Audit Report on the Development and Implementation Of the NYCServ By the Department of Finance

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

We performed an audit of the development and implementation of the NYCServ Project data processing applications by the Department of Finance (the Department). The purpose of NYCServ was to consolidate customer services by providing one-stop facilities where the public could make payments and pursue adjudicated judgment hearings. The Department along with its prime contractor, the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), agreed to "re-engineer and support the consolidation of the licensing, payment and adjudication operations of the departments of Finance, Consumer Affairs, Health, Environmental Protection, the Department of Sanitation, and the Environmental Control Board."

NYCServ met the Department’s initial business and system requirements; the system design allowed for future enhancements and upgrades; and the Department generally complied with the City Charter and relevant Procurement Policy Board Rules. The developers followed a system development life cycle methodology, and the Department provided independent quality assurance test groups. However, the implementation of NYCServ has been delayed. Moreover, we do not know whether NYCServ will, as a finished product, meet the overall goals as stated in the system justification since certain applications have not been implemented. In addition, many of the system users who responded to our user-satisfaction survey stated that they were not satisfied with the Payments and Scofftow applications. Finally, contrary to Comptroller’s Directive 18, the Department has no disaster recovery plan for NYCServ.

To address these issues, we recommend that the Department:

• Ensure that the remaining applications are completed, tested, and implemented. For future system development projects, the Department should ensure that: users review and approve all system design specifications; sufficient testing is performed; and provisions are made to obtain source code for any software critical to the development.
• Ensure that all user concerns are addressed.
• Develop and implement a disaster recovery plan for NYCServ in accordance with Directive 18