Risks to the IT contract management process are not being properly mitigated, according to Quebec’s Auditor General.
In the closing remarks of her report on IT contracts in the province of Quebec, Guylaine Leclerc, the francophone region’s Auditor General, included that “gaps in key stages of the contract management processes are prevalent in eight departments and agencies audited and affect the vast majority of 27 contracts examined. ”
In her view, “departments and agencies audited did not take all necessary measures to ensure the independence, impartiality and accountability of those involved in identifying needs and in the preparation for the call for submissions.”
For example, the Auditor General claims to have observed “deficiencies in the composition and function of the selection committee.”
Specifically, she found a lack of “test mechanisms to ensure that persons responsible for the identifying needs and the preparation for the call for submissions are independent of those who sit on the selection committee.”
Furthermore she notes that the work would be carried out “by resources other than those designated in the contract” and “work that was not specified in the contract is done.”
She added that “the important use of external resources is still present in departments and agencies” and that they “still have frequent recourse to the private sector to meet needs, especially in strategic-level activities.”
