines are effectively managed.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Defense Finance and Accounting Service To ensure that the long-term telecommunications needs of DFAS are properly defined and cost-effective, the Director, DFAS, should follow existing Department of Defense policy and reassess DFAS' telecommunication requirements, at a minimum considering such factors as workload capacity, utilization statistics of its telecommunication assets, response time, and cost-benefit analyses supporting the use of the telecommunication resources.
Closed – Implemented
In response to the recommendation, DFAS' Financial Systems Organization initiated a systematic capacity utilization study in August 1997 to determine the maximum utilization on all NIPRNET links from DFAS facilities. In a January 16, 1998 memorandum to the DOD-IG, DFAS' Deputy Director for Information Management stated that DFAS had completed the study. The results of the study indicated that 14 lines needed to be increased and one line needed to be decreased. DFAS further noted that 13 of the 14 lines are backup circuits, which do not have the necessary capacity to restore service in the event of a main circuit failure. DFAS also stated that it will continue to collect telecommunications usage data on a daily basis and will conduct utilization analyses on a semiannual basis in the future.

Full Report

Full Report (23 pages)

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Topics

Auditing and Financial Management
Computer network protocolsComputer networksCost effectiveness analysisData transmissionElectronic data interchangeFederal agency accounting systemsInformation resources managementSystems managementTelecommunications equipmentInformation management