FBI resuscitates Sentinel case management system
The FBI has reshaped its Sentinel case management system so that much of the remainder of its development is performed by FBI employees.
The FBI’s Sentinel case management system is being reconfigured as an agile development under agency management, according to FBI CIO Chad Fulgham.
Work on the Sentinel development program, which had been suspended since July, will resume in October; much of the development will be done by FBI employees in conjunction with other technology partners, with less reliance on prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp., Fulgham said in an interview with InformationWeek.
Fulgham described the move as "a significant change in the scope and responsibility" for Lockheed Martin. He projected a target completion date of September 2011, but noted that “agile development projects can be difficult to forecast.”
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Under agile development, teams work on capabilities in small increments that are closely aligned with requirements. Fulgham said the FBI has experience with agile development, which it used to develop Delta, an application to manage FBI agents’ confidential sources.
The FBI awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin to develop the multi-phased Sentinel program in 2006. The goal is to provide the bureau with a Web-enabled electronic case management system, which can manage records, workflow and evidence as well as sharing, searching and reporting information.
Two of the four phases of Sentinel have been completed. The bureau partially suspended work the third phase after officials decided that they weren’t satisfied with the final component of the second phase. The current budget for the project is $450 million.
FBI Director Robert Mueller told a Senate panel in July that given the delays in Phase Two, the bureau is looking to limit reliance on contractors to keep the remainder of the program on schedule and in its budget.