Noteboom The Law Firm

VA Finally Ending its Primary Financial Modernization Project

July 21, 2010 - There comes a point where projects have absorbed so much money and time, terminating them is no longer an option. While this may have seemed to be the case with the VA's Integrated Financial Accounting System program (IFAS) project at one time, in the end, the VA pulled the plug.

Following 10 years and over $300 million spent, the VA has decided to abandon its once solid plan to bring its primary financial system current. The decision came just in time as the VA was about to pour another $300 million into the program's development. The VA will now focus on developing smaller financial modernization projects with hopefully greater impact at significantly lower costs.

Recently the VA's IT department has been given much more stringent rules for determining which projects will move forward on the VA's limited budget. To move forward, projects must meet certain requirements to show they will likely be successful. Such projects currently going forward include the VA's modernization of their systems for:

• Providing benefits; and
• Maintaining health records.

Despite spending $16 million in planning costs alone for IFAS as well as soliciting bids, the VA did not award a single contract. The VA is no longer in a position to, and will not, "throw good money after bad." If a project does not show substantial promise, that program will no longer receive VA funding.