DHS making 'moderate' gains in acquisition management.

• Position: SECURITY BEAT - Department of Homeland Security - Brief article

The Department of Homeland Security in 2009 made some improvements to the way it. acquires technology and services, said the Office of the Inspector General in its annual report on DHS management challenges.

Overall, the department made "moderate" progress on managing its acquisition contracts, meaning "many of the critical success factors have been achieved," the report said.

That is welcome news for a department that has suffered from a plethora of investigations and congressional hearings surrounding several high profile technology failures. Government Accountability Office reports have cited acquisition work force challenges as factors when there have been setbacks.

That's not to say there isn't room for improvement, Inspector General Richard Skinner wrote in the report. Organizational alignment is an area of concern with dual responsibilities for acquiring technology split between the office of the chief procurement officer, who retains central authority over all contracts, and the acquisition chiefs of the 22 agencies that comprise the department.

This "may...