Auditors: DMV software upgrade delayed by poor contract planning

Stuart Miles, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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A multimillion-dollar software modernization product at the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles was delayed and made more expensive because of poor contract planning, according to state auditors.

The state’s 2009 contract with software vendor 3M for the Connecticut Integrated Vehicle and Licensing System (CIVLS) project went through numerous modifications, in part because the DMV’s internal audit services unit wasn’t involved in initial project planning, state auditors wrote in the audit released Thursday. The audit report also said 3M changed project managers 12 times since the 2009 contract was awarded.

The end result has been a delay in the CIVLS project, which was originally slated for completion in 2013, and cost increases of $1.9 million over the $22 million committed to the contract, according to the audit, which recommends that the DMV should use professional project management services for major project contracts moving forward.

The agency responded in the audit that it would do so for major IT projects moving forward.

The CIVLS project prompted a week-long closure to install software for the second phase of the three-phase project.

The third and final phase, which will upgrade IT capabilities for operator licenses, remains to be done, the audit said.

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