One of the crowning accomplishments of the Warner administration was creation of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, which was supposed to rationalize the state’s IT systems. Yesterday, widespread computer crashes across state government disrupted service to at least one-fifth of Virginia government agencies, reports Peter Bacque at the Times-Dispatch.
The effects: State and local police couldn’t check driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations. More than 14,000 child-support payments could be delayed. Consumers couldn’t examine corporate records. Some agencies were temporarily unable to pay end-of-fiscal-year bills.
Was this the biggest computer crash in state government history? In my recollection, it is. Perhaps someone with a better memory can set me straight.
More to the point: What went wrong?
Bacque quotes VITA spokesperson Marcella Williamson as follows: “We know the state’s IT network needs work and requires money. That’s why the state and VITA partnered with Northrop Grumman. … The construction of the new data center in Chesterfield County and the backup data center in Lebanon in Russell County will help prevent these kinds of problems, or solve them much more quickly.”
The state is in the midst of a $1.9 billion outsourcing of its aging computer and communication systems to Northrop Grumman Corp. The Chesterfield center should be in use next month and the Lebanon operation by year’s end.
VITA needs more money? Really? I thought that the new management structure was supposed to achieve major efficiencies, increase security and provide more redundancy and back-up as protection against catastrophic failure. Clearly, it failed — big time — to provide the back-up. There is more to this story than has been reported so far. Let us hope that the Times-Dispatch gives Bacque the time he needs to dig deeper.
