By Jason Stein
The Wisconsin State Journal
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — In December, the state will blow its fourth deadline for switching on the first phase of a complicated new computer system to run the state ‘s prisons, officials said.
The delays mean the more than $25 million project will be at least 18 months behind schedule in its opening stage, with three more stages and years to go. The system is designed to make prisons safer and more efficient, state and union officials said.
It ‘s the latest in a series of troubled computer initiatives that have cost taxpayers more than $190 million. The projects are delayed, over budget or don ‘t work as promised.
Officials with the state Department of Corrections said they haven ‘t overspent their budget for outside consultants working on the prison computer system, but acknowledge they can ‘t say whether the money spent on state workers is over budget.
“The timelines are a concern to us as they are to the public, " said Earl Fischer, who runs the DOC ‘s administrative division. “Yes, it has been delayed. (But) I am absolutely confident in this project being completed. “
The ambitious project, which has cost more than $10 million since its start in 2003, replaces four existing computer systems that track 23,000 current prisoners as well as many more former prisoners and those released on probation or parole.
Those existing systems — some of which are 25 years old — track everything from the whereabouts and needs of prisoners to how much money they have in personal accounts.
The first stage of the project was supposed to be up and working in June. The latest estimate is January and the entire project likely won ‘t be finished until a year or two after the target date of May 2009, Fischer said.
The state is paying a fixed price for outside contractors and won ‘t pay more because of the delays, Fischer said. But the longer the project drags on, the more the state pays for the 30 to 40 DOC staff members currently working on the project — workers taken away from other jobs such as maintaining existing computer systems.
The state has spent at least $3.2 million for those state workers ' salaries through October, but can ‘t say if that ‘s over budget because the state never estimated the project ‘s staff costs for the budget in the first place, Fischer and DOC spokesman John Dipko said.
In April, a harsh Legislative Audit Bureau report criticized other agencies for failing to account fully for the use of state staff on large computer projects. Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, an audit committee member, said that budgets and cost estimates on a project must include state staff time.
“Otherwise, it ‘s just a loose thing. How in the world can we track this? " Cowles said.
Those staff cost estimates are now being required on state projects started after October but not ongoing ones like the prison system, said state chief information officer Oskar Anderson.
Complicated project
The prisons initiative will lead to safer and more efficient prisons through improvements such as instantly providing a more complete criminal history on a new offender arriving at a prison, ending delays of a few days or even two weeks under the existing system, Dipko said.
The first phase of the prisons project will set up new infrastructure and replace an old system that tracks inmates ' locations in the department ‘s prisons along with other information, such as their expected release dates.
The initiative is one of the most complicated prison computer projects anywhere in the country, Fischer said. Peter Stoecklin, a vice president with state contractor Marquis Software Development of Tallahassee, Fla., agreed the project is more complicated than others by Marquis in other states.
The complications arise in part because, unlike many states, Wisconsin has one agency to handle adult and youth prisoners as well as those released under probation and parole, Dipko said.
Jim Johnson, chairman of the Massachusetts IT consulting firm The Standish Group, said making a computer project too complicated is a common mistake. The state should reconsider the project and see whether it needs to make its goals more manageable, he said.
Copyright 2007 The Wisconsin State Journal