Summary: In response to a congressional request, GAO assessed the costs and the Army's acquisition approach for its Civilian Personnel System (ACPERS).
GAO found that the: (1) system will upgrade and standardize support for about 450,000 civilian Army personnel; (2) Army decided to design and develop its own system after considering several alternatives, but abandoned its development effort after a study team concluded that ACPERS software problems were uncorrectable and it would require an additional 42 to 48 months to develop new software; (3) Army planned to use the Air Force's personnel system, even though it was more costly; (4) Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) reported that ACPERS cost estimates increased from $65 million in 1985 to $96 million in 1988; (5) Army was using fiscal year (FY) 1988 and FY 1989 appropriations to pay for the computer equipment, and planned to use FY 1990 and FY 1991 funds totalling $38.8 million to support its use of the Air Force's system; (6) Army had the authority to approve ACPERS systems development decisions until October 1988, when OSD revoked the authority because of cost growth and the change in the acquisition strategy; and (7) Army attempted to control ACPERS costs by using existing equipment and procuring centralized services under Air Force contracts.
