An estimated $1.7 billion modernization effort at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services suffers from unreliable schedules and cost estimates, says the Government Accountability Office.

In a report dated Nov. 22, GAO auditors say USCIS awarded in November 2008 a solutions architect contract worth approximately $500 million over a 5-year period (to IBM) before fully developing requirements for the modernization effort, which seeks to eliminate paper-based processes at the agency.

The contract is a “performance-based” one, meaning that USCIS told IBM the outcomes it wanted, leaving it to the company to identify and deliver the technology necessary to achieve those outcomes. It’s a type of contracting methodology that GAO says has led to poor acquisition outcomes, at least at DHS.

via InformationWeek Government, continued here.