The Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

"The FBI serves as the primary investigative unit of the Department of Justice" (IT, 2006, p.3) Since the FBI employs over 30,000 people across 500 world wide locations, organizational structure and seamless operations are vital. "Following terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, the FBI shifted its mission focus to detecting and preventing future attacks, which ultimately led to the FBI's commitment to reorganize and transform"(IT, 2006, p.3).

In early 2005, the FBI began a "6-year, $425 million program" called Sentinel to effectively manage their human capital (IT, 2006, p.1). In 2005, the "FBI's efforts to establish a strategic approach to managing its information technology (IT) human capital remained a work in progress, and completing these efforts posed a significant challenge for the bureau"(IT, 2006, p. 6). The FBI intends to acquire the Sentinel program over four phases. Each acquisition phase is expected to span 12-18 months. "To manage the acquisition and deployment of Sentinel, the FBI established a program management office within the Office of the Chief Information Officer" (IT, 2006, p. 6). In September 2005, the National Academy of Public administration reported that the "bureau had developed a strategic human capital plan and had initiatives under way to improve its human capital system" (cited by National Academy of Public Administration, 2005).

In the past year, The FBI created a staffing plan for Sentinel, which "defined the positions needed for the program" (IT, 2006, p. 8). According to officials, the Sentinel program was able to address their initial staffing needs quickly because of the "priority the Sentinel Program Manager, who is directly responsible for human capital decisions, devoted to recruitment and staffing efforts during the program's planning stages" (IT, 2006, p.11). Using the plan, Sentinel program officials reported that they worked closely with the FBI Human Capital Office to fill "defined positions with transfers from other FBI units and other federal agencies, and by hiring from outside the government" (IT, 2006, p. 10). "To its credit, The FBI moved quickly to staff its Sentinel program office" (IT, 2006, p.1).

"An important factor in the success of any IT program depends