The United States Postal Service (USPS) did not do enough to ensure that some of its main IT contracts were well-managed and remained competitive, bringing spending under the contract into question, according to a report from the USPS Office of Inspector General.
The report, released December 29, takes issue with USPS management of its Accenture Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) contract. The OIG does not call the company into question, but instead focuses on USPS actions that didn’t fulfill the requirements for contract management and went against internal advice. The report highlights the lack of a cost management plan, the lack of a recompete over 11 years, and the lack of contract clauses meant to limit losses in case of problems.
“These issues occurred because the Supply Management group did not enforce the internal controls outlined in the policy to develop a cost management plan and evaluate cost variances,” the OIG states.
Confusion also confounded USPS’ efforts, with different components not communicating clearly.