Year 2000 Computing Crisis: Progress Made in Compliance of VA Systems, But Concerns Remain
AIMD-98-237
Published: Aug 21, 1998. Publicly Released: Sep 15, 1998.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the status of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) corrective action to prevent computer system failures at the turn of the century, focusing on: (1) the Veterans Benefits Administration's (VBA) Year 2000 program; and (2) the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) Year 2000 program.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | To reduce the likelihood of delayed or interrupted benefits, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, with support from VBA's Chief Information Officer (CIO), should ensure that VBA reassesses its year 2000 mission-critical efforts for the compensation and pension on-line application and the Beneficiary Identification and Record Location Sub-System, as well as other information technology initiatives, such as special projects, to ensure that the year 2000 efforts have adequate resources, including contract support, to achieve compliance in time. |
Closed – Implemented
VBA agreed with the recommendation and has reassessed its mission-critical efforts for the compensation and pension online application and the Beneficiary Identification and Record Locator Sub-System, as well as other information technology initiatives. It also reallocated resources to ensure that the Y2K efforts had adequate resources, including contract support, to achieve compliance. In March 1999, VBA stated that it had completed renovation and implementation of these systems.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | To reduce the likelihood of delayed or interrupted benefits, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, with support from VBA's CIO, should ensure that VBA establishes a milestone for the contractor-developed business continuity framework and subsequent critical dates for the preparation of business continuity and contingency plans for each core business process or program service so that mission-critical functions affecting benefits delivery can be carried out if software applications and COTS products fail. These plans should provide a description of resources, staff roles, procedures, and timetables needed for implementation. |
Closed – Implemented
VBA agreed with the recommendation and completed its business continuity and contingency plan for its core business processes, as well as a related planning template for its regional offices. The plan provides a high-level overview of the resources, staff roles, procedures, and timetables for its implementation. It addresses risks, including mitigation actions to reduce the impact of Y2K-induced business failures, and analyzes the effect on each business line of a number of potential Y2K disasters-such as loss of electrical power, loss of data processing capabilities, and failure of internal infrastructure.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, with support from the VHA CIO, should ensure the rapid development of business continuity and contingency plans for each medical facility so that mission-critical functions affecting patient care can be carried out if software applications, COTS products, or facility-related systems and equipment do not function properly. These plans should address issues such as when to invoke alternative solutions or options if the manufacturer, who VHA depends on for compliance information, does not submit any. The plans also should describe resources, staff roles, procedures, and timetables needed for implementation. |
Closed – Implemented
VHA agreed with the recommendation and issued, in March 1999, its Patient-Focused Year 2000 Contingency Planning Guidebook to its medical facilities. The guidebook discusses how the facilities should develop contingency plans for each major hospital function-such as radiology, laboratory, and pharmacy-as well as each major support function-such as telecommunications, facility systems, medical devices, and automated information systems. The medical centers were tasked with developing business continuity and contingency plans by April 30. According to VHA's August 1999 report to OMB, VHA medical facilities had completed business continuity and contingency plans, as of June 30, 1999.
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Topics
Commercial productsContingency plansMission critical systemsInformation resources managementInformation systemsMission critical informationSoftwareSoftware verification and validationStrategic information systems planningSystems compatibilitySystems conversionsVeterans benefitsY2K