Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Defense Logistics Services Center's (DLSC) Modernization Program, focusing on the program's status, cost estimates, and cost growth.
GAO found that: (1) DLSC spent about $13.4 million through September 1988 for modernizing the Defense Integrated Data System, the database used for the Federal Catalog System; (2) program cost estimates increased from $123 million in April 1986 to $177 million in June 1988; (3) DLSC estimated that system operation and maintenance would cost an additional $237 million; (4) the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) conducted oversight reviews of the modernization program until December 1987, when the Office of the Secretary of Defense notified DLA that the program's cost estimate met the review thresholds for the Major Automated Information System Review Council (MAISRC); and (5) program officials cited the preliminary nature of the 1986 estimate and additional activities required by MAISRC as primary factors in the cost increase.
