Tuesday, July 31, 2007
News Audit: City computer contract is FUBAR
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Tue, Jul 31, 2007 at 4:09 PM
It’s only a drop in the fiscal bucket compared to Atlanta’s ongoing $4 billion sewer rehab, but a seriously screwed-up city computer contract could end up costing taxpayers double its original $22 million price tag.
The contract with Oracle was supposed to deliver a custom-made operating system to run all city functions, from accounting to zoning, making data-sharing easier between departments that now run different software.
But with delivery months behind schedule and costs ballooning to $33 million, City Council’s finance committee hired KPMG to perform an audit – and the results weren’t pretty. According to the 64-page audit report, the city has failed to give clear direction to system designers, enforce deadlines or keep track of progress.
“My first question to the auditors was, ‘Is there anything we’ve done right?’†says City Council finance Chairman Howard Shook, who explains that the contract fell victim to “mission creep†as department heads added more wish-list items to the project.
“This process should be about saying ‘no’ to new bells and whistles,†Shook adds.
In the wake of the audit, City Council has appointed a city staffer as project manager, replacing an outside consultant, who was fired. The scheduled delivery date has been pushed back to January and the final cost is likely to be around $41 million, Shook predicts.
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