California was warned of computer system’s troubles

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article11175002.html ^ | February 25th, 2015 | Jon Ortiz

[Mariner]

Before the panicked phone calls and the embarrassing state audit, Ganesh Kumar knew the BrEZe computer program would flop.

For seven years, Kumar has worked at the Board of Registered Nursing’s call center where he uses computer data to answer questions when nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing school graduates want to know the status of their license applications or renewals.

So Kumar was all for it when Department of Consumer Affairs officials six years ago announced a new $28 million, off-the-shelf computer program, BrEZe, would replace obsolete, narrow systems used by the board and most of the other 39 regulatory agencies.

After all, those entities annually handle a combined 350,000 licenses and 1.2 million license renewals for professionals and businesses from doctors and barbers to smog-check shops.

“I like to learn new stuff and I thought this would help us and help consumers,” Kumar said, so he volunteered for early training. “Then I figured out that this is not what was promised.”

Early on, BrEZe had 1,700 defects, according to a recent state audit, and nearly three years after its launch it still suffers from poor planning and poor oversight. Its budget is now $96 million, more than triple the original estimate. Some problems are fixed, but many remain.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article11175002.html#storylink=cpy

[Mariner]

Gee, I could have delivered this system 4 years ago at $10-$12 million.

I saw the RFP.

[TurboZamboni]

Sounds quite similar to MN’s “MNSURE” exchange disaster.

[molson209]

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)

[Nifster]

It no doubt went to a minority ‘owned’ business with incompetent workers....kind of like those who set up Ocare

[ClearCase_guy]

Government IT contracts tend to be badly written, awarded to contractors who can't do the work, then badly staffed and badly managed.

Lots of overhead, regulations and senseless rules, and not much common sense on "how to complete a task on deadline" -- which is not a one-time thing, but something that is done on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis. Over and over. Get a task. Complete a task. One foot in front of the other, until Initial Operating Capability is eventually reached.

But I'm sure all the government big shots had a real good time hanging out in conference rooms talking about their golf games.

[Bob]

And don’t forget the change orders. Oh, Something’s done - let’s rewrite the requirements and do it over.

[Mariner]

It's apparent you know how it works.

IBM or HP or Accenture et al always win the RFP after investing $5 mil each.

Then they go to the next tier down looking for folks that can actually FRAME the discussion with the internal IT folks who are absolutely clueless, and usually just plain stupid.

Once it get down to the actual DELIVERY level, the price per hour is only sbout $175 while at the winner level it's $275.

We purchase our talent for anywhere between $50/hr and $100/hr and sell for $175.

We're all getting rich and nothing is getting done.

The reason is not the cost of talent, but the REQUIREMENT to do what the state workers say to do, the way they say to do it. Under that restraint, nothing ever actually gets done.

[catnipman]

“Gee, I could have delivered this system 4 years ago at $10-$12 million. I saw the RFP.”

Yeah, but you didn’t “contribute” enough millions to Democrat campaign funds to be considered for the contract.

[catnipman]

“We purchase our talent for anywhere between $50/hr and $100/hr and sell for $175. “

Hell, IBM contractors in the Boulder support call center are literally hiring warm bodies off the street for $11.00/hour. People that know NOTHING, and I do mean NOTHING, about the IT subjects they’re answering the phone for.

[musicman]

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[Cyman]

AND when accessed it initiates a Norton 360 warning about an expired certificate and warns not to trust the site

[minnesota_bound]

At work we have a database where we add in the callers info and our notes. I have worked at 2 companies that used these types of databases.

I use Windows Notepad which is a simple text editor to put the initial info in. If the database does not crash during the call I will copy the info into it then save.

What causes the problems is someone will say lets create some reports and collate the data in myriad ways.
Doom to fail.

You can create a shortcut from Start> All programs> Accessories> Notepad

Or Start button> Computer> Windows> Notepad
Drag it to your start button then move it up the start menu to where you like it.

or just Start> Run then type Notepad.
Notepad works all the time.

[CharlesOConnell]

Mr. Kumar had better watch his back. Retaliation is not only a tradition in government, it is de facto de rigeur. During fifteen years in civil service, I only found out after being laid off from a government jurisdiction whose tax base collapsed, that it was an unreal world. “Civil Servants” aren’t servants at all, they are de facto superiors of the citizenry whose lives they regulate. Their government union representatives, feel free to hijack compulsory union dues, promote socially destructive, sexually-radical policies, in the meantime, corrupting the political process that is supposed to regulate government employment. The only solution is to politically disenfranchise public employees–deny them the vote. Let’s set up the brouhaha this invites, by contrasting some of the disadvantages with the advantages. A large proportion of the electorate is in government employment. Arbitrarily denying political representation to such a large group, would invite its own set of abuses. Why not emulate the French system, La Legion Etrangere, the French Foreign Legion, which gives elite privileges to foreigners–many with criminal backgrounds֫–but denies them any say in political decision making? Sound somewhat familiar? We’re already at that stage. Legions of non-citizens, many of them grievously criminal, already tip the balance in national, Presidential elections. Why not merely institutionalize the present status quo? Guarantee civil servants yearly “cost-of-living” pay increases well beyond the rates granted to private sector workers. Make it impossible for them to be fired; give them lifetime employment security. Enhance their already considerable reputation for high-handed treatment of the powerless citizenry–the very definition of officious. But to counterbalance those exorbitant benefits, deny them any say in political decision making, and take back your country.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

[CharlesOConnell]

… and, BTW, those defense plants which required that their employees take 1 day off in 7 were the only ones to keep up with demand. The majority, which ran 24/7/365, could never keep up.