07/17/2008

Associated Press

The state government's $63 milllion center to consolidate and streamline computer operations is getting poor marks from state auditors.

The Oregon secretary of state's office says the center isn't saving money or managing computer operations more efficiently.

The auditors also said the center hasn't made agency computer operations more secure from hackers, and it doesn't have a working plan to deal with diasters such as an earthquake or attack.

Their security concerns were outlined in a separate, confidential report to the Department of Administrative Services.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski proposed and the Legislature approved the effort to consolidate 12 state agency computing centers into one building. The idea was to locate the best and most efficient technology in one place with one set of managers.

At the time, state agencies operated different software and hardware, and their computers didn't always talk to one another.

Computer operations for 11 big agencies combined last year, minus the Department of Education, which worried that student records couldn't be kept confidential.

In its assessment, the secretary of state's auditors did not cast blame, using passive verbs and concluding: "Important data center consolidation objectives have not yet been achieved."

"It is unlikely that the anticipated savings or operational benefits ... will occur," the report said.

The conclusions were not well received by a prominent lawmaker.

"We've asked lots of questions. And, for the money we've spent, there will be a lot more," said state Sen. Margaret Carter, D-Portland, vice-chairwoman of the Joint Ways and Means budget-writing committee.

Chuck Riley, chairman of the House Government Accountability and Information Technology Committee, said he hadn't read the report but believes it's too soon to determine whether the new data center is failing to meet its goals.

"We're doing a good job of at least starting to bring everybody in line," said Riley, a Hillsboro Democrat.

Administrative Services Director Scott Harra said it would take a while to re-engineer "30 years of accumulated infrastructure."

Anna Richter Taylor, spokeswoman for Kulongoski, said the project is beginning to save money, although not as quickly as the governor had hoped.

"There certainly have been bumps along the way," she said, "but we're on the right path."

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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com