Posted on 02/25/2015 7:04:18 PM PST by 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 Nursings 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
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
I saw the RFP.
Sounds quite similar to MN’s “MNSURE” exchange disaster.
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004)
It no doubt went to a minority ‘owned’ business with incompetent workers....kind of like those who set up Ocare
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.
And don’t forget the change orders. Oh, Something’s done - let’s rewrite the requirements and do it over.
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.
“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.
“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.
Sponsoring FReepers are contributing
$10 Each time a New Monthly Donor signs up!
Get more bang for your FR buck!
Click Here To Sign Up Now!
AND when accessed it initiates a Norton 360 warning about an expired certificate and warns not to trust the site
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.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.