Independent Project Oversight Report (IPOR) Rating

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?Uncertain

Project Overall Health

Comments

Yellow

During the July 2026 assessment period, the project’s overall health is yellow, trending red. Phase 1 OL: Control Cashiering/Inventory Management (CC/IM) functionality will be incorporated into OL before VR Go-Live. The June 25, 2026, go-live was missed. The revised go-live date of August 13, 2026, was approved, but will be delayed. Phase 2 VR: The VR phase of the project set a new go-live date of January 19, 2027. System Integration Testing (SIT) and Development activities overlapped for half of the month, increasing risk and delaying the schedule. Phase 3 DL: The DMV continued working on procurement-related activities. The team released solicitations for two workstreams on July 17, 2026, although March was the planned timeframe in SPR #2.

Focus Area/Rating	Comments
Governance Yellow	During the July 2026 assessment period, the project’s Governance Management health is yellow, based on observations and analysis of governance processes. • The Vehicle Registration (VR) phase go-live date changed from September 14, 2026, to January 19, 2027. • The DMV submitted a draft of SPR #3 and the CDT returned comments on July 24, 2026. • DMV leadership continues to improve VR defect management processes. • CDT recommends updating the decision log during the bi-monthly Risk, Action, Issue, Decision (RAID) meeting and reporting on closed decisions in the monthly Project Status Report (PSR).
Time Management Red	During the July 2026 assessment period, the project’s Time/Schedule Management health remains red based on observations and analysis of the Project Schedule Milestones and Deliverables. • VR development work finished July 17, 2026. That team is now focused on defects, but velocity is slower than planned. • System Integration Testing (SIT) velocity is too slow to maintain the VR phase schedule. • The CDT recommends a four-sprint lead time for the Human Centered Design work for the DL phase to minimize risk.
Cost & Contract Management Yellow	During the July 2026 assessment period, the project’s Cost & Contract Management health is yellow, based on observations and analysis of the project’s costs and contracts • Two DL phase workstream procurements were released in July. • The DL phase requirements have not been reviewed by the Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) team. The CDT recommends IV&V review new contracts and requirements prior to award. • The contract management practices for the DL phase will require more rigor because the requirements are too high level and need refinement.
Scope Management Red	During the July 2026 assessment period, the project’s Scope Management health remained red, based on observations and analysis of the project’s scope and related processes. • The draft of SPR #3 proposes a scope deviation to add AB 1766 requirements. • OL is testing the Control Cashiering/Inventory Management (CC/IM) effort. The go-live date of late June 2026 was not met. The revised go-live date of August 13, 2026, was approved, but will be delayed. • The Executive Governance Committee approved one additional VR CR in July. • The CDT recommended that the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Scope for Day 1 of the VR phase be formally confirmed during the July assessment period to resolve ongoing concerns from the Business Leadership and mitigate risk to final system acceptance. This recommendation remains open.
Resources Yellow	During the July 2026 assessment period, this focus area remained yellow. • The CDT recommends accelerating hiring for the DL phase resources to minimize the risk of VR and DL overlap. • The overall vacancy rate remains high at 32%, with 31 vacant positions of 109 authorized. • The new IV&V consultant resources for the VR phase are onboard. • The DL phase IV&V contract is planned for award in August 2026.
Quality Red	During the July 2026 assessment period, the project’s Quality Management health is red based on observations and analysis of Quality metrics and performance. • VR development overlapped with SIT for half of July. • The VR SIT pass rate is much lower than expected: 23% for Key Functions. 34% for Pre-Integration. 35% for Comprehensive test cases, as of the Weekly Status Report on July 29, 2026. • To reduce risk, the CDT recommended that DMV decompose mid-level requirements for DL into detailed requirements, including for AB1766. • The CDT will review the first IV&V report for the new contract for the VR phase during the next assessment period and report on any relevant technical findings or observations.
Risk And Issues Green	During the July 2026 assessment period, the project’s Risk and Issue health remains green. • The risk and issue management process is effective and remains green for July. • An open risk related to testing velocity requires leadership attention. • The CDT’s independent observations of the highest risks impacting the project are: o Testing velocity o Scope creep o Overlapping SIT with User Acceptance Testing (UAT) o Code quality issues o External dependencies, such as business partners o Technical cutover data challenges o Phase 3 DL requirements, schedule, resources, and cost, including adding AB1766 scope.
Transition Readiness Yellow	During the July 2026 assessment period, the project’s Transition Readiness health improved to yellow based on observations and analysis of the activities performed and plans for VR cutover. • VR test regression automation and training delivery continues to be a high risk due to software defects. • The Executive Steering Committee approved relaxed Performance Requirements for VR go-live and the team is working with Salesforce to reduce any excessive page-load time. • A conversion Mock 6 run was added to the VR work plan, and validation testing uncovered defects that are being remediated.
Conditions For Approval Green	There are five conditions associated with SPR #2 approval. • Condition #1, # 2, 3, and #4 were met. • Condition #5 is due by November 1, 2026.
Corrective Action Green	The project has no Corrective Action Plan Items.

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