« Ind. Decisions - "Indiana Supreme Court sides with Papa John's in lawsuit" | Main | Courts - "$6.4M fine in Ohio for illegal practice of law" »

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Ind. Gov't. - Computer problems in Virginia sound somewhat familiar

From the June 30th Washington Post, a story by Anita Kumar that begins:

RICHMOND, June 29 -- Lawmakers are starting to question whether Virginia should renegotiate or cancel a 10-year, $2 billion contract to upgrade the state's computer system, responding to what state officials call years of missed deadlines and poor service by the contractor. * * *

In a statement Monday, the Los Angeles-based company [Northrop Grumman] said it is aware some state agencies have encountered "challenges" and that it has increased personnel and resources on Virginia's project.

A story today, by Anita Kumar and Rosalind S. Helderman, begins:
RICHMOND, Oct. 13 -- A scathing legislative audit released Tuesday shows Virginia's outsourcing of a massive $2 billion computer upgrade has been so troubled that core government services have been disrupted but that canceling the contract could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

The problems have affected almost every state agency that uses a computer -- a prison was left without inbound phone service for hours, the Virginia State Police in Newport News lost Internet access for more than three days and computers in DMV offices crashed.

Northrop Grumman, the giant Los Angeles-based defense company, was awarded the contract, the largest of any kind in Virginia's history, because state officials thought it would provide the best value despite the business's lack of experience managing state computer and communication systems, according to the report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

Decisions made about the contract "cost the taxpayers a lot of money," House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem) said. "In these economic times, we don't have $30 to $40 million to be spending because a giant multinational corporation made mistakes."

Sam Abbate, vice president and program manager for Northrop Grumman, said he was optimistic that changes in the project would lead to improvements in the "unique partnership."

"This is an investment in the commonwealth of a very significant order," he said. "Throughout its life, it will improve services for the citizens of Virginia, without question."

Terminating the contract early could cost the state as much as $400 million and leave no one to manage its computer system.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 14, 2009 02:56 PM
Posted to Indiana Government