The Department of Housing and Urban Development cut corners when it attempted to upgrade a number of internal computer systems and hastily awarded a $17 million contract add-on to an IT services procurement originally valued at $800 million, according to the findings of a HUD Office of Inspector General audit.
The HUD OIG found that a comprehensive plan was never fully vetted to perform the task and HUD did not follow its own IT policies when it assigned the work. In the end, the HUD IG said poor planning and miscalculations forced HUD to terminate the failed project, leaving critical systems in HUD's mortgage operations left using antiquated technology.
A HUD spokesperson declined this publication's request for comment, but in the audit, Jerry Williams, HUD's chief information officer, and Jermine Bryon, its chief procurement officer, defended their respective offices' involvement in the initiative, claiming the $17 million project met the requirements to justify the contract modification and that it was not of the size or scope of actions that fall under the purview of HUD technology procurement policies.
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