Independent Project Oversight Report (IPOR) Rating

Key Questions

Is the project on track to satisfy the customer's business objectives?Yes

Is the project on track to achieve the objectives in the approved timeframe?Yes

Is the project on track to achieve the objectives within the approved budget?Yes

Project Overall Health

Comments

Green

The overall project health rating is green for the September 2026 reporting period. • The project completed Planning Interval (PI) 3 development on September 28, 2026, completing 3,756 of the planned 3,824 story points, representing 99% completion rate. • The leadership team presented project updates at the Admin Chief’s Ad hoc Committee meeting on 9/17/2026 and Quarterly Strategic Business Update on 9/24/2026.

Focus Area/Rating	Comments
Governance Green	• The Independent Project Oversight Managers (IPO) observed that project leadership, executives, and workstream teams remain engaged and are actively assisting with solution decisions blocking the development of functional scope. • The project follows a regular cadence for Executive Steering Committee (ESC) meetings. The most recent ESC meeting was held on September 24, 2026. During this meeting, the leadership team presented Change Request (CR)#11 related to Customer Contact Center (CCC) and its impact analysis to the ESC members. The team requested adding the CCC effort to the CSPS scope; it is pending ESC approval. • The IPO observed that the project continues to demonstrate adherence to IT governance processes and best practices as outlined in the project management plans.
Time Management Green	• Planning Interval (PI) 4 development started on September 29, 2026, and is 1% complete. • The team approved Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Deliverable (DLV) 2.5 Operations Support Organization Recommendations and Assessment and Report and IV&V DLV 2.7 Parallel Test Plan Assessment and Report. • In July 2026, the IPO recommended adding Fi$Cal and other complex interfaces' milestones and key tasks to the Master Project Schedule (MPS) to improve visibility, track progress, and identify impacts on dependencies and Phase 1 go-live. Due to ongoing lack of visibility into the progress of interface development, this recommendation is being escalated to IPO Risk# 2. Refer to the Details section for further information. • The IPO observed that the project continues to actively track the progress of key tasks, deliverables, and sprint activities against the project schedule. The IPO will continue to monitor task completion relative to the schedule as the project progresses.
Cost & Contract Management Green	• The costs reported reflect the actual costs through August 2026 for the SCO through and through July 2026 for the CalHR. The CalHR costs reported include the finalized FY 2025-26 costs. • Costs reported for this assessment period: -- Total actual one-time costs (project + planning): $237M, which represents 61% of the allocated budget of $386M through 2026-27. -- Total project costs: $150M, which represents: > 16% of the approved project costs of $938M > 51% of the approved project costs of $294M through 2026-27. • Allocation letters to departments for FY 26-27 were released on September 11, 2026. Initial reimbursement requests from departments are expected October 10, 2026. • The project continues to receive submissions for Department Agency Readiness Team (DART) funding from departments and has approved reimbursement requests with a total payment of $1,458,652 to date. • The project has eight (8) active contracts. The contract costs are within budget.
Scope Management Green	• This focus area is trending yellow due to the addition of CCC to scope (pending ESC approval) and potential changes in scope in the Fi$Cal interface development. • Requirement Changes from Analysis Tasks (AT) analysis continue to trigger additional Change Requests (CR). The Solution Integrator (SI) completed impact analysis for CR#7 and #8, and the state team is currently reviewing it. • CalHR/Policy Updates: -- Continues to analyze user stories to determine the need for policy revisions or new policy development. -- Continues with 2026 union outreach efforts with meetings scheduled for October 2026.
Resources Green	• The overall resource variance remained at 11%. The project reported that eighteen (18.0) of the one hundred twelve (112.0) SCO-authorized positions and two (2.0) of the twenty-five (25.0) CalHR-authorized positions remain vacant. • The IPO observed that the team continues to actively recruit open positions and replacements for contractor staff. The IPO will continue to track resource needs and ensure appropriate resources are maintained as the project progresses.
Quality Green	• The team completed development activities for PI 3 Sprint 5 on 9/14/2026, and Sprint 6 on 9/28/2026. • With the completion of Sprint 6, the team completed PI 3 development with an average of 671 story points and velocity of 99% across all 6 sprints. The team conducted system demonstrations to showcase features completed in PI 3. • The project team continues to meet regularly with critical interface partners (Fi$Cal, CalPERS, third-party vendors, etc.) to continue the design and development of critical system interfaces. • The SI submitted the monthly status report for this assessment period on October 9, 2026. No new risks or issues were identified during this reporting period. • The IV&V team submitted the draft Monthly Activity Report (MAR) on October 8, 2026. No new findings or risks were identified during this reporting period. The observations shared in the MAR are consistent with the IPO's overall assessment of the project's health.
Risk And Issues Green	• The project is actively managing, monitoring, and tracking the risks and issues. • IPO Managers observed that the SCO Executive Office (EO) now participates in regular risk meetings to review and decide on candidate risks with appropriate team members. • The following High Priority Issue was opened during this period: Issue# 26- Current Travel and Expense Future State Design Does Not Accommodate Functional Needs. • The project is tracking the following top risks* in each category. Near-Term risks (less than three (3) months): - Risk# 5–Project Resource Availability. - Risk# 18910 – Unavailable Schedule Reserve. - Risk# 18847- Lack of Subject Matter Experts Availability During the DDCI. Long-term risks (greater than three (3) months): - Risk# 61- Failure of departments to communicate CSPS Project Information to Staff. - Risk# 18828 – Lack of Production Support Resources for Production Operations. - Risk# 18844 – Implementation of Centralized Customer Service (Help Desk). * For further information on the above risks, refer to the Risks & Issues focus area details section.
Transition Readiness Green	• The Organizational Change Management (OCM) team continued to advance readiness, communications, training, and stakeholder engagement activities during this assessment period: - created a new forum for the Super 17 to support engagement with departments that collectively represent approximately 65% of the state workforce transitioning to CSPS biweekly pay. The Super 17 kickoff was held on 9/16/2026.
Conditions For Approval Green	The project has the following conditions of approval as per the superseded Stage 4 Approval Letter issued on May 15, 2025. The project is working on meeting these conditions by the specified due date. 1) Within 90 days of this letter, the SCO shall submit to the CDT a detailed, fully resource-loaded CSPS Integrated Master Schedule (IMS), which includes both State and System Integrator (SI) activities, deliverables, milestones, and tasks -- The project submitted the approved IMS/MPS to CDT on August 12, 2025. 2) Within 90 days of this letter, the CSPS Project Management Team shall review, and the SCO shall approve and submit updated Project Management Plans to the CDT. -- The project submitted approved plans to the CDT on September 2, 2025, and has met this condition of approval. 3) Following the start of project implementation, the SCO shall submit to the CDT the Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) Monthly Status Report. -- The project is meeting this condition of approval with the monthly submission of the IV&V report. 4) No later than 60 days prior to the initiation of testing activities by the SI, the SCO shall submit the approved CSPS Project Test Management Plan to the CDT. -- The project submitted the approved plan to CDT on December 1, 2025, and has met this condition of approval. 5) In accordance with the State Administrative Manual (SAM) Section 4946 and the State Information Management Manual Section 160, the project shall submit a Transition to Maintenance and Operations Plan, including the plan for any transition of services from the SI vendor to the State, to the CDT for review and approval six months before the approved project end date.
Corrective Action Green	N/A

• Stage 4 Project Readiness and Approval (pdf)
• Stage 3 Solutions Development Part B (pdf)
• Stage 3 Solutions Development Part A (pdf)
• Stage 2 Alternative Analysis (pdf)
• Stage 1 Business Analysis (pdf)