Commanders Post at The Warpath - View Single Post - Ineffective Government? Blame the computers!

FRPLG · 01-15-2010, 01:57 PM

Technology in gov't is a disaster. I have worked as a defense IT contractor and now I work for a local gov't in their IT dept. The problems are the same...nobody except the IT workers have a clue what IT really means and what IT should be doing for it's customers. If the right people aren't in charge and lobbying for IT resources and investment then nothing happens. The computers are the simple stuff. It's easy to throw away an old machine and buy a new one. It is the SYSTEMS that are woefully behind. We run a financial package here bought, configured and deployed in 1994. 16 YEARS AGO!!! We're not a podunk little town. It was a POS then and it's an even bigger POS now. Except now it suffers from "Bus Screwed" syndrome. If the wrong person gets hit by a bus my city might as well shutdown because we're screwed. An ounce of strategic planning and long term vision would have cost little and put us in better shape today. But that aint how it works. Local/state/federal it is all the same. Too many stupid people who don't care and not enough smart people advocating for the right things.

01-15-2010, 01:57 PM	#18
FRPLG MVP Join Date: May 2004 Age: 47 Posts: 10,164	Re: Ineffective Government? Blame the computers! Technology in gov't is a disaster. I have worked as a defense IT contractor and now I work for a local gov't in their IT dept. The problems are the same...nobody except the IT workers have a clue what IT really means and what IT should be doing for it's customers. If the right people aren't in charge and lobbying for IT resources and investment then nothing happens. The computers are the simple stuff. It's easy to throw away an old machine and buy a new one. It is the SYSTEMS that are woefully behind. We run a financial package here bought, configured and deployed in 1994. 16 YEARS AGO!!! We're not a podunk little town. It was a POS then and it's an even bigger POS now. Except now it suffers from "Bus Screwed" syndrome. If the wrong person gets hit by a bus my city might as well shutdown because we're screwed. An ounce of strategic planning and long term vision would have cost little and put us in better shape today. But that aint how it works. Local/state/federal it is all the same. Too many stupid people who don't care and not enough smart people advocating for the right things.