The reason for using an SOA, Azmi said, "is to make sure we are interoperable" with current and future systems, both inside the FBI and at other agencies. Room for Improvement

Despite the scrapping of the Virtual Case File system, which was supposed to be based on custom software developed by Science Applications International Corp., the FBI doesn't view that project as a complete loss. Officials said the hardware and networking systems installed for the earlier initiative will be used as part of Sentinel.

But technology isn't the only thing that the FBI needs to improve with Sentinel. According to a 91-page report released last week by the U.S. Department of Justice's inspector general, the Virtual Case File effort failed partly because the FBI's IT project management office seemed to have a revolving door. Virtual Case File had "15 different key IT managers over the course of its life," the report said.

The inspector general recommended that the FBI devote "significant staffing" to Sentinel, saying that doing so "at the outset of the project is key to establishing the stable management staff required to properly oversee the project." The report said the FBI has yet to fully staff the Sentinel program management office -- one of several concerns it raised about the new project.

Azmi, who was named CIO at the FBI two years ago, said he has reorganized the bureau's IT staff in an effort to improve internal project management skills. For instance, when he arrived, there was only one project manager with a professional certification from the Project Management Institute. Now the bureau has 47 employees with PMI certifications, Azmi said.