Review of Alleged Wasted Funds at Consolidated Patient Account Centers for Windows Enterprise Licenses

In November 2015, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) received an allegation that employees at Consolidated Patient Account Centers (CPACs) were required to use two Windows enterprise licenses when thin clients were converted to computers. According to the complaint, CPACs operated within a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment that required CPAC employees to log onto a virtual machine that had its own Windows enterprise license to perform their work related functions. Allegedly, employees were using computers that required Windows enterprise licenses only as a gateway to access a virtual machine that also required a license. The complaint further alleged that the Windows enterprise licenses on the computers were not necessary because the computers were being underutilized. We substantiated the allegation that VA’s Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) wasted VA funds at CPACs to purchase underutilized computers that also required Windows enterprise licenses to operate. Specifically, CPAC employees used these computers only as gateways to access virtual machines on the network server that had individual Windows enterprise licenses. This occurred because OI&T mandated that CPACs replace thin clients which depend on networked resources to operate with computers. However, OI&T did not consider the CPACs’ operating framework before purchasing the computers or mandating the replacement. Because CPACs did not change their operating framework when they converted from thin clients and only used computers as gateways, OI&T paid for underutilized computers and avoidable licenses. As a result, OI&T wasted about $7.2 million in VA funds converting CPACs from thin clients to computers. We recommended the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology implement policies and procedures to ensure cost effective utilization of information technology equipment, installed software, and services, and ensure the coordination of acquisitions with affected VA organizations. This will help ensure VA’s operating framework and organizational needs are considered prior to acquisitions. The Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology concurred with our recommendation and provided plans for the corrective action. We will monitor the planned actions and follow up on their implementation.