Hewlett-Packard gave the Joint Committee on Technology a peek Sunday afternoon at how outsourcing IT services might benefit the state.
Rob Courtney, HP’s public sector area general manager for West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky, said taxpayers want “more services, better services, services anywhere, any time. … What you have today will not get you there tomorrow.”
He told committee members that based on information he has, state IT workers are not up to speed on current technology. Many West Virginia Office of Technology (WVOT) workers are facing retirement. And the existing technology is outdated.
For example, he said, the state has scads of isolated software programs and uncoordinated information, and relies on mainframe computers for data storage.
Current needs, he said, call for a move away from mainframes to a “virtualized environment” or “cloud approach” of servers, storage and networking accessible among various agencies.
He cautioned his presentation was “not a commercial for HP,” and it’s up to the state to determine what it wants, based on jobs, technology goals, citizen needs, and the costs and logistics of either keeping IT in- house or forming some kind of partnership. One consideration is who would employ IT workers under a public-private contract — the private company or the state?
Delegate Bob Beach, DMonongalia and soon-to-be senator, asked Courtney if the state could undertake IT innovation on its own.
“Yes,” Courtney replied, “but I don’t believe you have the skill sets to do that today.”
Keeping IT workers current, he said, requires two to four weeks of annual training, not counting training for new technology.
Neither the Technology Committee nor HP knows how many workers would be affected by possible outsourcing or internal upgrading of services. Committee cochair Scott Varner said staff will have numbers available in May, when interims resume.
Asked about costs for upgrading hardware and software and training staff, Courtney said he had too little information, but made a “wild guess” that a twoto three-year project could cost $75 million to $100 million. But future IT costs would be halved, and smart financing would minimize annual payments.
WVOT staffer Carolyn Saul, one of a number of outspoken opponents to possible outsourcing, agreed that current IT workers don’t have the skills to modernize, but they haven’t been offered training for several years. And vacated positions haven’t been filled, leaving them short staffed.
“It’s almost like we’re being set up to fail,” she said.
After the meeting, Beach observed, “It was a very tailored presentation. The information was just enough to whet our appetite.”
Legislators need more answers, he said. In his new position as chair of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he said, he intends to bring Chief Technology Officer Kyle Schafer in for more questioning about Schafer’s IT consolidation plans.
Committee member Sen. Dave Sypolt, R-Preston, said he has three concerns:
How would pensions and benefits be affected for employees who might be “rebadged” from the state payroll to HP or whatever company might get a contract;
Courtney promised an “open system” should HP get a contract, meaning other vendors hardware and software would be compatible. But Sypolt’s experience with HP products on a small scale has shown them to be incompatible, and he doesn’t want to get locked into a contract with one vendor;
In response to many questions, Courtney claimed to have no knowledge. This doesn’t jibe with the level of knowledge IBM has about WVOT workers and processes. He wonders if IBM has received undue special preference, or if Courtney was perhaps being coy. He doesn’t know.
Source:http://www.dailymail.com/ap/ApTopStories/201101100666
