Independent Project Oversight Report (IPOR) Rating

Green
- Satisfactory, no corrective action necessary.
Yellow
- Caution, risks/issues exist. There may be a need for corrective action in the near future.
Red
- Escalated for immediate corrective action. There is a significant risk to the health of the project.
Blue
- Not enough data is available to make a determination about the project health.
No Report Available - Indicates that a Report is not available for publishing for the reporting period.

8570-089 Emerging Threats 2 (ET2)

The California Department of Food and Agriculture, Animal Health and Food Safety Services (AHFSS) Division, is proposing to replace their existing Emerging Threats system to correct and eliminate multiple deficiencies that have arisen over the maintenance and operations life cycle of the system and to provide an enterprise-wide solution for all programs within the AHFSS Division.

Project Details

Agency / State Entity	General Government / Food and Agriculture, Department of
Total Cost	$50,178,609
Last Approved Start Date	12/04/2025
Last Approved Finish Date	12/29/2028
Criticality Rating	High

IPOR Reporting Period	Overall IPOR Rating
09/01/2026 - 09/30/2026	Green

Independent Project Oversight Dashboard

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	During the September 2026 reporting period, IPO monitoring of the ET2 Project verified that the Project remained Green as the Project Team continues to execute Release 2 deliverables in accordance with approved project baselines. • Release 2-Authorization Sprint 5 was completed on September 30, 2026, after IPO observed a successful demo to stakeholders of Sprint 5 capabilities on September 29, 2026. • IPO validated that all the scheduled tasks are on track and IPO does not have any concerns at this time.

Project Overall Health

Comments

Green

During the September 2026 reporting period, IPO monitoring of the ET2 Project verified that the Project remained Green as the Project Team continues to execute Release 2 deliverables in accordance with approved project baselines. • Release 2-Authorization Sprint 5 was completed on September 30, 2026, after IPO observed a successful demo to stakeholders of Sprint 5 capabilities on September 29, 2026. • IPO validated that all the scheduled tasks are on track and IPO does not have any concerns at this time.

Focus Area/Rating	Comments
Governance Green	During the September reporting period, the ET2 Governance status continues to be Green. • The Executive Steering Committee (ESC) meeting was held on September 3, 2026, with active engagement by the ESC members. • IPO confirmed that the Project Team is adhering to the established Risk, Issue, and Change Request processes which are supported by strong internal departmental executive level oversight.
Time Management Green	During this reporting period, the Time Management Focus Area status remained Green as IPO analysis determined that the Project Team continues to meet deliverable milestones in accordance with the approved Master Project Schedule. • IPO notes that the schedule is being updated and maintained on a regular cadence. • IPO determined that all the tasks to date were completed on time and the Project is tracking to the baselined schedule. • Following the successful capabilities demo to stakeholders witnessed by IPO on September 29, 2026, the Project Team completed Release 2-Authorization Sprint 5 on schedule September 30, 2026.
Cost & Contract Management Green	The ET2 Cost and Contract Management Focus Area remains Green as the project cost continues to remain within the approved budget. • The cumulative project execution cost by the end of August 2026 was $13.4 million out of the total project cost of $50.2 million which includes $4.1 million in planning and $9.9 million in future costs. • IPO analysis shows that the project’s execution costs are at 27% burn rate which is below the forecasted burn rate of 32% at this time.
Scope Management Green	The ET2 Project’s Scope Management Focus Area remains Green. IPO analysis indicates that the Project Team continues to execute work within the approved scope baseline. • IPO review indicates that to date, six CRs have been processed and no unauthorized scope creep has occurred. • IPO verified that no new Change Requests (CRs) were submitted this period and that minor variances are managed through established change control processes • IPO monitoring of the monthly Change Control Board (CCB) meetings indicates that CCB meetings have been effective at helping to manage scope creep.
Resources Green	The ET2 Resources Focus Area status remains Green as the Project is fully staffed, and no positions remain vacant. • IPO has no concerns over Resources Management at this point.
Quality Green	During the September 2026 reporting period, the ET2 Project’s Quality Management Focus Area remains Green. IPO tracking reflects that the Project Team continues to deliver planned sprints that demonstrate adherence to defined quality standards. • IPO observed a well‑attended demonstration of the Release 2 – Authorization Sprint 5 capabilities as a part of ongoing stakeholder engagement work product validation. • User stories for Release 2 – Authorization continue to be groomed and organized for upcoming sprints, supporting iterative quality control. • IPO also observed progress in parallel quality‑related efforts, including Data Integration and Data Migration activities.
Risk And Issues Green	The ET2 Risk and Issues Management Focus Area remained Green. IPO confirmed that the Project Team continued using formal risk and issue logs to document, assess, and track identified items against the project baseline. • IPO observed that Risk and Issue Management meetings were conducted as planned and has no concerns with this -focus area at this time. (See pages 13 to 14 for additional information on specific risks and issues.).
Transition Readiness Green	The Project’s Transition Readiness OCM Focus Area remains Green. IPO review indicates the OCM vendor’s effective use of an ADKAR based training and educational materials for upcoming releases are strengthening user adoption and downstream system acceptance. • The OCM vendor rolled out the Change Leadership Program (CLP). The Learning Management System (LMS) build and dry run were completed, and enrollment has already reached 37 participants, which IPO has determined to be an indicator of the change being implemented. • Pre‑UAT training design for Release 2 – Core Data is in progress. IPO is attending Training Team meeting to review and provide feedback.
Conditions For Approval Green	• Within 90 calendar days after the November 21, 2025, Approval Letter, which was February 21, 2026, the CDFA shall develop and submit to the CDT an Integrated Master Project Schedule that incorporates both State and System Integrator (SI) deliverables, milestones, and activities. The schedule shall reflect a clearly defined and logical critical path and adhere to the Project Management Institute (PMI) Schedule Management best practices and California Project Management Framework (CA-PMF) standards. The schedule shall be developed and maintained using Microsoft Project. • No later than 60 calendar days prior to the initiation of testing activities by the System Integrator, the CDFA shall submit the approved ET2 Project Test Management Plan to the CDT. With concurrence by IPO, the Integrated Master Project Schedule was submitted to the CDT for review on 3/13/26 and the draft ET2 Test Management Plan was submitted to the CDT for review on 3/18/26. The CDT provided comments and feedback on both with no major concerns identified with either. The Project indicated that CDT comments on the draft Test Management Plan were incorporated into the final version. Both conditions in the ET2 Project Approval have been satisfactorily met.
Corrective Action Green	• There are no Corrective Action Plans in place.

Project Approval Documents