Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010

Can state do IT?

Earlier this month, Gov. Beverly Perdue sent a memo to state agency heads urging their cooperation with an effort to consolidate state computer networks.

"The goal is to move aggressively toward an improved IT (information technology) infrastructure that will lower costs, reduce complexity and redundancy, improve the utilization of resources and increase security," Perdue wrote.

She also wants to create a one-stop website for residents and businesses conducting business with the state, a sort of port of entry for anyone conducting Internet transactions with the state.

Perdue's plan is laudable. But she's wading into waters where the state hasn't enjoyed a lot of success.

The governor's description of her goal could have easily been taken from former state controller Robert Powell when, in 2008, he launched a new payroll and personnel computing system called BEACON.

The effort was beset with problems, both of and not of its doing.

Even before the new system was put in place, some agencies opted out, a move that the Easley administration allowed.

BEACON hadn't been up and operating for long before thousands of state employees were phoning into a call center to complain that they'd been shorted on their paychecks. Hundreds more complained to the state workers' union, the State Employees Association of North Carolina. Workers from Dorothea Dix psychiatric hospital became so upset that they were nearly arrested while demanding to see the state's top health-care brass.

In some cases, the system made mistakes computing pay; in others, agencies hadn't been following state rules in tallying overtime. When the new system uniformly enforced those rules, some workers weren't happy.

As problems began to subside, a glitch caused errors to show up on state worker's IRS W-2 forms. The state had to reprint W-2s for 17 percent of the state workforce whose pay was overseen by the system.

But transition to the BEACON payroll system was relatively smooth compared to some other, earlier IT disasters in state government.

The public schools' NC WISE student-information system was still beset with bugs and delays eight years after the installation began. It never really lived up to its promise.

When the state decided to go with a new Medicaid-claims-processing vendor, the largest information-technology contract in state history became bogged down with delays and contract disputes. The state eventually fired the vendor and started anew.

The problem with information-technology contracting in state government is twofold.

Over the years, state agencies grew their own information-technology operations. Then they looked to protect that turf.

The creation of the state Office of Information Technology Services was one attempt to get around the turf protection. Perhaps Perdue's effort will further undo it.

But she might find herself running into the other problem when government does IT.

State workers overseeing the projects often don't have the same level of expertise as the vendors they hire. With the uneven tilt, the state can be shortchanged.