[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Can an old Bureaucracy learn new Tricks?

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Can an old Bureaucracy learn new Tricks?
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1246414841.shtml


   The Minneapolis Star Tribune supports [1]St. Paul's plan to buy new
   accounting systems. It will cost about $14 million, and use software
   from Lawson, a company headquartered in St. Paul. I don't see much to
   quibble with here, even the price.

     St. Paul has been limping along with a Flintstones system while
     some other regional governments, including Hennepin and Ramsey
     counties and the city of Minneapolis, are on their second
     generation of Jetsons technology.

   The current systems are 24 years old, which supposedly explains why
   (per the Editorial):

     * [Tracking] a simple municipal purchase order can take weeks,
       sometimes months.
     * Basic supply orders can be so cumbersome that employees buy the
       items and expense them.
     * It's difficult for city officials to determine when checks have
       been issued [... or] determine whether departments are on budget.
     * Departments use 35 different computer programs to keep track of
       people and spending
     * [Within] the past year, a weeklong system crash cost the city
       about $40,000

   This strongly suggests to me that there's more wrong here than just
   technology or a supposed lack of money. A private concern this size
   would never tolerate this. And while the auditors might recommend new
   technology, they wouldn't accept old technology as an excuse for
   problems like these.
   There are people and procedure issues here, too. These must be fixed
   as well or the new systems will soon be exhibiting the same sorts of
   problems.

References

   1. http://tinyurl.com/krvu5t