Key Questions

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

Is the project on track to achieve the objectives in the approved timeframe?No

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

Project Overall Health

Comments

Yellow

During the January 2026 assessment period, the project’s overall health remained yellow based on observations and analysis of the project’s governance, time management, cost/contract, scope, resources, quality, and risk focus areas. Phase 2 VR: The California Department of Technology (CDT) approved Special Project Report (SPR) #2 on January 16, 2026. The document included the Go-Forward plan for VR. In January, this phase of the project began to run behind schedule due to resource constraints. Phase 3 DL: The DMV began procurement-related PAL Stage 3 activities.

Focus Area/Rating	Comments
Governance Yellow	During the January 2026 assessment period, the project’s Governance Management health is yellow, based on observations and analysis of the project’s governance processes. • The CDT observed repeated confusion on the defect/triage process and recommended that the process be documented. DMV leadership introduced a new process and indicated that documentation was drafted. • PMP updates continue. • The CDT recommended that SPR #2 Approval Conditions be tracked in the Weekly Status Report and the master project schedule. • Challenges remain with driving workstreams to completion.
Time Management Red	During the January 2026 assessment period, the project’s Time/Schedule Management health remained red based on observations and analysis of the Project Schedule Milestones and Deliverables. • SPR #2 approval rebaselined the revised master project schedule. • Moving the backlog of defects to the development PODs has been slower than planned. • Development PODS are less than 20% staffed, causing ripple effects. • Progress is being made on the large chunks of development work.
Cost & Contract Management Yellow	During the January 2026 assessment period, the project’s Cost & Contract Management health is yellow, based on observations and analysis of the project’s costs and contracts • SPR #2 approval rebaselined costs. • The DMV awarded several new VR development contracts; the process took longer than expected. • CDT access to DMV’s contract management SharePoint was still pending at month’s end.
Scope Management Yellow	During the January 2026 assessment period, the project’s Scope Management health is yellow, based on observations and analysis of the project’s scope and related processes. • Turnaround time for impact analyses is slower than expected. • CR activity is trending up as gaps are identified. • Triage activities are uncovering new gaps that require executive review.
Resources Red	During the January 2026 assessment period, the project’s Resources health remains red. • Approximately 120 new consultants will be onboard once all new contracts are awarded. • Resource loading remains behind plan, but onboarding began at the month’s end. • State resources continue to be constrained for many workstreams.
Quality Yellow	During the January 2026 assessment period, the project’s Quality Management health is yellow based on observations and analysis of Quality metrics and performance. • The Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) reports are outdated, incomplete, and inaccurate. Discussions on updating the RTM continued in January, but the CDT saw no concrete progress. • DMV worked on drafting the UAT plan and strategy, due 1/30/26. • Test Automation proof of concept completed. CDT recommends an increase in the percentage of Automated Regression test cases.
Risk And Issues Yellow	During the January 2026 assessment period, the project’s Risk and Issue health is yellow. • The Risks, Action, Issues, Decisions (RAID) meeting series restarted and meetings are being held regularly. • DMV will use Time and Materials contracts for the VR Go-forward plan, which have a risk of increasing cost. • CDT’s independent observation of the highest risks impacting the project are: o Workstream scope development delays and scope creep o Resource ramp up o Code quality issues o External dependencies such as business partners o Technical cutover data challenges o Phase 3 DL schedule and cost.
Transition Readiness Yellow	During the January 2026 assessment period, the project’s Transition Readiness health is yellow based on observations and analysis of the activities performed and plans for VR cutover. • Planned timelines for conversion cutover remain longer than desired. • Knowledge transfer with the former Systems Integration (SI) contractor began in January and will end in late February. • The team drafted a process flow for workarounds and worked on the Cutover Plan.
Conditions For Approval Yellow	The CDT Project Approvals and Oversight (PAO) team observed that the DXP Team previously completed all three approval conditions for DXP Phase 1 – OL. With the SPR #1 approval, two new Conditions for Approval of DXP Phase 2 – VR were required by CDT. Both conditions were met. There are five new conditions associated with SPR #2 approval. None were met in January.
Corrective Action Green	The project has no Corrective Action Plan Items.

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