"With Sentinel, the FBI is relying on improved management processes, use of commercially available components and a four-phase approach over 39 to 48 months to develop a replacement for its obsolete Automated Case Support (ACS) system," the audit stated. "In reviewing the management processes and controls the FBI has applied to the pre-acquisition phase of Sentinel, we believe that the FBI has adequately planned for the project and this planning provides reasonable assurance that the FBI can successfully complete Sentinel if the processes and controls are implemented as intended."

The report added that several concerns remain, however -- for example, the program management office for the project is not yet fully staffed, and there are questions about Sentinel's ability to share information with external intelligence and law enforcement agencies. It also remains uncertain whether Sentinal can provide a common framework for other agencies' case management systems.

The audit also said the inspector general's office will continue to monitor the FBI's system security plans as the project evolves. As of December 2005, the FBI had not completed a system security plan or a required verification and validation plan. Even so, Sentinel was allowed by the FBI to proceed, the report said. According to the inspector general, the FBI said at the time that a system security plan couldn't be completed until Sentinel's vendor provides detailed information on the project's design. A separate contract will be awarded to develop an independent verification and validation (IV&V) plan. Those explanations were deemed "reasonable" by the inspector general's office. "However, in our next audit, we will monitor whether the FBI completes the system security plan and the IV&V plan during the early stages of Sentinel's development," the inspector general's report stated.

The new Sentinel Case Management System is designed to replace an antiquated system for managing records, workflow and evidence that FBI workers need in order to handle cases.

The earlier attempt to upgrade the system, dubbed the Virtual Case File (VCF) system, was a three-year project that failed to meet expectations. Last August, the FBI began soliciting bids for a replacement for the failed VCF effort.