Online procurement programs need better policing, GAO says

The General Services Administration is not adequately policing its two online procurement systems, according to the General Accounting Office. In a Dec. 21 letter to GSA Administrator Stephen Perry, GAO pointed out several shortcomings in the documentation for GSA Advantage! and the Information Technology Solutions Shop (ITSS) that could hinder the agency's ability to keep the programs running during an emergency or disaster. GSA Advantage! allows federal buyers to search for products and services online, rather than calling vendors, waiting for price quotations and then placing orders. ITSS is an online procurement tool that simplifies the process of awarding task orders. GAO evaluated the two programs' fiscal 1999 and 2000 performance, and found that neither program had documentation on program coding, operating instructions, system policies or making changes to the systems. System documentation is required under the federal financial system requirements of the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program, a panel associated with the federal Chief Financial Officers Council. GAO also discovered problems with data used to generate financial management reports required under the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program. GAO found $32.2 million in purchase orders from GSA Advantage! that turned out to be test orders used by the agency for training and demonstrations. GSA was unaware that the test orders in the system were not separated from the real orders. "These data were not marked as test cases and their inclusion would have skewed future reports," wrote David Cooper, GAO's acquisition and sourcing management director. For example, GAO was interested in learning how often small businesses used the two online procurement programs. Test data entered into the system could skew such types of reports, the agency found. In addition, ITSS was using an incorrect formula to calculate sales, overinflating the fiscal year sales total by nearly $1 billion. Program officials said that because the programs evolved in many pieces over several years, no formal documentation system was developed. GAO recommended that GSA require managers of the two programs to comply with the guidelines for government financial management systems, set up guidelines for documenting future changes in the systems, ensure that test data aren't logged into the systems, and develop procedures for periodic review of information. In their response to the report, GSA officials said they would address GAO's recommendations.